The Brookhaven leader., 1885-05-07

| CNC UNION,
''She looketh well to the ways of her
household, aud eateth not the bread of
I idleness."
This proverb teaches that the
true woman is ever watchful for ac-
tive and useful employ ment. "Sbe
looketh well to The ways of her
househould" implies that she is not
a mere ivy clinging to the oak, but
help.mate, bearing equal bur
dens and responsibilities. The oak
and ivy theory sounds very well in
poetry, but it is fatal when put into
practice. The girl educated TO this
theory will, when she marries. I'M
mediatelylutilize it and thus, many
promising saplIng is stunted into
very scrubby little OAK.
The true woman of every age has
been industrious, her employment
being governed by the time and
place in which she lived, and her
advancement in knowledge and re-
finement improved or retarded by
the prosperity or adversely Of her
country. In times not long gone our
mothers busilv piled the wheel, and
sought no higher accomplishment
for their daughters than that they
should learn to spin and weave; but
now that the many iron fingers in
our factories spin our fleece, take up
the thread and weave it into cloth,
what shall woman do to keep pace
with the rapid sli it of the
age ? Work she must. Earth's
noble victories are only won by bold
and heroic action, and no one can
succeed who holds cork at arms
length and goes into it with a faint
heart. God has appointed a work
for every earnest soul, and no man
or woman can lead q respectable
life without work God has also
appointed rewards to follow work
as surely as seed time follow sow
ing. Though sometimes it msy APP
pear that while we are doing our
feeble best our friends are leaving
us TO struggle alone without the
support and sympathy that we have
a right to expect.
American women believe they
can do anything, therefore they try
to do every thing. Accepting the
fact that woman's province is home,
we here find her with one woman S
strength, trying To do the work
formerly required of two or three
servants. This is why we so often
see irowns, backaches, irritabiliiy,
headaches and heartacheS. Only a
certain amount Of strength is given
for certain amount Of labor, and
when she works beyond that the re-
suit is misery. No one person can
do everything. Ills true that the
luXuries have great moral influence
and are much to be desired, but
greater is the moral influence of
cheerful roman. "There is nothing
in the world | dread" said the
Household Philosopher, like a thor
oughly exhausted woman. No
amount of. personal comfort can
compensate for such state of af
fairs" 1t cannot DE the design of
the Creator that the Whole of life
should be spent in drudgery to supply
our animal wants.
Then it is plainly the duty of
woman to so balance her affairs az
to leave some time to rest from
drulgery and to attend to the more
pleasant duties of life, to the proper
training of her children and the cul
tivatlon Of her own mind so that she
may not fall behind the literature of
the day that she NAV be capable of
generous sympathy, tender help or
companionship.
Ills woman's calling co visit the
sick and to comfort the afflicted, hut
ia making such visits she should
exercise much care and discretion, for
often the sick have been visited to
death. Her visits should be helpful
and her word cheerful and mildly
spoken, and on no account should
she allow her tongue to out rattle
the dinner bell. as physician was
recently heard TO say of one, nor
should indulge in gossip or SANDER
is sometimes the case, for
"Words are mighty, words are living
Serpents with their venomous stings,
Or bright angels crOwding round US
With Heavens light upon their wings"
A thoughtful woman may learn
from her own experience when it is
proper to visit the sick and what is
comforting TO the distressed. Tender
words Of sympathy never fail to
reach the heart. Then there are lit
tie gifts, dainty morsel, or even a
tiny bunch of flowers to some APP
preciative mind will not lose its re-
ward.
To do all these things will require
much giving up in household
where there are many pretty con-
veniences and keep sakes to be kept
clean, for things must be kept clean.
there is no doubt about that, hut
she must reduce the number Of
things. The thousand and one lit
tie brackets, wall-pockets and what
nots, filled with grass to catch dust
and make work, are as senseless as
they are useless. The spare room
and parlor in many homes make too
much house for the one woman who
must do the work. Wisdom sug-