The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-08-24
v omon Who An Claimed to Be
Superior to Thslr Husbands
PLEA FOR LONG SUFFERING.
4 Frank Though Caustic Analysis Of the
Character, Environments and Disap-
pointmsnts Of the Housewives Of New
Englaad--Msntaa Starvation.

the rights which the better half ought to
enjoy. Many hfen treat their wives as girls
treat their dolls They represent to them
the luxury of life, but not companions In
the struggle for existence. and II is some
what rare to find married people where the
wife takes her place as the legitimate part
ner of her husband In all the concerns of
life. Not that women are not regarded
with couFt6sy and treated with honor az
wives and mothers, but the greater num-
Der of men are so much interested In them
selves, are 80 accustomed to handle money
and do big things. that they do not use the
brains OF their wives nearly so much as
they delight in their affections and in their
methods of dress.
This is true Of society In general when
you penetrate below the crust and see things
as clergyman, physician or lawyer sees
them. It is the rdrest thing In the world
70 find wife who is thoroughly happy In
her domestic relations who does not have
some little secret or yhhappiness which she
confldes to her best friend. who would not
have her husband different II she could,
and who loves him just enough to make
him happy and ceases where idolatry be-
gins.
All this is said by way of preface to the
lives Of the wives of the farmers of New
England. They are Q constituent part Of
the women who have TO do with New Eng
land character, with the training Of the
boys and the girls who are to replenish the
wasted vitality of our cities, and who are
in many cases to take the lead In the ad-
vance Of our civilization. Scattered all
over New England You find homesteads re-
garded with veperation, or cellar holes
where houses once stood, in which great
men and noble women were born and
reared. Such are the places where Hiram
Powers and Daniel Webster and Mary
Lyon and John q. Whistler and Lucy Lar
com were born. Some of the best and
noblsst fruits Of New England manhood
and womanhood expressed itself In the
lives OF these persons. and there Is not Q
well settled township in all New England
where it is not possible to point to this or
that old homestead and be told that Gen
eral Armstrong was born there, or DIR. Pea
body lived there in his childhood, or here
Bishop Huntington first saw the light, or
there the founder Of Smith college lived In
early years.
New England is full of character, and
when you travel through the country and
see the old houses you always think of
those who have gone out from them aud
inquire who were the famous ones that
were brought up In that town. Nine times
out - ten you will find that In sJme little
far ouse. humble and unpretentious.
the. : once lived New England mother
who received the souls of her children
In trust from Almighty God and endeav-
ored in the light Of the Bible and In the
sanctities Of home to inspire them, whether
boys or girls, with the feeling that they
were the children Of God, aud that they
had mission in the world. II Ia these wo-
men who are the unnamed and silently
honored housewives Of New England the
outgrowth Of our homes, the secluded
mothers in the farmhouses, the women who
have less education than they could desire.
and who thirst In their inmost hearts for
the careers which their lot in life has pre-
vented them from entering upon.
Many girl has grown up to womanhood
In the quiet Of rural home without arriv-
ing to consciousness Of her gifts. She has
given herself away in the freshness Of O
youthful affection to the first man who
asked for her heart, aud after marriage and
after becoming the mother OF children her
dormant intellectual and spiritual life has
been awakened, and she has seen visions
and talked with angels and heard the voice
of God in the garden in the cool of the day.
The New England housewife seldom has a
confessor. Mrs. Stowe has penetrated into
the silent lives Of some Of these mothers
and told us how their sensitive natures
were wrought upon by the New England
theology, and many New England pastor
has found in these smothered lives purity,
an elevation OF soul and the inward living
IL IL ~. IL L.. - ~
toral visits Joy and an inspiration to his
life.
The country is full OF these mature wom-
en-, arrived at spiritual consciousness, who
are infinitely above and beyond their situa-
tion, who may be the mothers of children,
and who are trying to inspire these chill
dren with hopes aud aspirations which the
sluggish natures of their husbands have
never aroused. Without access to books
or papers to any extent, and without the
opportunity TO choose interesting compan-
ions, and married so early that they did
not know themselves, these women lead
isolated lives in which they suppress their
higher consciousness and give themselves
up to voluntary martyrdom to duty.
The wives Of the farmers In New England
have had no voice In church or state. They
eIt biient auu lonB SUFFERING Coiupdny.
Even more seldom than In our common So
cial life do these women find congenial COM
panionship in their husbands.
This may seem harsh statement, but
no one can 40 among the people as pastor
or as physician who does not have these
facts impressed upon his mind and heart a
thousand times. What shall be donei IL
ever the farms of New England become
again the heritage of the sturdy yeomanry
Of a century ago, the women who live upon
them will have more husbands who share
in their higher intellectual and moral life,
men who are educated TO their business,
who share In the life of the community,
and who know how to be genial compan-
ions in their own homes, men who 20 TO
church on Sunday and take their part in
the moral upbuilding OF the community.
When women such as grow up In the Sc
clusion Of country homes can find such
companions and such helpers In the bring
Ing up Of their children, they will not waste
the amenities OF life In isolation, but will
become all the more noble because they
have suitable companionsbip and inspira-
zion in their own homes. Boston Globe.