The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1881-09-06
WEEKLY BAZOO.
SEDALIA, Mo-.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 1881
MOTHERS N-LAw.

MOTHERS N-LAW.
Against mothers-in-law traducerE
md slanderers have done their worst
Petty spite and measureless maignity
seem to have united in a despicall
crusade against the gentlest. the
sweetest, the most uuself.h and tn,
most self:sacri6cing class Of persons
ir the community. Every wit, every
every satirist, every cheap
penny-a-liner, has, each in his sphere,
humble or exalted, q sneer to hurl at
the noble fraternity Of mothers-in-law.
She who has given her daughter in
to . snob, . fop. 4 sordid
miser, or . fool, or her son to the girl
of the period, good, bad, or indiaer-
ent, at once becomes . target for the
most cruel shafts of malice. She may
hive been an angel Of light and mer y
in the sacred privacy Of the family,
queen in the drawing-room, and an
object of respect and tender regard
by . large circle Of admiring friends
But no sooner does she make that SUI
preme sacrifice of motherhood-the
surrender Of the jewel Of her heart.
her beloved daughter, to some peril
nacious sutton no better than he should
be-then she becomes the subject OF
merciless ridicule. There are mothers
in-law so sensitive to unjust reproach
that they dare not read a daily paper
lest, unhappily, their eyes should fall
upon a whole column Of gibes and
taunts devised for their especial tor
ment. And there are sons-in-law-
God bless them who SO dote on
their mothers-in-law that they are
to forbid them their houses.
or forego the pleasure of studying the
market reports and glancing at the
gossip and tittle-tattle Of the day oTer
their hot mullins at breakfast. What
are they to do, poor fellows? They
did not marry the whole family no,
indeed!
The woman Of sixty, whose hair Is
whitened u d whose cheek is blanched
with the pains, cares and anxieties
Of maternity; who has borne half .
dozen female children, nursed them
through the perils Of measles. chicken
pox, whooping-cough, and scarlet
fever, brought them up to the estate
of womanhood, and given them to as
many young men who begged and
whined for the precious boon "a NOR
bidly-developed babies cry for molasse<
candy-this noble. venerable woman,
who would cheerfally sacrifice her
life for her children, is made the sub
ject Of rude laughter and coarse, un-
feeling jests by six ungrateful sons-in'
law! There ought to be . remedy
provided by statute for this class Of
crimes.
How the lover fawns upon the
mother Of his prospective bride! Has
she cast in her eye, he does not OBJ
serve it, or, if he does, he does nct
mention it. Has she an impediment
in her speech, he does not mock her.
Is her temper . trifle sour, he does not
indulge in sharp repartees at her ex-
pense. He courts her only less as
siduously than he pays court to her
lovely (:) daughter. But no sooner
is the prize secured than the young
reprobate husband squints in imita-
ton of his motheI-in-law, stammers in
derision of his mother.in-law, and
snarls like a cur to convey the insinu-
alton that his mother-in-law is q vine
gary:tempered Old virago! What
subtle influence has produced this
startling transformation: In no other
respect is the man changed. He does,
indeed, remain more at home during
the brief space of the honeymoon.
But as soon as that season is passed
he resumes his visits to the club,