The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1881-03-17

J 90 lh NJ can sec, tic NNsAibkhhh
wiic who has 10 cook and clean and wasl
and mend. and do all the primaiive ser
yices cf life for her family, has harde
and more constant work than her hus
band has; and rising upward IN the rank
Of life, think the same balance goes on
at least until that level OF wealth snd
leisuru 10 reached at which iho iavorites o
fortune, like the lilies, toll not. neither dt
they spin. To talk OF ths
great mass Of working. men, the wives o.
the poorer and laboring classes, in preti,
and poctical way as tho inspirers Of boil,
the CONSIDERS Of care, 10y whose smiles q
man il stimulated to industry and exertion
would be too ridiculous for tie must rigid
theorist. The whole com
pact Of their married life is based upon
this. that she should do her work while he
does his; and hers is the share which is
''noser done" do not say word
against tho laws Of nature; but object
that, while this is the case, the poor wo-
man who works so hard is considered as o
passive object OF her husbands bounty. in.
dehted to him for her living, and with no
standing ground or position Of her own.
Housekeeping is a fine science. and there
are some women who show real genius
in it; but gems that makes everything
easy is rare; and in general it is a hard
struggle to carry on that smooth and
seemingly easy routine OF existance which
seen outside appears to go of itself Try for
ever so short time aud you will find the
difference. This the woman's share OF the
work, in addition to that perennial occu.
patton, the nurture OF her children, 10
whom she very liksly gives their earliest
lessons, as well as the foundation OF moral
training which tells most upon their after
lives Her day is full OF a multiplicity Of
tasks, some greater, some smaller, but in
dispensible; since without that guidance
and supervision, and regulation, life
would be but chaos OF accidents, and
society could not exist at all. Thus
woman has not only certain unparalleled Ia
bors in her life to which man can produce
no balance on his side, but she has her
work cut out for her in all varieties of eI-
istance She is the drudge of humanity
in its civilized state, and in the very high
est artificial condition she carries with her
natural burdens which no one else can
bear. But for this she gets absolutely no
credit at all. l am not complaining Of
actual hardship. There are bad husbands
in the world, as bad wives; but the num-
ber OF these domestic tyrants is small, and
for every man who breaks his wife's heart,
and makes her life wretched, there are
perhaps hundreds between whom and
their welded companions there exists the
most perfect understanding and sympathy.
/ believe nothing can be more certain than
the large pedominence Of happiness over
unhappiness in married life I'm not
speaking Of tyrannical men, or women
crushed under thoir sway, but Of n great
misconseption, "a sentimental grievance,
Practically it may do no harm at all
theoretically it does the greatest harm.
The position assigned to woman is thus
almost entirely fictitious one, A mans
wife is considered to be his. dependent, |
fed and clothed by him of his free will |
and bounty, and all the work that she does
in fulfllment OF the natural conditions OF
their marriage is considered as OF no ac-
count whatever in the matter. He works
but she does not: he tolls to maintain her,
while she sits at home in ease and leisure,
and enjoys the fruits of his labor, and
gives him an ornamental compensation in
smiles and pleasantness. This is the rep
resentation OF married life which is uni
versally accepted. Servants have right
to their wages, and have it understood
that their work is honest and thorough
when so;but wives must allow it to be taken
for granted that they do nothing; that
their work is the merest trife, not worth
reckoning in the tale OF human eIertions.
Had it been necessary to bring in a strang
or to do the wife's work, that stranger
would have been higly paid, and very
person indeed. What the
world does say when woman outside Of
The bonds ofmarriagc claims to be allowed
10 work for her bread as best she can, is,
hat she ought to go back to her proper
sphere, which is home. But in that pop
,r sphere, and at her own individual work
III credit is taken from her, her exertions
ire denied, her labor is underyalued.