Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1883-08-09

SloppCu.
"In our marriage my wife promised most
solemnly to obey. But in this matter SO
vital to my happiness she utterly and obsti-
nately refuses to obey. I have borne it as
long as l can, and now I warn them off,
and if they come again will employ some
one to horsewhip them. That is all there is
of it, and if she thinks am joking she will
find out that 1 am not to be trified with"
The father turned to his daughter:
"Well, Mary, what have you to say?'
"Nothing. If John is right l have moth
ing to say. 1t is my duty to obey, not to
argue"
"But," said the father, "you can say what
you think Of the facts. Has he directed
that those young men shall not come here,
and have YOU refused to obey him."
After long and painful silence she father
said, in tone intended to be kind:
"Come my child, don't be foolish. Tell
me what you think of it. Remember your
sainted mother and do right. If she sees
you now she is grieved at your anger and
obstinacy."
eyes, father, 1 am trying to recall mother
to my side. | have been thinking of her
for weeks, and since 1 have been lying here
1 have been looking at her beautiful face in
that portrait. am not angry and am not
obstinate. If knew what she would have
me do in this trying moment of my life, l
would do it with all my heart. remember
business of your factory and she never in
terfered; that your authority at the factory
was absolute, but not more so than hers
in her house. | remember all this, and l
think unless in heaven she has lost her
courage, she would say, if standing here:
My daughter you must never interfere
in your husbands business, and you must
not allow him to interfere in yours / am
not perfectly sure about it, father, but |
think it is Just what she would say. At
any rate, dear father, it IS perfectly clear
that before | can say word about the diff
ferences of. my husband and myself / must
know what my rights are. If 1 have any
rights in the management of home, let them
what l think of our differences"
"My daughter, you can't define a wife's
rights. A home is little kingdom ruled
by love, and you can no more define the
rights of the queen who preSideS there, than
you can define the rights of the Sun who
pours his rays over all the garden, giving
life and beauty to every plant and flower.
1t is not court of law where rights can be
defined in legal phrase, but sphere in
which love conquers and rules"
''Yes, father, that is very beautiful, and
wish homes could be managed in that way.
But let me tell you how in one home pa
tience and gentleness have failed. Six
years ago John took me from your arms
and brought me to this home. l knew our
tastes differed as widely as our ages and
training, but believed that love could con-
quer all things. John soon urged me to
leave your church-my mothers church
which he thought not quite respectable, and
join his church. 1t cost me a long heart
ache, but at length 1 thought it better than
a family quarrel, and so l left your seat in
church, father, where / had sat from early
childhood, and went with John. | was so
true to my husband that let you think that
/ went of my own preference. Then my
husband wished to get rid Of dear old Han
nah because she was not a French cook. TO
part with her was like parting with mother
again. She seemed to be all the mother l
had left. But after begging and weeping
for weeks, let her go, and have never told
even you, dear father, why | turned her
away. In many other things, important
my husbands wishes, or I should rather say
to his commands, yelled under kindly forms
of request. The last command is the Occa-
sion of this conversation. Cousin Tom and
Jim and Charley Green and Fred. Hart
used to visit us two or three times week
when mother was living. Our Reading
Club meetings in dear mothers library are
the sweetest memories Of my life. When
mother was dying they continued to come
and read in her bedroom. They came very
often then. Since mothers death we have
kept up the Reading Club, and they, when
in town, have attendedit, and have general
ly been here about once week. Now John
says people talk about his young wife's COM
pany. And John won't come home till
midnight any night of the week because he
In the last month they have been here three
times, and have always left before ten
o'clock. have been looking over the his
tory of my married life, and although |
have not intended to say anything tonight
of my resolves, at any rate not until you or
John had defined a wife's rights, | might as
we'll tell you what have made up my mind
to do"
'My daughter don't be rash"
"NO, father, / have been approaching this
for two years. John says he will warn these
gentlemen off unless ask them not to come.
| shall not ask them to discontinue their
visits, and if John does | shall leave this
house never to enter it again. On next Sun
day | shall go to my dear mothers church,
and ask them to forgiveVme and take me
and take back dear old Hannah at once.
My brothers. portrait and the picture Of
dear Aunt Mary, which l put away in the
garnet because they were not fine pictures,
shall bring down and hang in our parlor
by the side of mothers portrait. In other
words, if | stay in this home shall manage
it,"
"Mary," angrily exclaimed her husband,
"yOu are insane. | shall take measures to
put you in an institution. You are down.
right crazy"
The slight, pale wife lay perfectly still,
and when her husband had finished his
charge of insanity, she said:
''That is precisely what l supposed you
would say if should ever defy your au-
thority. Two perfectly sane women have
been taken from this town to insane asy-
lums for saying they would not submit to
their husbands authority. Nothing can
save me unless my father and physician
may do it,"
ii can only say" exclaimed the husband,
"that woman who has called upon God to
witness her vow Of obedience, and then ut
terly refuses to obey, is insane, and needs,
if any one on earth does, the care of an asy-
lum."
"Oh, John," said the father, "of course
you don't mean to put her in an asylum.
She is no more crazy than | am"
"YOu are all crazy if you think her con-
duct is right"
The little wife, though paler than usual,
was the quietest of us all.
The husband appealed to me for an opin-
ion upon his wife's sanity. said | had al
WAYS thought her very sensible woman,
and that she was perfectly sane. Upon this
he declared he had long suspected that IA
vored his wife's insurrection, and now ne
would say that my services would hereafter