The Brookhaven leader., 1884-02-28
Sensible Women.

A sensible woman takes life ph 10
sophically, which is by no means the
same as tepidly or unfeelingly. What
she can conquer by calm, strong resist
ance she does what she can not con-
quer she submits to patiently and quiet
ly. Where shrek would free her from
danger she would scream as loaldly as
her neighbors; lut where it would do
nothing for her own safely and much
for the distraction of those who heard
her, she keeps u calm sough and bctrays
nothing even to the reeds. If fond of
the country and her fate lands her at
Bermondsey she makes the be It of what
she has, and refuses to shape the wood
of her house tree into a cross she can
never forget. Certainly Bermondsey
is not inviting, and her father place
down in Somersc,shirc was q very hca-
ven of rural beauty. But if she can not
have it, what s { use of crYing over
the inevitable, of desiring the impossi-
bic, of irving to churn the split milk in
to butter? " hen she married her Janus
she married into the cont ngcncieS of a
clergyman life, among which is count
ed the necessity of taking what will give
And again, if on the other hand she has
been used to the intellectual life and
vivac'ty of London, she does net moon
away her life in unavailing regrets
when she is sent down to that dcsolate,
companionless living on the edge of the
fcns, but sets herself to make the gar
den trim and the house pretty and
homelike within, and when she is forced
to look out she speaks of the sense of
expanse in the sky and not of the ugly
dreariness of the landscape, nor yet of
the desolatc solitude of her surround
ings. She is far too sensible to spend
her strength in regrets, and she thinks
the best way of bearing burdens of all
kinds is to pad them with chearfulness,
and not to cut her shoulders sore with
unavailing irritation. Thin-s which
have to be Inc ut any cost, things
which have to be borne at any price,
she does and bears with the wise cour-
age of common sense, by which she
avoids the pains courted by fretfulness,
and, in making the best of things. has
always something in her hand which at
least is relatively good. Cheerful and
fond of children, as all sensible women
are and must be to deserve the style and
name, she is the life of the small brood
when they gather in little groups or
isolated uni s, stiff, strange and shy, in
the drawing-rocm where they are the
guests of the hour. If the hostess is
inapt, the sensible woman supplies her
deficiencies and takes her place natur-
ally, as of right, and by orderly
arrangement of things. No one knows
how she does it, but in short time she
has put all in train, when the ball is set
rolling, and the fun of the fair has be-
gun. The children look to her as their
leader, and she knows how to smooth
away all the difficulties which may
arise She encourages the tim'd, helps
the awkward, gently represses the rude.
tames into due subOrdination, without
extinguishing, the rampant spirits of
the boisterOus. Sfc makes herself the
center and the soul, but always with
moderation; and what, without her,
would have been fiasco for dullness,
or a riot for rudeness, she makes into
al evening of which the little creatures
talk for weeks after, and remember for
years as a glimpse into fairyland. So
in any home where sNe may be with
young people long past mere childhood.
If wet day comes she sets everything
in motion, and turns what else would
have been gloom and ennui into pleas
ure and brisk amusement. And all
this is without any kind of self-asser-
ton, though. being a sensible woman,
she is nationally fond of amusement for
her own share. Still, it is as much or
rather more, for others than for herself
that she works at making things GO
and her de ire tOamuse others is strong
er than even her own wish to be amused.
The sensible woman takes healthy in
terest in her neighbors, but she is by no
means gossip, still less scandal
monger. At no time will she be brought
into the folly of discussing motives, or
Judging of things by the seamy side of
app, arances. And persistently bored
by those who find pleasure in seeing
al, things a travers and all people more
or less scoundrels undetectcd, she does
her best t. mitigate what she can not
prevent. She has strong principles, but
she is not an active prose'yter. She
lets Others think for themselves, and,
only when called on to testify, raises
her own private flag aloft. She knows
the difference between constancy and
aggression, and, with the courage of
her opinions, has als) the modeSty OF
reticence. She treats her servants as
in a certain sense her friends, her chill
dren, while still keeping the reins of
home government in her own hands.
But they all know that when they do
Their duty she will reward them or at
least recognize by kind word and hearty
acknowledgment that they have done
well, and that when they nc. lect it she
will rebuke them, She will be neither
Indifferent on The one side nor remiss
on the other; and thus her household
ALWAYS feels and knows that her eyes
are open and her heart is warm.-LOn-
don queen.
HuntiDp Husband,