Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-04-26
HEARTH TENDING.

celebrated English iurist Of the Eighteenth
rentury, as follows:
\ husband has power and dominion over
his wife. and may keep her by force within
the bounds OF her duty, and may beat her,
put not in a violent manner.
The court, disregarding precedent, obliv-
lous Of British and Roman law, decided
that no husband had right to be brute,
ana gave judgment in favor of the wife. A
decision in strict accordance with the idea
that women are no longer vassals, and that
wives have rights which husbands are
bound to respect.
An Illinois husband was recently sued
and heavy DAMAGE asked for SANDER against
his wife. the TWO living apart. A demurrer
was filed on the claim that wife had no
cause Of action against her husband. This
was overruleG by the court, for, said the
Judge:
The idea IS monStrous that man can
pound mis- wife 10 a jelly and Yet rot be held
liable tor damages in civil action brought
Dy her. and / cannot listen 10 any such rea-
sOning by ANY court, no matter how high.
These two decisions serve to show that in
are recognized as being entitled to all that
man may claim as legal rig IS. Two things
are thus Scttlcd-wives are not chattel,
neither ae they to be lightly spoken of by
their spouses II is no strained construc-
ton Of the latter decision that wives living
with OF apart from their husbands may le-
gaily claim damage for Islander, and it may
l. IL,
rhurls rs reserve their uncivil speeches for
home and think they have a legal right 10
say what they please to and of their wives.
the decision Of the English court ought to
be 4 convincing argument that the
wish. uttered by one Of the del
egates 10 the woman's convention
al Washington. was 4 foolish one, fop
there is little question that the women of
the present day are more nearly all queens
than in the age Of which she spoke, there
fore all signing for the days Of old so far lis
wonan's position is concerned is wholly graf
uitious She is holding her own, and men
are concediug her rights quite as fast as
she is learning to use them for her own al
vancement aud the general betterment.
just Aow the danger seems TO be that her
privileges are coming before she is quite
ready for them, and that in order TO grasp
them she is letting go some of the divine
rights that are hers and solely hers. Any
modern theory that leads its apostles to ig-
more wfehood and the more sacred office of
maternity is not advance, but defiance of
law. and for this the payment of the pen
atty is fixed and sure; it IS eXacted Of the
individual, of the family and of the nation.
History repeats the same tale; nations
decay begins at the hearthstone and never
ceases until its temples are dust and its
towers the dwelling place of owls and of
bats
Popular fiction is often an index of social
life and when the drama and the novel
find in faithlessness TO the home their
richest harvest field it is time to pause and
consider what is the growth that thrives in
such grain.
The heroine of the modern newell is
usually looking for some thing to satisfy
the heart" her husband IS commonplace,
her children, if she has any, are only care
y
life are dl'udgeries 10 one of her delicate
mold. Exactly in what her delicacy CON
sislS is not well defined. II is true she sits
or lounges dangerously amid flowers and
perfumes, she wears Jewels and laces, and
fears the wind of heaven, but on her
diyan or in any easy chair she reads the
latest French novel anG feels no tinglings
,iates her its sensuroUs passages, or sits
uublushing witnessing the holder portrayal
upon the stage. Such studies long pursued
nave their effect the lessons they teach APP
peal to feminine vanity and before woman
is aware she too begins to deem herself
misunderstood. she finds her home duties
and family restrictions CALLING. and her
husband unSympath"tic. That woman is
barteriug her birthright for less than
mess of pottage she is paving the way to
grasp forbidden fruit, which, worse than
apples Of Sodom. viii not only
prove To be ashes on the lips, but the bitter
uusatisfyiug portion SO long as lie lasts.
Yes. women are queens, their rights are
many, but there is 10 kingdom so royal as
The home. and no crown so bright as that
tipped with Cornelias Jewels. neither is
there any prerogative SO precious Us that
OF ruling in the sweet spirit OF domesticity
the living subjects that gather in that
kingdom. Vet in order TO do this woman
must be able 10 carry out her ideas indie
peudently she must not be hampcred by
a partner vino claims the right 10 control
her as If she were a serf and address her
as if she We're an inferior. There must be
that mutual confidence and respect which
IS begotteu of the possession of qualities
inspiring il. and of that love which vaunt-
eth not itself. Domestic serfdom dwarfs the
mind of the woman, and the merely mas
terful man soon converts his wife into a
creature of his Will, void of all intellectual
strength, or INTO a fury to wreck his home.
Whatever tends in literature, in society, in
the marriage relation, 10 make woman a
creature of luxurious ease, toy, the play
hing of an hour OF idleness, or the mere
instrument of mans will is a depriving of
rights. Were marriage more generally
real partnership, and the wedding beauties
Oftener the dawn of happy day than 4
glorious sunset, with the glowing tints of
love and hope fading into the deepening
shadows of night, there would be less need
for courts to decide upon the rights of
wives and fewer men and women walking