The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1888-02-16

Greenwood Of monumental inscriptions
will not do wife so much good after
she has quiet the world, as one plain SEN
tence like that which Tom Hood wrote
to his living wife, when he said: 81
never was anything till knew you"
Oh woman, what is your wifely am
bition, 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 in what
depth OF ON what height he will after
While be found l cannot even guess. The
contest for social position is the most un-
satisfactory contest in all the world, be-
cause it is SO uncertain about your getting
it, and SO insecure possession after you
have obtained it, and so unsatisfactory
even if you keep it. The whisk of
lady's fan may blow it out. The growl
of one bear or the believing of one bull
on Wall street may scatter it.
Is the wife's ambition the political pre-
ferment of her husbanda Then that will
probably direct him. What God for
saken realm is American politics those
best know who have dabbled in them.
After they have assessed man who is
capdidate for office, which he does not
get, or assessed him for some office at
tanned, and he has been whirled 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 respect or moral
stamina would find plenty of room on
geometrical point, which is said to have
neither length, breadth or thickness.
Many a wife has not been satisfied till
her husband went into politics, but
would afterward have given all she pos
sessed to get him out.
/ knew highly moral man, useful in
the church and possessor of a bright
home. He had useful and prosperous
business, but his wife did not think it
genteel 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 some
thing more elegant, although he was
qualified for no business except that in
which he was engaged. To please her
he changed his business, and In order to
get on faster abandoned church attend
ance, saying after he had made certain
number of hundreds of thousands
of dollars he would return to the
church and its services Where is that
family today? Obliterated. Although
succeeding in business for whish he was
qualified, he undertook style of mer-
chandise for which he had no qualifica-
ton and soon went into bankruptcy.
His new style of business put him into
evil association. He lost his morals as
well as his money. He broke up not
only his own home, but broke up another
mans home; and, from being kind,
pure, generous, moral man as any of you
who sit here today, has become home
less, penniless ibertine. His wife's am
bition for a more genteel business de-
stroyed him and disgraced her, and
blighted their only child.
But suppose now there be in our homes,
as thank God there are in hundreds of
homes here represented, on the wifely
throne one who says not only by her
words, but more powerfully by her
actions: s'My husband, our destinies are
| united; let us see where industry, hon
esty, common sense and faith in God
will put us. am with you in all your
enterprises. cannot be with you in
person as you go to your daily business,
but I will be with you in my prayers.
Let us see what we can achieve by hav-
ing God in our hearts, and God in our
lives, and God in our homes. Be on the
side of everything good. Go ahead and
do yeur best, and though everything
should turn cut different from what we
have calculated, you may always count
on two who are going to help you,
and God Is one and I am the
other That man may have feeble
health and may meet with many
obstacles and business trials, but
he is coming gloriously through, for he is
REINFORCED, and inspired, and spurred on
by a woman's voice, as much as was
Barak by Deborah, when Sisera with nine
hundred iron chariots came on to crush
him and his army, and Deborah shouted
in the ear of Barak: ''Upl for this is the
day in which the Lord hath delivered
Sisera into thine hands" And the enemy
fell back, and Sisera's chariot, not get
ting along fast enough in the retreat, the
general jumped out and took it afoot,
and ran till he came to place where a
woman first gave him drink of milk
and then sent spike through his skull,
mailing him to the floor.
Some of usSould tell Of what influence
upon us has been wifely ambition con-
secrated to righteousness. AS my wife
is out of town and will not shake her
head because I say it in public, will
state that in my own professional life I
have often been called of God, as I
thought, to run into the very teeth Of
public opinion, and all outsiders with
whom advised told me had better not,
it would ruin me and ruin my church,
and at the same time was receiving
nice little letters threatening me with
dirk and pistol and poison if persisted
in attacking certain evils of the day,
until the commissioner of police con-
sidered it his duty to take his place in our
Sabbath services, with forty officers
scattered through the house for the
preservation of order; but In my
home there has always been one
voice to say: "Go ahead and diverge
not an inch from the straight line. Who
cares if only God is on our side?" And
though sometimes It seemed as If / was
going out against 900 iron chariots,
went ahead, cheered by the domestic
voice: "Up! for this is the day in which
the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine
hands,"
A man is no better than his wife will
let him be. Oh, wives Of America, swing
your scepters of wifely influence for God
and good honest Do not urge your hus-
bands TO annex Naboth's vineyard to
your palace of success, whether right OIL
wrong, lest the dogs that come out to de.
stroy Naboth come out also to devoul
you. Righteousness will pay best in life,
will pay best in death, will pay best ir
the judgment, will pay best through al
eternity.
In our effort to have the mother oi
every household appreciate her influences
over her children, we are apt to forget
the wife's influence over the husband
In many households the influence upor
the husband is the only home influence
In great multitude of the best and mos
important and most talented families o1
the earth, there have been no descend