The Portland daily press., 1867-03-06
ON Trnxi,s Tracks Again

TO the Editor Of lie Press:
All honor to the women of the Kennebec! 1t
is they who are held up for our example now
aud not the matrons of the Revolutionary peri.
Cd The domestic sciences have not, as Ir'A'
previously informed us, gone quite OUT oi Wv
in these modern times" "The markeu uoso
eracv both physical and moral calho1 'heh
have extended to those eastern regions. Lddtes
arc tbare who both spin and weave IN these
days This IL an entirely different affair; and
since ;mnroved machinery makes the manufac-
tpre of domestic cloth easy and possible, we re-
ioice in it, and gladly yied all honor to those
inefficient in the ant. Now we can view the
subject from a reasonable standpoint, since we
can admit its claims on the ground of the econ
omy, goodness and durability of its productions,
together with the quielnness of its operation
These were not the advantages before cited
when we were called upon to follow the exam
pie of our grandmothers. We did not reflect
on the merits of home made cloth, but on the
unreasonable and foolish considerations set
forth as advantages for reviving spinning ana
weaving. This work or any work which wo-
man can do well and profitably is commenda-
BILE, but no standard of feminine capabiiltles
can be formed for all places, times and cohui-
tions. A man may be proud of his homemade
clothes. but may not depreciate the many good
wives who bestow no such produc's " 'heir III
,iustry on their worthy husbands. far rom
disparaging the work OF the residents OF the
country, we congratulate them on a style of
living which frees them from the convention
,,;ties of city life. If elegant and labor-saying
household machines for spinning and weaving
are in common use, success to them, and a
great improvement they are, too, on sending girls
into the factory. Still they will never super
cede the work of the factory, nor is it essential
to introduce them into high schools and col
leges that the graduates may be proficient in
the arts. In the increased population of our
cities women have no lack Of duties to perform,
and these domestic services can be substituted
for others equally as important. The cares OF
the house and the family are such as men have
a right to expect women to be qualified for,
and girls should not be trained to neglect
household duties or any other duties for the
welfare of the family. But there is such thing
as making too much of these matters; and we
take exceptions to this constant enjoining of
the 0ebdliS Ol Il WOnidH y W OTh, buIb ltabtullEe
glorification OF house-work as the object and
chief aim in life. -s Pei E e rfray a..
This is the whole tenor of the complaint and
advice to girls and women, to do htis and do
that if for no other reason, inst to keep them
employed, , as ii left to their own caprices they
might like mischievous children, trespass on
forbidden grounds. Mr.. Willetts takes up the
same strain and lectures on "a Model Wife" in
style degenerating in its tendencies, course
in its wit and illustrations, and irreverent in
its scriptural allnsions. 1t was substantially
this-"A model Dife--a model house keeper"-i
A sublime recognition of the depths of mans
stomach, the key to his affections and the
charm to hold them. Women! dvoid "oloqies,"
deUote yourselves more to yourI husbands and
yo,y Kitchens, and If yOu faint by the toay yoa
goa shall haze the digiae eatiyaction ofhdUsng
tbs name ofa good cook" engraved on the Unite
marble of yoatr tombstone" 'h@ 90
Women don't need any such advice as this.
They are quite enough inclined to get absorbed
in housekeeping, and to be satisfied with the
economies, contrivances and trifles which make
up every day life. He who said Martha, Mar
tina, thou art careful and troubled about many
things" understood woman's nature as it is,
and recognized her need of something higher
House work is good and right, but if woman
has no outlook beyond it, cannot rise above it,
she will make her house her IDOL and sink into
that adherence of both sexes, a female gossip.
Where was Mr. Willett's advice to woman to
be active, self reliant, helpful, making the most
OF her opportunities for culture so that mar
ried or unmarried she could be useful and hap
Ply in society? There isn't anything inspir-.
ing in houseworN as a.,,u,-wortr-yJ II NJ Iu:r1
IeGIs fanccs there Is rap1rry woman
nature, let him put tito a practie cal proof by a
weeks apprenticeship at washing dishes and
cooking. The model cook or housekeeper who
is SO absorbed in her work very soon gets to be
that same "fdgety thing whom he holds up
for ridicule, and whose husband wants to send
her to heaven to get rid of her. Don't take
any such narrow view of woman as this, Let
her education be such as shall develope her
whole nature, trusting the domestic virtues to
the control Other common sense. Don't be so
afraid Of the "ologies." One would suppose
the sentence to a mans starvation was con-
tanned in these dreadful books that contain no
receipts for good cooking If woman can
get CLEAN of heaven out of them. don't he
grudge it to her; ifshe is any less a good house
keeper for them, depend upon it the cause for
1T is somewhere else. The noble woman whom
Mr.. Willets quoted at the close of his lecture
was not formed on his model or by any such
narrow prescription. Neither were the types
OF .womanhood portrayed in the Tennyson
which he mangled, of this same order If they
had been, instead of being to the other sex as
Music set to Words the music would have
been entirely of the "Caiatlumpian" style. This
depreciation of the women OF the present has |
been discussed and deplored quite enough |
There is no justice in holding up fashionable
doll as the modern type of character Let a |
woman try to follow all the prescriptions mark
ed out for her and she must have the strength
Of the Irish, the hardihood of the English, the |
thrift OF the Dutch, the wit and taste of the |
French, the "gumption" of the Yankee, and
the grace and forbearance of saint in Heaven
to meet them all. Let us hear sometime, ON |
the other side and see if the dandy or the fop |
is set before us as the modern specimen of |
manhood. Mr.. Bartlett has truly selected a |
no0el subject, "Boys'-for his lecture Let ms
hope the lessons will be such as will elevate
the manly'character and produce more model
husbands in the land p