The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-06-18
WOMEN WHO WANT TO RULE.
The Woman Who Manages Husband and
Family, and the Woman Who Lives Alone.

for twelve months, and you will have yours TOR
the rest of your life" With the immense major
ity of men the thing is entirely true. There are
plenty Of husbands who are too stupid to know
when they are managed and when they are man
ayers. 1t is easy for clever woman to make
them believe that she is the most obedi-
the path along which they are led
is of their own deliberate choosing.
But besides this, there are many men,
especially among the soft-hearted of their
SEX who like to be managed They feel that if
necessity required it, they could kick over the
traces and smash the whole equipage so easily.
They like to hear the persuading voice in their
ear and to feel the gentle hand upon the reins;
They rather take pride in their auietness and
treat the race of men who are always forcing
their female relatives this way and that with
deep inward contempt. But it often happens
that by and by the gentle hand, of which we have
spoken, tightens the reins. The voice is as
sweet as ever, the sound of the whip is never
heard, but there is distinct Tightening. The
inferior animal observes it with inward amuse
ment He notices the little articles and pardons
them. He yields for the mere pleasure of yield
ing.
At last the lady presumes little to much and
he gets FESTIVE. Samson thinks it is time to put
a stop to this sort of thing, and he rises up in
his strength to snap the threads. But he is sure
to select wrong occasion AS certain as he can
be, he chooses to manifest his will in some way
in which he is hopelessly, grievously in the
wrong.
AS years 60 on and the children grow mp, this
admirable woman rules her household as auto
cratically and with good result as she man
ages her titular master. Everything about her
is of the best and we'll ordered. Her carriages,
her horses, her gardens and Conservatives are
always in perfect condition. Her servants do
not generally stay very long in the family, but
while they stay they behave to perfection. Her
childrenrather shrank from her in their younger
days and feared her more than they loved her;
now they respect her, not without reason. Her
sons consult her rather than their father the
girls seldom confde in her of their own accord,
but they would no more dream of opposing
her will than of opposing park OF artillery.
Her husband has long ago recognized that
acquiesceDce means quiet and comfort and
that rebellion would bring unimaginable
woes: he is now as peaceabe and con
tented any other stalled animal AS she
sits in church on a Sunday morning her feet on
a high hassock and her large square chin nest
ling in soft fur, her husband and her offspring
around her, the gentle sigh of satisfaction tells
you that she is satisfied with her lot and with
herself; that paradise, though soothing, is a
totally superfuous idea. Her numerous friends
admire her. She is such a capital wife, such an
excellent Ter e mother Young men men though Ugh
praise. If she gives a dance, it is sure
to be a bright and pleasant affair;
her dances are never dull. To see this lady in
the act OF managing her prospective sons-in-law
is a study that only Jane Austen could under
take She understands male human nature well
enough to give her aCghters little more liberty
than She ever acknowledges. She can work at
little things If necessary. But her code of pro
priety is nevertheless inviolable-supreme; and
he who presumes to oppose it openly finds very
soon that he is pushing against an iron wall
She is fond of giving advice and offers it to high
and low, rich and poor. with a liberal tongue
Il told her, poor thing, that she had much bet
ter have no more to do with him'-'I told him
thought he would really do better to go travel
ing, poor manr-and such like phrases always
embellish her accounts of her friends misfor-
tunes.
There is another kind of boss woman-one of
a very different type. She has no legitimate
kingdom-no husband and children over whom
she may WELD her authority; so she takes the
world at large for her care. She generally lives
alone, with two or three female domestics,
whose uglness would be of itself sufficient
guaranty for their high responsibility. Aunt
Julia is secretly hated by all her nephews and
nieces without exception. She has always one
or more schemes on hand for advancing the
morality of her neighbors and of the universe
generally
She knows about the deplorable use which the
young gentleman over the way makes of his
latch-key, and considers it to be her duty to in
form that poor girl to whom he is engaged of the
fact. She is perfectly acquainted with the cir
cumstance that that forward little mink Fanny
Lightfoot danced third time the other evening
with Lieutenant X, throwing over Mr.. Y in a
perfectly shameless manner, Poor Fanny is in
a tiutter for weeks lest Miss Julias ring should
be heard at her mothers door. This very man
schemes on foot for the regeneration
of the race She subscribes to the
temperance movement, the Anti-tobacco
League, and the Association for the Suppression
of Games of Chance, besides being honorary
secretary to the British and Foreign Society
for the Reformation of Fathers, which naturally
takes up good deal of her time and makes it
impossible for her to attend so closely to Miss
Fanny Lightfoots affairs as she could wish. She
is great in parish matters, and the vicar praises
her outwardly and fears her in his heart Every
Wednesday afternoon shehas mothers meet
ing" at which she instructs thirty-five stalwart
matrons their duty to their husbands and
the best way of bringing up their babies, and
generally conducts for them affairs of their
families AS rule this good lady has in her
house some unfortunate child, the eldest of ten
Tin training, in the capacity of under house
maid-unfortunate not because she is not
treated hundred times better than she
would be at home, but because her
will and her natural instincts get
such thorough training that she either
grows up an automaton flies off at tangent.
1t is not that Miss Julia is malicious or even
ill-tempered but she will take it upon herself to
manage all the world and his wife and his wife's
relations. She was known upon one occasion to
send Florry Dunderhead home in tears-such
vision had she given the poor child of the fates
that awaited her and her family through her
miserable want of proper management Florry
wept as before mentioned, and refused to be
comforted except upon her Toms faithful bosom.
Next morning Tom Dunderhead called upon our
managing friend and told her in very plain
words to mind her own business. Since that
time the Dunderheads have been allowed to go
to destruction in their own way. Tom always
declares that the boss woman only needs to be
told often enough to go to Bath in order to be-
come laudable, or at least tolerable, member
of society.
Abraham Lincolns Americanism.