Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1867-02-20
Wives in France.

Is the Paris correspondent Of the
Philadel hia Home Weekly some vile
defamer Of the married women Of
France? If not, then are they (as all
women have beer said to be) - either
angels or furies' " e will permit
| this writer, if his testimony shall be
accepted as credible, to prove that
| they are not angels. He says:
:" What wrctched wives French
women make They are certainly
less fitted for matrimony than any
women the sun shines on. Fonl oi
excitement, devot 1 to pleasure, low
ing dress, delighting in company. home
and its duties are confinement in iail
and irksome drudgery to thcm. The
best of them haggle, as only women
can haggle, about centimes and sous.
re duce their husbands to hardships,
drive off his friends, reduce his ex-
| penditures, diminish his pleasures.
/ place money over and above every
| thing else, make their viii, their
whlms. their capriCes the law Of the
| household, and think they ought to be
adored as angels.
There are no women in the world
more agreeable to strangers in draw
/ ing-room than French women. False
| hood and truth are things indifferent
to them, consequently such thing as
/ principle never checks their desire to
be agreeable Their natural mali
ciousness and their natural sprichtli-
ness, whose quickness and sharpness
have been increased by the continual
attrition of company, make their con
versation entertaining. Their salts
faction in finding themselves in what
they may not unjustly consider their
proper sphere dimples their checks
with smiles and kindles light in their
eyes Their vanity, which continually
goads them to exert all their powers
Of pleasing. They consequently are
the most agreeable drawing-room COM
panion to strangers IN the world.
q" 1t Is almost impossible to avoid
falling in love with them. Fancy
pursues them beyond the drawing
room and uses her warmest colors to
draw pictures of the happiness of the
men who constantly possess such
bright, vivacious. amiablo. and fascin-
ating creatures. Fancy, that will-o'-
the-wisp of life, deccives us here as is
her wont, and were we to follow her
glittering, airy flame would certainly
lead rs into a most painful morass.
he rocket which lies in the arti-
fcer's laboratory. black, sullen. unat-
tractive in its vulgar pastcbcard case
resting on an unadorued. unpublished.
rough stick. does not more differ from
the fiery bolts which makes mobs stare
as it seems to scale the highest hcav-
ems than the French cvnosurc Of the
drawing-room differs from the wife
in her husbands OF her family's com,
panv.
"Thc restraints of domestic life op-
press thcm to an inconceiyable degree.
The ideal happiness Of all Of them IS
TO enjoy motherlczs widow 5 freedom.
They have no account to give Of their
time or their purse.
" It IS neither wonderful men and
women marry here nor wonderful they
separate. Marriages are contracted
solely for money or for social position,
or for both " omen marry for these
advantages and to be free.
3" A woman is a ward an infant.
until she marries. She must not be
seen at plays, where the dialogue is as
thin]v ana sparselv draped as the
leading actresses who keep its shut
tlecock of conversation flying. She
must not go on the street or into pub !
lie gardens alone She must not dip
into books which are only fit for the
shelves Of married coventry. She has
the worst seat at the table. church. .
theater. and in carriage. She must +.
be silent, modest, and respectful.
" All changes when she marries. .
She was a girl, she Is a woman. She +
may go where she pleases. when she F
pleases, as she pleases. The slave is .
tvrant in turn: the husband $50 free
while unmarried) wears the discarded
manacles; the ball and chain are for
his ankle. She reads vi at she pleases. +
hears any play, sees any sight. Her .
father may have had no matter what .
title, she was nobody. Her husbands
title becomes feminine and is her prop
crtv as much as it IS his. The opera /
box, the carriage. the town and the T
country house are hers. She engages /
and dismisscs the servants. The table .
Is laid TO suit her taste. She has all .
the keys. Therefore women marry. I
"If matrimonv does not suit them, .
despite husband, father and mother. .
she sues a divorce. Her husband is .
obliged to give her an income in keep. I
ing with her rank in society. She IS
free as air.
The latest innovations at parties /