The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-02-14

10! tnc vote sue may never get, or, getting ii,
fbd II ontbaianced bY some other vote not fit
to be cast arise now in the might 81 the eter.
nal Tod and WELD the power Of a saictifed
wiiely ambition for good approx mating the
infinite.
No one can 50 inspire a man to noble pur-
| poses as noble woman, and no one 50 thorough
I ly degrade a man as q wife of unworthy ten
/ denotes, While in my text we have iiustra-
ton Of wiiely ambition employed in the wrong
direction, society and history are full Of in
! stances of wiiely ambition glorioisy tri-
u'nphant in right directions. All that was
| worth admiration in the character OF Henry
" was reflection Of the hcioics of His wife
! Margaret. William prince Of Orange, was re-
stored to tho right path by the grand qualities
| Of his wife Mary. Justinian, the Roman en-
| peror, confesses that his wise laws were the
/ suggestion of his wife Theodore. Andrew
Jackson, the warrior and president had his
mightiest reinforcement in his plain
| wife, whose jnarti5tlC attire
| was the ainusement of the
/ elegant circles in which She was invited
| Washington. who broke the chain, that held
| America in foIeign vassalagc, wore for forty
| years chain around his own neck, that chain
! holding the miniature likeness OF her who
! had been his greatest inspiration, whether
! among the SHOWS at Valley Forge or amid the
honors of the presidential chair. Pliny's pen
| was driven through all its poetic and historical
| dominions by his wife Calpurnia. WHO sang
his stanzas to the sound of flute and sat among
audiences enraptured by her husbands ge-
.
said he got all his eloquence and statesman
ship from his wife. When the wife OF Grotius
rescued him from long imprisonment at Love
stem by means OF bookcase that went i'll and
ont, carrying his books to and fro, he
one day transported, hidden amid
the folios, and the women of
besicged Weinsberg, getting per-
mission from the victorious army to take with
them 50 much of their vauabIcs as they could
carry, under cover of the promise shouldered
and took with them the most important
valuables their husbands Both achievements
In literal way illustrated what thousands Of
times has been done in figuratiye way, that
wifeiy ambition has been the salvation of
men.
De Tocquevlle, whose writings will be po-
tental and quoted while the world lasts,
says: "Of all the blessings which God
has given to me the greatest of
all in my eyes is to have lighted on Maria
Motley. Martin Luther says Of his wife: II
would not exchange my poverty with her for
all the riches of Crasus without her. Isa-
bella, of Spain, by her superior faith in
Columbus put into the hand OF Ferdinand,
her husband America. John Adams president
OF the United States, said of his wife: "She
never by word or look discouraged me from
running all hazards for the salvation of my
comtry's libertics' Thomas CARLYLE spent
the last twenty years of his life in trying by
his pen TO atone for the fact that during his
wifes life he never appreciated her influence
taken her from beautiful home and bril-
liant career he should have buried her in the
home of a recluse, and scoded heg in SUCH
language as only a dyspeptic genius could
manage, until one day while in her invalidism
riding in Hyde Park her pet dog got run
over, and under the excitement the
coachman found her dead. Then
the literary giant woke from his
conjuga injustice and wrote the lamentations
OF Craigen- Puttock and Cheyne Row. The
elegant and fulSome epitaphs that husbands
put upon their wives tombstones are often an
attempt TO make up for her lack of apprecia-
tive words that should have been uttered i'll
the ears OF the living. A whole Greenwood
OF monumental inscriptions will not do a wife
so much good after she has quit the world as
one plain sentence like that which Tom Hood
wrote to his living wife when he said: II
never was anything until | knew you"
woman, what is your wfely ambition,
noble or ignoble? Is it high social position?
That will then probably direct your husband,
and he will climb and scramble and Slip and
fall and rise and tumble and on what level or
i'll what depth, or on what height lie will after
while be found | cannot even guess The
contest for social position is the most unSatis-
factory contest i'll all the world, because it is
SO uncertain about your getting it, and so in
secure possession after you have obtained it,
and so unsatisfactory even if you keep it The
whsk of lady's fan may blow it out. The
grow Of one bear or the believing of one bull
Oh Wall street may scatter it.
ment of her husband? Then that will prob
ably direct him. What God forsakon realm
is American politics, those best know who
have dabbed in them. After they have
assessed a man who is a candidate for office
which he does not get, or assessed him for
some Office attained, and he has been wlIrled
round and round and round and round among
the drinking, smoking, swearing crowd who
often get control Of public affairs, all that is
left of his self-reSDCCt or moral stamina would
which is said to have neither length, breadth
or thickness. Many a wife has not been salts
He'd till her husband went into politics, but
would afterward have given all she possessed
TO get him out.
knew highly moral man, useful in the
church and posSessor Of bright home. He
lad a useful and prosperous business, but his
wife did not think il gonteel enough. There
were odorS about the business and sometimes
they would adhere to his garments when he
returned at night. She insisted ON his doing
something more elegant although he wa
qualified for no business except that in which
he was engaged. To please her he CT anged
his business, and in order 10 get on faster
he abandoned church attendance, saying after
lie had made a certain number OF hundreds of
thousands of dollars he would return to the
church and its services. Where is
that family today. Obtciatcd. Although
succeeding III business for which lie was quail
lied. he undertook style of merchandise fer
which he had no qualification, and soon went
into bankruptcy. His new style of business
plU him INTO evil association lie LOST his
morals rs we'll rs his money He broke upnot
only his OWN home but broke MP another mans
home, and from being u kind, pure. generous,
moral man, NJ auy OF YOU who SIT here today,
las become homol 'SS, pCnNl3C-S lihCriine.
I His wites ambition for luo,e grntccl bust
ness destroyed him and diSgrccd her and
blishtca their emily child.
/ But suppose NV there he IN our homes. rs
! thank God there are in hundreds OF homes
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