The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1892-01-23
GOOD WIVES.
rhu Qualities Of sind and iioart Thoy
thpull ros4p.s

rhu Qualities OF sind and iioart They
rhuUld possn,s.
This statement OF what an affection
itc, Industrious loyal woman may be-
,omc seems severe. but, alas! it is too
,itcn true. 1t is the domestic version
VI the mint, anisc, and cummin story SO
constantly repeated in human lives.
The wcighti,r matters Of the law come
from the heart and soul OF the indiyii-
nal. They can not be got with the
,abor OF the hands. They are of the
spiritual and mental life, growing, eN-
pnnding, and dominating the labor of
the hands in constant proportion to
their use and, little used, leaving the
man or woman sordid, petty, ignoblc.
And because these matters can not be
weighed or measured, but felt and ex-
pericnccd, is perhaps why it is that they
arc harder to grasp when practical du-
ties fill the hours. But in that grasp
lies the key of such a life as shall sat
isfy and bless those within its iuilu-
cuccs These spiritual qualities be-
come viv.fed when transfuscd through
q living, loving heart They work
hourlv transformations in the labors Of
a day, making homely toll beautiful,
and guiding aspirations always to
| kinder, tendcrer deeds.
No one should keep these high ideals
moro constantly in the foreground Of
the life picture which each of us is daily
! painting than the wife and mother. Tn
| buster and more work. u-day the life,
| the greater should be the effort to think
! high thoughts, and not TO let the labor
descend into more drudgery, akin to
| instructive routine of the animal. Bali
ing, sweeping, sewing, planning-thcse
duties take the strength and time OF The
majority of housewives. But every one
can recall many houses where every
! duty is exactly performed, yet where
the essence OF home life has been evap
Grated All is immaculate but the hearts
of the funily are cold There are nc
cobwebs. but the minds are narrow anC
small. Every material possession i
| there but the inmates seek pleasure
interest and sympathy elsewhere. II
may seem unjust, to lay so much Of thc
deterioration OF home at the wife
door, but she is the bread-dispenser
and it is not alone the material fooC
she is to give forth, but that whicl
shall feed the ambitious, steady tht
purposes, and purify the hearts of those
for whom she has assumed her place.
a wife who has no interest in he
husbands pursuits or who cares not t.
understand his perpleXities, fails in he
opportunities. The wife who shuts ou
social pleasures and relaXations because
thp,- la,. .l,n So 20,
busy, crrs She either forces her hus
band to seek pleasure without her, anC
drives the first wedge of divergence be
tween them, or else shuts him into he
own narrow atmosphere. And SO
through all the experience of home life
the wife fails if she looks at everythin,
wholly from material standpoint.
1t is not strange when children hea
nothing but pretty talk and see moth
ing but dull repeated work that the,
grow up without u capacity for higI
thoughts, and lacking the power to re
sist moral temptations Natures groy
on what they feed on, and purity o
motive and elevated purpose must hnv
their roots planted and watered whe
the heart is young
A woman who thinks that her house
work, which wellnigh ovcrwhelms hei
is all she can do, may be sure that thcr
p, is no better use for II portion OF he
time than to daily lift herself out of tn
narrow confines of her Iabors, and t
rest and refresh herself in new inter
csts and broader sympathics An
; woman can do this, though all do nc
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