The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-02-16
Duties Of Husbands and Wives.
What swedcnborg Says About 1t.

What SwedcnbOrg Says About 1t.
In view of the doctrines we have
had poured into our ears from the
rostrum at Lincoln Hall, for the past
few days, it may be as well to quote
the authorities on the other side
aud authorities, too, which are deserv-
Stanton, Miss Anthony, and others,
would overturn our whole social sys-
tenn. Here is what Swedenborg says
on one important point, at least:
"There are duties proper to the hus-
band, and others proper to the wife !;
and the wife cannot enter into the du-
ties proper to the husband, nor the
husband into the duties proper to the
wife, so as to perform them Alright.
That there are duties proper to the
husband, and others proper to the
wife, needs not to be illustrated by an
enumeration of them; for they are
many and various, and every one
that chooses to do so can arrange them
numerically, according to their genera
and species. The duties by which
wives principally conjoin themselves
with their husbands, are those which
relate to the education of the children
of each sex, and of the girls, until they
are msrriageable.
"The wife cannot enter into the
duties proper to the husband, nor, on
the other hand, the husband into the
duties proper to the wife, because
they differ like wisdom and the love
thereof, or like thought and the afiec-
ton thereof, or like understanding
thereof and the will thereof. In the
duties proper to husbands, the primary
agent is understanding, thought, and
wisdom, whereas in the duties proper
to wives the primary agent is the
will, affection, and love; and the
wife, from the latter, performs
her duties, and the husband from the
former, performs his; wherefore, their
duties are naturally different, but still
connective in successive series.
"Many believe that women can per-
form the duties of men, if they are
initiated therein at an early age, as
boys are. They may, indeed, be i'll
itiated into the practice of such duties,
but not into the judgment on which
the propriety of duties interiorly de-
pends; wherefore such women as
have been initiated into the duties of
men are bound in matters of judy
ment to consult men, and then, If
they are left to their own disposal,
they select from the counsels of men
that which suits their own inclina-
ton. Some also suppose that women
are equally capable with men Of ele-
waiting their intellectual vision, and
into the same sphere of light, and of
viewing things with the same depth
and they have been led into the Opin-
ion by the writings of certain learned
authOresses; but these writings, when
examined, are found to be productions.
not of judgment and wisdom, but of
ingenuity and wit; and what proceeds
from these on account of elegance and
neatness of the style I'm which it was
written, has the appearance OF sub
limIty and erudition; yet only in the
eyes Of those who dignity all ingenui-
ty by the name of wisdom. In like
manner men cannot enter into the
duties proper to women, and perform
them Alright, because they are not i'm
the affections Of women, which are
altogether distinct from the affections
of men. AS the affections and per-
ceptiops of the male land of the
femsle) sex are thus distinct by crea-
ton aud consequently by nature,
therefore among the statutes given to
the SONS of Israel, this also was Or
dained: a woman shall not put on
the garment of q man, neither shall
a man put on the garment of a woman;
because this is an abomination.'-I
Deut. xxi: D."