The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-01-01


know it, and better, they need to be-
lieye 1t. - gah .9fl .sl2
It is, therefore, with regret that we
discover Mrs. Stowe applying so harsh=
/ lY, and, as we think, so1indiscrtminot-
liugly, the theory of work to women
and teaching a society made up Of wo-
mon sacrificed in the workshops of the
State, orlto the dust-pans and kitchens
of the, house, that women must work,
Ought to work, and are dishonored If
they do not work; and that woman
icommittedz to the drudgery OF a hus-
band is more creditably employed than
when she is charming, fascinating, ir-
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, disfgured, and without charm or
attractiyeness.- . The moment girl
marries in New England shs Is apt to
become a. drudge, or a lay figure on
whichlto exhibit the latest fashions.-
She never has beautiful hands, and she
would not have a beautiful face IL an
utilitarian society could s'apply" her
face to anything but the pleasure of the
eye. Her hands lose their shape and
Isoftness after childhood, and domestic
drudgery destroys her beauty of form
and 6oftness and bloom of complexion
after marriage. To correct, or rather to
Ibrsak up this despotism OF household
cares, or of work, over woman,
American society must be taught that
women will inevitably fade and deteri-
A orate unless IL insureS repose and COM
4 fort them. 1t must be Taught tina
reverence for beauty is the moral con-
4 diton, while the theory of york, APP
4 piled: to. women, is disastrous alike to
morals. Work, when il is destructive
to.mens or women, is forced and unjust.
1 All the great masculine or creative
lepochs4 have been distinguished by
Il lspontaneous work on, the part of men
i and universal reverence and care for
beauty. The praise of work and Sacri-
I fee OF women to this great, heartless
/ devil of work belongs only to and IL
\ the Docial doctrine of a mechanical age,
and Of a utilitarian epoch. And If the
New England idea of social life contin-
ues to bear soA cruelty on woman, we
shall have a reaction somewhat unex-
pected and shocking.
: Let no one infer that we put in plea
for what is called the idleness Of wo-
j men, or the dolI-life OF women offash-
spared the necessity of all physical OF
II mental labor Except that wi Itch Is ne
cessary for heathfu1 exercise,D and that
men honor them, work for them and
love them, too much TO let them go for
Il ward into the dishgursments of toll
II ithsWosNlSnI 10 LuB Det5E OF bnhl
epoch in which tu1tice was tempered to
!. mercyby the dazzling beauty OF Phryne
n If we wish the beat of that splendid
sixteenth century in Italy, in which
beauty and strength co-operated to pro
4 duee perfect art five wish something
of that free and stately epoch which
lg0ye shakespeare TO the world, we mus
!. r0buke tho pretentions OF a mechanical
I age, and assert the right of women u
be kept outside of the workshop ant
the kitchen. All the great male an6
] sesthetic epochs worshipped the beauty
4 of women. The epochs of decadenct
worghipped pleasure; and men were de
votedfto enjoyment; witness the time
of Charles IL.
Man, in his best estate, cannot b'
helped .'worthily by a slave" nor eff
ciently by the lay figure of a milliner'I
, shop. To help, woman must keep thu
) freshness OF her strength and the vivae
tfty of her spirit. She must be a rest IL
hours of wearIness, an impulse of in
u ertia, and at all time refuge from TIN
diPtfnesS of public life.