Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-01-25
WOMEN WHO NAG.
They XIII Themselves and FIJI the World
With Misery.


dr. cyrus Edison In the North American
Review.) 90 q"
| nervous man or woman who h anx-
ious. disconnected gloomy. dissatisfied.
worried from any cause. cannot enjoy
good health. This mental turmoil pro-
duces as one Of Its primary effects on
the body an inability TO digest food prop
erly. The blood which should supply the
force necessary for the function Of di-
gostion Is continually drawn away from
the stomach by the excitement In the
brain, and the woman who nasy suffers.
naggng man or woman Is generally
thin. Their habit Of mind has partially
starved their bodies. have seen two
cases OF what Shakespeare calls these
cursed shrews," who died really as the
result OF the violence OF their own tenn
pers II Is more common, however, to
find that this habit Of dissatisfaction with
all the acts OF others produces in time
some form of insanity.
As over two thirds OF their grievances
are imaginary-that is. over two thirds
OF the grievances for which they scold
have no existence except as inventions In
their own disordered brains--the inability
OF insanity to distinguish between the
real and the unreal has begun to show
ltStii. we Httu HUI WdStt Hfut0 ply WI
them. The sooner they kill themselves.
the sooner their insanity so develops as
to make II possible TO place them In
an asylum. the better 1t is for every one.
More than this, they do fearful amount
OF harm.
When man comes home from his Office
he must have rest. This Is not thing
he may dispense with; he must have
II. When he takes his food he must be
let alone. so that blood Will find It's way
20 the stomach and there enable him to
properly digest that food. so that he
may acquire a fresh store OF force for
use on the morrow.
Tho man comes home, and the nagging
wife begins. IL the man be physically
strong. fair-minded. and just his mind
will revolt in time from the injustice Of
his wlfe's accusations. II IL the peculiar
ity of the nagger to enormously ex-
aggerate everything, even If she do
not invent her grievances. Forgetfulness
on the part of a husband Is annoying, as
II is in any one. but 1t is not crime. A
continual stream of scolding, lasting
three or four hours, over the failure TO
post letter will cause any man to con-
slider the effect disproportionate TO the
cause. If the husband be healthy. II he
is not cursed with a hghly-nervous or
HdPPNh0'
thing is that any love he may have ever
had for his wife dies. drowned In the
food Of words. He speedily begins to
look on her as nuisance: from this 10
dislike, and then to positive hatred Is
not long journey.
FEAR OF A WHIPPING.
He may not actually beat her. because
the restraining influences Of his training
.hnf, I,f1 aim,
haps 1t would be better for her If he did,
for physical fear OF a whipping might
be sufficient TO make her control herself.
While he may not lift his finger to her,
he will Invariably become brutal.
The nervous condition the woman has
created in herself by her nagging, itself
renders her powerless. Such a family Is
a hell on earth.
/ knew Of a case once where the nag
ging of wife drove her nervous nus
band to an asylum. where he died. the
victim of melahcholia, brought on by the
ceaseless nervous irritation produced by
his wife's tongue, yet 10 the day or MS
death he worshipped that wife.
II sometimes happens that woman is
a nagger owning 10 causes which she
cannot control. There are diseases which
affect women that have a most disas-
trous effect on the nerves, and therefore
on the temper.
What shall be said of that nagger who
distorts and twists and misshapes the
mind of child? What shall be said OF
the woman who crlpples all the moral
innocence and mental powers OF the little
ones committed 10 her care? Is not this
damnable develish? Does not such
woman deserve the execration Of all men
and women?
II seems to me the spectacle of one of
these nervous children, timid. affectonate,
with a acknowledgement conscience. IN
the grasp Of a nagging mother Is the
most pitiable know of; the little one Is
so helpless, the torture is so nendisn.
| Often a child is simply nagged to death,
| and one IL bound 10 feel only JOY over une
! deliverance, for. II IL lives, II reaches man
hood or womanhood with shattered nerves
and a ruined constitution.
Children have a far keener sense OF
Justice than the majority Of people be
! lieve. but 50 far as the expression or THIS
feeling Is concerned they are dumb.
Under the torture OF nagglng more than
often emphasized by s,apping or whip
ping, they must suffer in silence.
Not only is the childs physical health
ruined, its mind is injured more than
can easily explain. The constant exas-
geration inseparable from nagging pre-
/ vents the growth in the mind Of the child
Of mental perspective It's mind grows
| one-sided.
The effect of nagging on the childs
moral qualities is extremely bad. me
constant unceasng injustice warps the
| better nature. The dumb anger induced
through so many years stimu.a 'es tie
growth Of passion in the mind of ;he
child In time 1t becomes absolutely un-
able to do Justice to others, simply be
| cause its sense OF justice, naturally
strong in all children. Is destroyed. In
/ order 10 shield itself from the into.eraole
torture. the child naturally resorts to
/ lies.
/ What remedy is there? / say regret
/ fully there is none whatever except pub
! lie opinion Those who suffer. II they be
! adults. shrink from facing their misery
and If they are children they know OF no
! appeal There Is, however, duty which
: should be regarded as sacred. II there are
| children, and II the wife or husband be
nagger, then the other should do some
| thing 10 protect the little ones. he or
| she who refuses Is as guilty towards them
! as Is their torturer.