The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1891-01-29
THE TRUE HOME.
Duties That Devolve IpOn the Wife :.
Make 1t y Reality.

Duties That Devolye Upon the Wife to
Make 1t y Reality.
How much is heard of strife and mis-
rule. Men and women wasting precious
gifts. growing hard and wicked, slaves
to the basest passions. going down to
death, or worse than death with no
hand stretched out to save, and all this
for the lack of true hcme. The roots
Of all pure love, of piety and honor.
must spring from this home. First, above
all other honors. in woman's ambition,
should be to found such a shelter, where
she may reign its queen. No honor can
be higher than to know she has built
such home: no dignity greater than to
know she can be recognized as its hon.
ored. undisputcd mistress. To preside
there with such skill that husband and
children will rise up and call her
blessed, is nobler than to rule an EN-.
pire.
Hut husband and wife, father and
mother. must not be divided. II must
he united kingdom. While the wife
and mother finds her duties chiefly in
the home and the husband and father
finds his chiefly among the busy work.
ers outside. yet on both sides all should
tend toward the common center-he
largely producing the means by which
she can succeed in making home most
rcstful and attractive, and be herself
supremely blessed through his loving
appreciation Of her efforts.
No doubt man often abuses his power.
bringing sorrow to her who, trusting
and loving him, should be the sole mis-
tress Of his heart, the equal partner in
all he possesses, in his joys as well rs
in his sorrows. But however true this
may be is it not equally true that there
are cases where the woman Thou
gavest me-" has also abused the power
with which marriage endowed her, de-
stroying the peace of home and making
shipMreck Of all that her husband held
most precious.
The law has not secured to the wife
such independence as will guard her
against injustice and abuse from the
hands of her husband. But what de-
fense has it provided to shield the hus-
band from The bitter sorrow which q
Lad wife can bring to him?
1t is well that this matter has, of late,
been SO widely agitatated. 1t may tend
to establish the rights of both man and
| woman on tirmer foundation: but if,
before this is fully settled, an estimate
should be made of the wrongs which
each may bring upon the other, we fear
it wo,1d prove nearly equal.
An. if both would remember thct
with them. as in all associations. Union
is Strength: that united they stand, di'
vided they must fall: that together they
should walk through life. together share
j. the joys. together bear the burdens and
crosses, what a happy world this would
] he, As united kingdcm the wife &C
cepts her share of the rough, AS well a,
j the smooth. Under her part of the ad
| ministration must come the vexation O
spirit SO common through the inefiicien
servants of the present day-and this il
not. by any means, small burden
and all the other hindrances which $,
constantly arise to retard her efforts il
securing the perfection of the home sh'
is trying to build.
But good wife. seeing and KNOWN:
what these trials are, will not give then
such prominence as to disturb the peac'
of home. The knowledge of the pur,
| and holy elements that must lie at th
| foundation of home, will enable her :,
forget, or put out of sight such trials
aud the peace and JOY which, through
her unselfishness. she can bring to he
husband and family, she will find al
abundant reward.
Meanwhile. the husband accepts hi
| portion of care in this united kingdom
Are they usually any lighter, less per
picking than the wife's?
Look ut them. The toll and strife
the battling with the great world out
side-in whatever capacity his talent
or duties may call him by which he cal
provide necessities, Injuries, or homo
for the dear ones he seeks 10 shelter il
the sacred precincts Of home.
We have seen much Of life and in al
most all Of its wonderfully changing
| aspects. and are cons ineea that tire Joy
and the sorrows, the crosses and tn
crowns in married life are about equal
divided between the husband and tn
wife. We are confident that nothin
will right all the wrongs and brin
order out of the confusion arisin
from the many disturbing question
that are constantly arising, as tn
shelter of the true home ruled over l.
husband and wife in all loving cont
dence and unitedly.-Mrs. Henr
Ward Beccher, in Ladies' Home Joul
nal.