Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1897-02-18
Men are the Saves of the World and
not Women.
IWalter .Besant in NY .Jonrnall

Walter .Besant in N. Y Journal
| have been reading paper on tn
divorce question. Dear reader. do no
be alarmed. l have no views on tn
subject. This is only side light.
observe in all these papers that grea
deal is made of the slavery" of tn
wife If reference is made to the wifi,
as housekeeper. she is called ,..slave.
Now let us put the facts before MS.
the wife is an heiress che can affordHe
keep housekeeper. If the husband il
rich he can afford to pay for q house
keeper. But in the middle class, to
which most of us do really belong,
whatever our pretenses, the wife is not
an feiress; she has no dot at ALI; it is
considered a great deal if her father
gives her on her marriage thousand
pounds. Further, though her father
may be willing to allow his daughter
to live at home, he will not be able to
leave her enough to live upon when he
dies. An insurance of, say $4,000 and
as much more saved, is fair average
fortune to leave. Practically, there
fore, all middle class girls recognize
the necessity Of work Marriage offers
them kind of work that to most girls
is pleasing, and far more to their choice
than any of the ordinary, methods of
making a livelihood Ask the first
girl you meet whether she would rather
marry and become the British matron,
the 'loaf giver," the administrators of
her husbands fortune or whether she
would rather become postoff1ce clerk,
journalist, typewriter? You know
perfectly well-you who talk SO glibly
about the wife being a slave-what
her answer will be. Well, but if you
like to speak of this necessity as slav-
cry, you can; I do not.
Only remember that the poor, pro-
sale husband is slave as well. He
goeth forth to his slavery every morn
ing-dull, unfeeling creature-with an
lnane smile npon his lips. He has
none OF the finer feelings you see. To1
me, however, it seems ignorant, foolish
and mlschievous to call the British
matron slave. But then l am
Philistine. Why, actually, slave as
am, sit down every morning without
any resentment or repining to nv
slavery. | am bound in fetters and in {
chains adamant1ne. must work. else S
who will pay the baker and the grocer?
l must work, and SO besotted am that s
l really work as if I'enjoyed it.
Fair sister slaye, when l have filish- /
ed this job and got the money 1 will
try to weep with thee over our joint T
s
Let us, meanwhile, shake our chains: a
they are not unmusical, are they? To 8
me they are like a peal O! harmonious a
bells. Yet my heart bleeds-or would f
if it had time-for thy sufferings un-
deserved. Poor slave To order the
degradation The hus-
oand-he has no pity, he cannot un.
ierstabd; he went off at this morn \,
ng; he will come home at Z; he will =,
work at his papers from 8 to 10 at :.
hight Oh! he has no pity; he cannot :,
understand. Insensate wretch =
l have known vast number of peo =,
Die during life thathas not been tied -, =.
Town to one place nor confined to one r.
ct. On the marriage question l am -
perfectly certain, from my own expe =.
lence, that, in the majority of cases, -
he marriage life is happy-as we call 81, ~
happiness. AS for married people. be ~
oming one in mind. that kind of union :.
an only belong to the 'shigher" kind -
intellect, which is, indeed. rare -
md in those elevated levels of the =.
igher intellect unhappiness is some 40
mes caused by the impractical yearn :
lg of one of the two for the irnpossi
Lean ideal that cannot be reached
The union of hearts, however is no
cry far from uncommon; mean that cal
ind OF union in which there is mutual lin
ust and respect between man and eql
lie, with graceful allowance for OF
title foibles and with common affec- life
on not only for each other, but for car
le children. This is the kind of union He
hlch really makes marriage happy; At
ID one does not want the "hiphern the
'tore-whlch is too often selfish bel
ID exacting nature, self STYLED ant
is found among quite mo
binary folk. The union of hearts. mo
'Wever, is very seldom found where boo
: "'le is d superior person, whose ma
1eilect- soafs above the. common Tb
ings OF earth, and. like Peter, calls the
EN- all unclean. r;t,