Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1869-12-10

acquaintance who Is not rich enough 10
keep a laundry-maid. to say il the above
is not fair statement.
Then strawberries, very unfol ltGnately,
do not grow picked aud hulled, and ready
for eating. Quite frequently it is true,
the worms, or the birds, or the drought,
or the cold weather, or some other of the
| ills that strawberries are heir to, prevent
the necessity of picking them at all. But
| assure you, Philip, that ifthcy are eaten
they have to be picked by somebody;
perhaps with the sun beating down upon
that somebody's head. and when the flies
and mosquitoes seem thicker than the
fruit. This, mind you, is simply by way
of illustration. White dresses and straw
berries symbolic great deal ofthe poet
ry of domestic life which in the end re-
solves itself into the baldest prose.
The woman we read OF performs all
manner OF culinary and domestic feats
without so much rs ruilling an eyebrow.
She stands over II glowing stove and
dishes up sayory messes OF her own con
coctinp without an added flush or a
quickencd breath. She steps from her
kitchen to the head Of her table without
moment in which to re. arrange her toilet,
and appears there as cool, n fresh. rs
immaculate in attire, with hands as white
and forehead rs calm, n il she had
had nothing to do all day but to lounge on
sofa aud read of impracticablc heroines
like herself. The woman we know tears
her dress and displays al occasional
grease spot. Her hair gets out OF curl
and even frowsy. She burns her fingers
in attempting to take the bread from the
oven, and burns her face ~ she stirs her
custards. There is y black spot on lhe
holder and it transfers itself 20 her hand.
She gets tired and She shows it, in spite
of every effort to DC one Of the pattern
housewives who are never fltigued and
who are Away, rs fresh as dew-drops.
Knowing rs | do that YOU are not rich
enough to relieve Alcc-ii such thing
is ever po.Siblc-from all household care
and labor. | forcwarn you that you will
sometimes find her in an uhbecoming
wrapper. with her hair tied mp in hand
kerchief-and-not an inch of her face
tha, is iii To kiss, YOu 10 not believe me;
but it will be so. Did YOU ever happen
10 SEQ your mother in "houSc-cleaning
time?"
The children of romance arcall "curled
darings :" little sinless angels who found
the gates of heaven ajar one day and
came down here on crrands of mercy.
| They walk in fiery furnaces and come out
of them without as much as the smo ! oi
fire upon their garments. They touch
pitch with their pure, fearless fingers.
hut they are neverdelileh. The children
of real life have their "bitS of temper"
and their dirty faces. They get the Group
and the measles. They lose their frs:
teeth and the second set come in awry.
They tear their little trousers and get
crass-stains and berry -srains on their
white aprons And-bless their little
hearts, we love them all the better that
they have not found their wings yet
they ran into the street aad strike up im-
prom pln intimaccs with icd. hcadcn Mike
and frerklcd-faced Dan, and learn TO say
words that are not in the dictionary and to
double up their chubby little fists after
the fashion ofprizc fighters. Now, do
! not sav that the women or the children OF
real life are = whit less charming, less
tiovable than those of romance. But do
! say that if young man cultiYatea hts
tastes too lasndiously and takes his idea
! of woman as she should be from lrvings
"Wife" and stories OF that iIA-where
love and poverty, vine-wreathed cottages
! spotless muslinS, blue ribands, harps,
and Strawberries and cream, mlngle IN
picturesque conlusion-he will surely be
disappointed. Some day when he comes
/ into the house and finds Mary down on
! her knees mcnding hole in The carpet,
with her hair pushed back to keep 1t OFT
of the way, her hands soiled by the dust
and stained by the colorcd yarns. he VIII
begin to think she is rather common
place sort ofa woman: not ut all what
he had conceived her to be. Lite IS
crowded with unpoetic duties and details.
A beautiful home is poem. But the
sweeping and dusting and purifying and
renovating that keep it such, and that
must be done, are prosaic in the extreme.
And in ninety nine out OF hundred
families, take our country through, n large
share of these inevitable duties iall-and
rightly-upon the wife.
Rightly, say; for am not quarrel'ns
with this state of things. In the milien-
ium, perhaps, we shall all be released
from the necessity of doing common place
things, and, what is better, of thin king
commonplace thoughts. Until that time
comes, however, imagine that in spite
of phalansterics and cooperative house
keeping, it will be necdfnl for women
to attend to their households, aud IN so
doing to come in contact with the dust
and CRIME of actual life. Happy is the
man who does not need the wand of the
fairy God mother TO enable him to recog-
nize tle Princess in the garb OF Cinderella |!