The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-09-20
The Woman's Part.
LChristian Register.l

The WOman's Part.
IChristian Regster.]
The work of woman in home. /
is so pre-eminent that it may /
almost be said, the woman is the |
home. Without the outhowing of |
her love, the warmth of her sympa- i
thies, the wisdom of her oversight,
the charm of her touch, and the at
of her presence, there can !
be no home, in the highest meaning
of the word. But many women, with
hearts full Of love and hands never
weary in service, fall far shot of the
possibilities of their natures in the
direction OF home-making, through
wrong theories OF domestic life or
false education in regard to its duties.
In our complex civilization, women
occupy all the positions accorded else
where to their seX-from maid to
mistress, from housekeeper to
social queen, from drudge
to plaything. The amount of
thankless servitude performed by
women in the capacity of wives, in
this country, has been equaled in kind
and extent only by the same number
of slaves under other civilizations;
while the pampercd luxury of another
class can be paralleled only in histori
cal epoCbS with which any true
American would shrink from compa-
risOn. Neither of these conditions is
favorable to true home life. Rever-
ence, respect, sympathy, companion
ship, love-all these the wife must
receive, and repay in kind, with feel
ing of the bleSSedneSS of the service
added, in order to be lifted toward the
high ideal.
Superficial "reformerS" have blamed
women for not making home attrac-
tive" when they were working twelve
or fifteen hours a day to keep the
house in order, the mouths fed and
the backs covered. Others have
blamed society, instead of the indi-
viduals justly censurable, for the
enormous establishments wherein the
children are turned over to the nurse
and governess, the husband perpe-
trates constructive bigamy by becom-
ing welded to his clubs, and the
mother is more devoted to her own
pleasures than to her home. But be-
tween these two equally unfortunate
extremes stand the great mass of
home making and home loving Amer
lean people, most OF them trying to
do their duty and to confer happiness
on those committed to their care.
1t is this class that we have found
most ready to accept suggestions look
ing toward the betterment of their
lives or their conditions. When a
right-minded man, who has been care
| less in these matters, reads that he
ought to give himself, as well as his
money, toward the making Of his
| home-that he ought to be the helper
of his heIpmeet, and the friend, teacher
and companion of lis children-he is
apt to fold his paper across his knees,
look thoughtful, and resolve to do bet
ter: And so, when we say to wives
and mothers that, despite their
impatience at all the dinning
ears on this subject, they cannot think
too deeply or clearly as to their part
in this millennial work, we are sure
well said that the best test, both of q
mans wisdom and Woman's good
ness, is their cheerfulness. Cheerful
ness is sunshine in life, and its acts
upon the home virtues as the sun
upon flowers; they sprout, bud
bloom, and send forth their fragrance
to bless the world, under it's happy in
fuence. Considering that some meI
have forty Old-Probalities power q
bringing clouds into the domestic SKY
the woman who can keep the hon,
atmosphere bright with cheerfulnesi
is indeed an "angel Of hight" And il
this direction lie many sweer
services that would lie duties
if they were~Rett something highel
and finer Home is where the hear
is, and it is a part of woman's %orl
] to keep the heart of her husband anC
children where she is. We need moi
particulariZe upon this point. Il
nothing are woman's Intuition:
swifter or more sure, when an emer
gency calls them forth, than in mat
tiers of the home and love life. L,
planning for pleasure and a fresl
mind in the evening, by the charm
of sitting room comfort, by tn
needed fabrication of the domesti,
machinery, by the invention of diver
sions or recreations, by all possible
things with which she can help Il
realize the ideal or idealize the real
will the true wife seek to make HON
what the sweet old song. who's
melody has gone round the world, de
ciares it to be.