The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-01-23

q 0
eniOined, precisely as they were. Deal
the cards, and the result viii be that
, your thirteen cards will be 81 trumps
, Woman al Home; Or. Work Versus
Beauty.
The Evening Post has some admira-
bic remarks upon the life, sphere, and
duty Of woman in modern society,
which we condeuse for our readers
There is much matter for thought in
the fact that the literary exponent Of
aesthetic BostOn-the Atlantic Monthly
for 5anusry-shOuld have pushed the
doctrine Of work 50 far that neither
time nor room is left, for those who sd
init its conclusions, to cultivate ttsPrr-
lfeef r0.ceT Of hsHta, "a, ehich Is ssIaa.
Without detracting in the least from
any utterance setting forth the dignity
and necessity Of labor, we must ques-
ton the somewhat extravagant spph-
cation of the theory Of work to life, a.
found in Mrs. Stoves talk on social
| facts in the Atlantic When Mrs Stowe
characteFizes women Of elegance and
refinement as beautiful, fascinating
id--ar0ui Of the parlor and bOudOir, who
make their boast of elegant helpless
ness aud utter incompetence for any Of
wOmans duties, we would like to know
what she understands by the term
'woman's duties
Elegance and refinement in woman
are the best results Of culture and in
herent gentleness Of nature, and that
elegance and that refinement isa chief
part of the charm Of home To what
end are the costly means Of culture
books, pictures, statusry, music-but to
protect Us fOom the deterioration OF
sordid occupations2 It is not every
woman who can be beautiful. fascina-
ting and the bOasted elegant help
lessness' of fascinating and beautiful
women certainly does not extend TO
their, chief function and their most pow
erful charm. IL, as We must infer, Mrs !
Stowe means by the phrase "wOman's |
duties, the daily drudgery of house |
hold cares, We certainly must protest |
against doctrine of work that dis /
figures our mothers, makes our wives /
old before their time, and the hands Of 4
American women the surprise and re-
gret Of every lover Of the beautiful
And this is no triie. An iushsped,
red-looking hand, is witness that
beauty has been sacrificed 70 utility,
for every physical imperfection is the
result Of disease, accident or excessive
work, and these imperieotions show
that things are in the saddle, and ride
mankind.
A true understanding Of social econ
omy viii not permit woman TO be sub
iected to any work that rObs her of
physical charm snd moral serenity
That thousands of women are compelled
TO labor that unsexes them--that checks
the symmetrical growth Of sheir bodies
and the harmonious development of
their natures-is to them the fatal ne
cessity Of an imperfect and progressive
society.
Considering the fact that the end Of
living is not work, but perfection or
beauty, and believing that women, in a
society as fully organized as our own,
help men best when they are most en-
gaging and beautiful, We must write
that Mrs. stowe has made false sp-
plicatiOn of the theory OF work. IL Is
wrong not only from the asthetic point
of view, bat also from the moral point
of view women need love, men need
beauty. The passion of love in wo-
man and mans passion for beauty are /
the two greag and Irresistible antagon-
lists Of duty in the social world. Mans
desire for beauty is as unquenchable /
and benehcent 80 Woman's need of love, |
and the prime cause Of unfaithfulness Of |
men Is disgust for the dishgured and |
OyerWorked, the ungraceiul and unat- 4
traotive matrons whom they call wives |
When a wife ceases 10 be that charm |
ing, sympathetic, and beautiful being /
70 whom her husband gave the first ca
ress of his eyes and the homage Of his |
heart, she ceases TO excite admiration,
and she ceases TO be that intoxication
and delight which keeps men, exposed
to the sirens of life, faithful 10 their
first choice. Ii is when the wife ceases
to be beautiful in the eyes OF her hus-
band that she ceases 20 exert an inhu-
ence other than the torpid influence Of
habits, and it is then that q mans eyes
wander and his thoughts hnger about
other women, 10 crafty his GOd-im
planted need of the beautiful What
ever destroys beauty induces coarse If
not lax morals, makes domestic ser
want, or at best q housekeeper, Of a
wife, and robs the wife Of her happi-
ness.
The drudgery Of household cares, a
false domestic economy, which day af-
ter day takes vitality from the wife,
makes her hands muscular, instead of
soft and flexible, and when evening
comes leaves her too Wearied 10 COM
municate any vivaoity and variety TO
her conVersation; and her jaded hus-
band sits facing her, inert and yet rest
less. II IS then that an elegant and
charming WOMAN fascinating woman
would arouse that man., renew his
life, redouble his strength, and give
zest to his hours OF rest; and il is then
that the wife, sacrificed TO "Womans
duties that is TO say, to household
cares-is incapable Of refreshing her
husband, and with sVeT-multiplying
lines on her face, with ever-vanishing
bloom, with fast fading beauty, is sa-
cred and honored only because she is q
mother.
The instinct Of women 70 seek life
Of repose, their eagerness TO attain the
life Of elegance, does not mean con
tempt for labor. Women were not In
tended 10 work, not because work is
ignoble, but because it Is as disastrous
20 the beauty Of a woman a. is friction
to the bloom and softness Of a tower
Womsn is TO be kept in the garden Of
life; she is 10 rest, 70 receive, TO praise;
she is to be kept from the work shop
world, where innocence is snatched
with rude hands, and softness il blis-
tered into unsightliness or hardened
into adamant No social truth il more
in need Of exposition and illustration
than this one; and, above al, the peo-
pie Of New England need to know il,
and better, they need to believe it.
Il is therefore with regret that wo
discover Mrs Stowe applying 70 harsh
IN. and. as We think, 20 iudiscrimina-
tineiy, the theory Of work 70 women,
and teaching a society made up OF Wo-
men sacrificed in the workshops Of the
State, or to the dGst.pans and kitchens
Of the house, that women must work,
ought 70 work. aud are dishonored il
they do not work and that q woman
committed to the drpdgeTy Of house
hold e more creditzbly employed
than when she is charming fascinating.
irresistible IN the parlor or boudoir
The consequence Of this fatal mistake
is manifest throughout NeW-England--
in New-England, where the girls are all
beautiful and the wives and mothers
faded, 4 stigured and without charm OF
attractveuess The moment a girl
marries IN New England she Is apt to
Lecome q drudge, or q lay figure on
which to exhibit the late fashions She
never has bcauliful hands, and she
would not have O beautiful face II an
utli tartan society could apply her
lace 70 anything bat the pleasure Of the
eye Her hands lose thew shape and
sOftness after childhood and domestic
drudgery destroys her beauty Of form