The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-01-22
COCO WIVES.
The Qualities of Mind and Heart They
should Possess.

rhs Qualities of Mind and Heart They
should Possess.
This statement of what an affection
ate, industrious, loyal woman may be-
come seems severe, but. alas. it is too
often true. 1t is the domestic version
Of the mint, anise. and cummin story so
constantly repeated in human lives.
The weightier matters of the law come
from the heart and soul of the individ-
ual. They can not be got with the
labor of the hands. They are of the
spiritual and mental life, growing, ex-
panding, and dominating the labor Of
the hands in constant proportion to
their use, and, little used, leaving the
man or woman sordid, petty, ignoble.
And because these matters can not be
weighed or measured, but felt and en-
perienced, is perhaps why it is that they
are 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 infiu-
ences These spiritual qualities be-
come vivified when transfused through
living. loving heart They work
hourly transformations in the labors of
day, making homely toll beautiful,
and guiding aspirations always to
kinder, tenderer deeds.
No one should keep these high ideals
more constantly in the foreground of
the life picture which each of us is daily
painting than the wife and mother. The
buster and more work a-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 Bak-
ing, sweeping, sewing, planning-these
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 family are cold. There are no
cobwebs, but the minds are narrow and
small Every material possession is
there, but the inmates seek pleasure,
interest and sympathy elsewhere. 1t
may seem unjust to lay so much of the
deterioration of home at the wife's
door, but she is the ad-dispenser,
and it is not alone the material food
she is to give forth, but that which
shall feed the ambitious, steady the
purposes and purify the hearts of those
for whom she has assumed her place.
A wife who has no interest in her
husbands pursuits, or who cares not to
understand his perplexities. fails in her
opportunities. The wife who shuts out
social pleasures and relaxations because
they bore her or because she is too
busy, errs She either forces her hus-
band to seek pleasure without her, and
drives the first wedge of divergence be-
tween them. or else shuts him into her
own narrow atmosphere. And so,
through all the experience of home life,
the wife fails IL she looks at everything
wholly from a material standpoint
1t is not strange when children hear
nothing but pretty talk and see moth
ing but dull repeated work that they
grow up without capacity for high
thoughts, and lacking the power to re-
sist moral temptations Natures grow
on what they feed on, and purity of
motive and elevated purpose must have
their roots planted and watered when
the heart is young.
A woman who thinks that her house
work, which weilnigh overwhelms her,
is all she can do, may be sure that there
is no better use for a portion of her
time than to daily lift herself out of the
narrow confines of her labors and to
rest and refresh herself in new inter-
ests and broader sympathies Any
woman can do this, though all do not
climb the same pathway or reach the
same height The opportunities may
be few and the advantages slight, but
faithfully used they will develop, and
step by step the way will lead ever on
ward and upward And the first step
in the pathway is to see what piece of
work can go undone, and the time be
saved. rather than how much more
mint anise and cummin the busy
housewife can crowd into her already
too hurried days
Having thus breathed the broader
air, if only briefly. let her persevere.
assured that in this way is to be builded
the rounded, balanced character of the
good wife-a higher and nobler crea-
ture than all the companies of man
ayers" beneath the canopy of heaven.
To Do,or