Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1895-08-22
THE SWEET WOMAN.
IT IS A MIST AXE TO IMAGINE THE
TERM IMPLIES WEAKNESS.
Sweetness Ia tn. Principal Trait OF Women
Who Are Truly Great-The Self Sacri-
fcing, the Refined, the Tender, All De-
serve the Expressive Term.

acing. the Refined, the Tender, All De-
serve the Expressive Term.
There has been heated argument re-
garding the word "swcet" rs applied to a
woman. "Call mo anything else, but not
that" exclaimeth many girls, WHO fancy
! the term also implies weakness.
An English woman who has the pen Of q
ready writer has recently defended the i'd
jective with spirit. We have "sweet peo-
ple' Of more kinds than one--many to
whom their sweetness Is absolutely nat
ural, and many with whom IL il artificial,
consciously and with intention elaborated
and created out of apparently unlikely ma
terial, she says And Of these sweet people
some are lovely and some are not-some
help and sustain and some cloy and dis
gust For there Is nothing in nature for
! which we cannot find an analogy in hui
manity-humanity being, rs 1t were, tho
glorl1ed totally, tho resume, tho compile
ton Of every faculty and every quality
dispersed about tho lower levels
or some people our first verdict Ia:
GLOW sweet What sweet person no Isl
What sweet woman she Isl" Certain re-
fined and gentle clergymon gain this cpl
tibet, also some doctors who have musical
voices and have cultivated tho "bedside
manner" with success. Also II fow-and
here We must confess only n few--lawycrs
whose profession with all it's scurvy reyea.
tions has softencd into n benevolent kind
Of tolerance for folly and II desire to assist
not crush those who have lost their way
In the jungle Of wrongdoing. "SwGot" Is
tho first word that comes to our lips when
describing such M thoso-the sweetness Of
TINT ripe fruit which serves for food, to
the full as we'll as meat
Sweet, too, Is that tender magnanimity
Of soul which IL patient under small trials
and resigned to those Of sharper sting and
larger volume. Sweet Is tho pcacemaker.
No talo bearer he or sho, cxaccrbnting the
already smartlng wound and widening tie
already yawning gulf Where he can bring
about u reconciliation he does, and 1t must
be indeed deluRo of bitter waters wherein
no can find no olive loaf--a storm Of irre-
sistible violence which makes shipwrock OF
his ark of pence. Do we not all know him
or hnply horp Serene, tender, sympn-
thotic, at rest In his own soul and only
anxious to make others as content M HIM
solf-to what point Of goodly SAVIOR and
wholesome sustcnancc AFRO not such rs
those to be- oomparodp Surely have they tho
essential quality of all comblncd--guides,
helpers friends and monitors rs they arel
Sweet Is that dear woman whose head
and heart aro so finely whose
intellcct Is ever active and whose affections
and spirit Of self sacrifice never sleep.
When times nro hard of all hcr family she
In tho ono to carry the heaviest burdens.
That woighty stick gals tho shoulders OF
those who havo to pass under 1t ns their
yoke, ms oil must In some degree, but 1t Is
sho who has tho heaviest end 1t Is sho
who gives up her own will and pleasure
that others may bo free to enjoy, shc who
nurses tho sick that others may flourish In
tho sunshine abroad, she who stays ut
home TINT othnrs may go to tho ball. She,
and she always fills the breach made by
unfrlondly circumstances and she, and sho
alone, pays tho reckoning while Others go
scot FREQ. And all this timo she gives up
her own desired purslits--her painting,
her braaswork, her wood carving her lit
ernture--and gains only IN return tho con
seriousness Of having done her duty and
kept her white wings unstainod. What
else can we call her but swcctP Iioftlor
opithots might express her nobonoss, but
this alone comprises hor goodness, her
moral lovelinoss, her spiritual grace and
beauty.
Like mcdlHra which swcCton rs thOy de-
cay, some old people who have been fiery
and Unframed enough during their youth
tone down into sweetness rs they grow
old Their ardent strivlngs arc stilled, and
their passions havo burned themselves out.
BY lifelong effort thcy have subducd that
old Adam by whom they We're so long tor
montcd, and tho bitterness of their unripe-
ness has become by now tho sweetness Of
thor docndonco, People such rs these have
always u certain viyitlncss not belonging
to ago In general. Behind and beneath
their sweetness lnrk strains of tho former
epoch, and from tho ashes, white and h6ar
as they may hc, sparks Of tho old fro can
yet bo roklndlod. For all that how sweet
thoy arel Tho keen eyes flash, hut the
kindly lips slnilc, Tho strong word leaps
forth M sword from tho rCnbhard, hut
tho hlndo Is pressed back ore it strikes, and
tho scahbard Is Of velvet, finely wrought
and nobly adorned There Is tho union Of
strength and sweetness knowledge and
generosity, high principle and tolerance,
which only such M old age as this can
give, Youth cannot possess 1t. Maturity
Is coming to 1t, hut has not yct arrived
Only tho suhduod force of what was once
untamabo fro and energy can compass IT,
And whore 1t Is there hayo those who are
still in tho scathing time of life their host
adviser and their safest refuge.
Sweet are those dear girls who under
stand tho wholesome beauty OF homo life
and do tho duties this involves without
STINT complaint ar self pity 10 the fa-
Their and mother they AFRO ms Gods angels,
lont them ont Of heaven for their snlaco
and delight, Tho delicate invalid owes tho
continuance OF hor lifo to them, and they
repay In her timo Of failure tho care she
lavishod ON them In theirs of hclplossrcsS.
Nurses to tho mother, companions to the
father, comrades and lovers with each
other, their hours filled To tho brim with
work and duty and occupation, they yet
find timo for friendship, for intellectual
culture for nrt IN many forms. What are
they but swcetp In the remote country
rcotory or In tho busy town they aro equal
ly at home--cqually content with their lot
In life, giving them, as II has DONE love
and duty as tho scraphs to open, not close,
the gatos Of the souls best paradise. Phil
adolphia Press,
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