The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1878-01-18
How Shall We Read It 2

little cottage, by the side of whose green
blinded door we shall see a japanned
letter sign.
Now these same japanned signs are
very cOmmOn-all professions use them
to announce their business and business
relations. You cannot go amiss for
them anywhere; and, in a business To-
eality, their absence is the exception.
What then is there about this one that
is singular? Here We are; let us go up
and read.
''NO DREss-MAKING DONE HERE.
PeEOrd6r or
There Can you 20 into that little
abiding place now, think you, and get
your new muslin cut and fashioned {?
Not a bit Of it, for, don't you see, there
Is veto What is the use for Mrs. -
To have all the talent of concentered
ages? ? provided 1t might be OF such; Of
what value is il to her or benefit to the
community at large, does not Mr.. -
say "NO?n
Why did God develop in this woman
a faculty and element of usefulness il
he was also going TO create another
power which should be absolute and
final as To her using it?
Why do we call the Bible inspired If
one OF its chiefest adjurations-"Bury
not thy talent" etc.,-is to be made of
no avail by reason of petty human
agency?
In the unseen and unknown future
where is the blame of this crime to fall?
for anything which is forbidden and
then persisted in is a crime. Who is to
bear IL, Mrs. -, who has the talent
and aches in every limb to exercise il,
not only for friends and usefulness, but
also as a source Of individual and per-
sonal pleasure-in other words, who
seeks to cultivate the "talentr which
she is hidden not to hide-Or Mr.. -,
who, in his superior wisdom, lays down
the law Of mastery denial, aud, with
the authority of an autocrat, says mop
Now there must be a reason for this
for when a man openly gives expression
70 such a sentiment, he lays himself
liable to all sorts OF questiOnings as to
motives. l dare say it is none OF our
business; a family is the sanctuary in
which are the gods and gOddesses of the
home; but fettered mental attributes
are as open TO eensure as fettered limbs,
and who would not inquire into the case
of any one who was tied up hand and
foot, literally, day after day So a ques-
tion or two among ourselves is GER
tainly in order.
Here is a man, and, by his side, a
woman. When she was by herself
there was no hindrance to her eXercis-
ing her taste and talents for all the ben
efits which might accrue; hut as soon
as she 'gives herself away" as the for
mula has il, she Immediately becomes
subservient, 10 the degree that public
announcement must be made, to the
effect that nobody need ask her any
more to do what she has all her former
life been happy in doing.
Now, then, how about the theory of
the ''oak and the clinging vine Pr This
vine did not want to cling. This vine
had stamina enough of its own, and
was impatient to stand alone. But are
oaks so much the stronger that vines
have got to cling, whether or no? Out
West the vines are so much the more
vigorous of the two, that the oaks are
'clung TO DEATH" and then the vines
go on their way in their own might
Haven't we heard enough about the
"clinging vines ?" If there were only
one instance TO the contrary, it would
detract from the universality of such
doctrine, and 10 ! here is one at our very
hand. IL all the instances stood out on
public bulletin, where the women OF
the household do the supporting and
the men do the elegant leisure, the COM
munity at large might be better in
formed on the subject. But doors and
walls are potent sometimes, and We do
not see behind them.
Why should not the woman, il she so
pleases, take some OF her time for her
own benefit? OF course, with the ia
panned sign before our eyes, we are at
liberty to draw our own conclusions;
and, insensibly, "button" theory
creeps in. Who knows but that is the
secret, after ali? With the new duties
Of button and string, would there be
likely to remain much time for outside
work?
Enoch Strout asserted in public that
in wife he wanted sombOdy to wash
his pots and kettles for him. Rather
an unlucky speech for Enoch, inasmuch
as, in process Of time, he did a friend Of
mine the honor Of the offer of his hand;
aud she, remembering his expressed
avOwal, assured him that she didn't as
pire to the dignity of "washing his pots
and kettles :" (Fact.) Meeting him on
his own ground, had he any right to be
discounted?
Meantime, there stands the little
'Japanned sign" and if we have felt at
liberty TO give utterance to these first
thoughts which crowd invOluntarily,
can there not be another side, and may
we not Imagine that real devotion to a
beloved wife may have given rise to this
public assertion Of a determination not
70 have her overwOrk herself? If this
be the case, could we not respectfully
suggest that the great public are able
TO discuss IN many unconscious ways,
how matters are, generally, without
little 'japanned signn to emphasize it Z?
But, as / have said before, it really is
none Of our business what the man
meant, only, as sure as preaching, there
il is:
''NO DREss-NfAKING DONE HERE.
Per order Of"
SO l simply revert to my caption.
leaving 10 where it is; and, since we as
suredly have right TO read sign which,
Of course, Is put before our eyes for that
express purpose, only ask again: "How
shall we read it ?i- POmdRis Journal.
FREMONT's EFFECTS personal
effects, paintings, books, bric-a-brac,
and other similar articles belonging to
General John G. Fremont were sold at
auction in New York recently. Among
the goods disposed Of were a set Of nine
pieces Of Sevres porcelain, decorated in
blue and gold, which had been pre-
sented to General Fremont by Napoleon
Ill, and water-color sketch and auto
graph letter from Baron Won Humboldt.
He had proposed to her, and now,
with fear and trembling, awaited for
her answer. "Only one word,n he said,
''if but to keep alive the fires of hope
within my BOSOM" She looked at him
tenderly, nay, lovingly, and her lips
moved in accents that went to the