The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1873-03-14
A Mothers Advice to her Daughters.

d MULAtL , ANflyS " AC4 OaAEALELos
By MES. l. ROXY.
M BeIouod DdWghterS:-I feel that
shall soon be called upon to leave YOU,
and before my strength quite fails me, /
wish to give you some words Of advice
in regard to your future conduct. Young
as you both are, am still sure you will
pay due attention to my word, and that
YOU will remember and act upon my
advice.
! have brought you up in the most ap-
proved manner. Sturdy, Independent
little things you were in your child
hood, but now you are as gentle, as
clinging, as truly feminine as the heart
of man could desire. i have not had
you educated for any profession; neither
have you been qualified for any useful
occupation. / have been careful, in
deed, to guard you from all influence
which might tend 10 create i'm your
mind the desire to become independent
Of those whOwere doubtless meant to be
our lords and masters.
Having been thus carefully taught,
you will, of course, be dependent upon
your father, until you marry and have
husbands TO support you.
Well do / know, my poor girls, how
you will feel for a while. Such is the
natural depravity of woman-so apt are
we to forget ourselves, and become dis
satisfied with our proper sphere, that |
know your thoughts will be such as /
must confess mine to have once been;
and, while warning you against indulg-
ing in such improper reflections, / can
make all allowance for YOU. You will
begin TO tell yourselves, may even grow
bold enough to say to each other, when
you are sure none other is near to hear
you-that so many girls and women
should be compelled TO be dependent on
their fathers, or husbands, is a shameful
thing. That it is 4 shameful thing
that girls should not be fitted for any
trade, occupation or profession they pre-
fer, as boys are; so that they may at
sometime have the sweet satisfaction of
supporting themselves-that they too
may have
THE glorious privilege
OF being independent"
Danish such thoughts, my children,
should they enter your minds. Be as
sured that such ideas are very unwOm-
anly, and tend to destroy that sOftness,
that clinging, uplooking tenderness, all
those domestic graces so much admired
by men, and which YOU should dill
gently cultivate for their behalf, no
matter how they treat you. You will
need ii while you remain with your
father, still more should you happen TO
marry.
You may bring children into this
world; bring them in pain and agony,
going down to the very gates of DEATH"
for them; you may make the greatest
sacrifices for those children, and love
them with the deepest devotion, but
you must not allow yourself to think
you have the best right to them. You
might fall into that mistake if not
otherwise advised, for, indeed, it does
seem to me sometimes that a mothers
claim to her little children Is something
so unquestionable that it is amazing
that the fathers claim should ever be
asserted in opposition, save in those
rare cases where it can be proven that
she is quite unfit to have charge Of
them. However, in this; as in all else,
you must yield to the superior wisdom,
and keep to your proper sphere; always
keep in your proper spherei
1t does sometimes happen that women
are obliged to support themselves;
sometimes their children also; and once
in a while we hear of woman working
TO support both husband and children.
Should this ever be the case with either
of you, be sure that you find truly wom-
anly employment, for instance, plain or
fine sewing, or you might teach school,
if you think you are competent; if not,
you can take in washing. Whatever
kind of work you undertake, you may
be quite sure that that which is most
poorly paid is the most suitable for you,
as woman, to perform.
Whenever you hear woman 5
III g., ., l..
properly shocked, and sneer at such
ideas. Declare that you have all the
rights YOU want, and are quite satisfied.
So will you be admired by all men, save
the noble few who espOuse the "WOm-
ans cause"-but l am forgetting my
self
Ifyou are truly DESTROYS Of following
the advice l have given you, it will be
be better for yon to marry ignorant and
narrow-minded men, than TO become
the wives of those who to cultivated
minds add broad and liberal views;
who respect the rights of all Gods
creatures, and are ready to hold out q
helping hand to all who are striving to
lift themselves to place where they
can stand alone. BY marrying men Of
the former class, you will not only have
a better chance for the development of
the womanly Yirtues-patience, humil-
! ity, meekness, and so on-but you will
/ probably become angels some thirty or
/ forty years sooner than might happen
should you either marry men of the lat
l ter class or remain single.
My dearest girls, / feel that / have
done my duty. You are clinging and
vine-like now if you ever should find
any oaks to twine around, and if so il
may happen, You should be left quite
alone in the world, and without any
means of support, in such case, can
only advise as before-do anything that,
by being ill-paid, is adapted to women.
Our FfreSide Friend.