The record-union., 1897-03-29
THE CHTLULESS WIFE.
fias No Idea of the Joys She is De-
priVeG OF.

In the house where there are no chill
dren, what are the holidays, with all
the joyous preparation that belongs to
them in other houses; what are birth
days, Sunday, storytelling tWilights,
bedtimes; what the glad morning hour?
Surely it is a dreary place without the
shouts and cries, without the outside
interests, innocent, fresh, amusing,
that children force upon it; and that
is a forlorn woman who has none of
the strangely wise questions to answer
that children ask, none of the dear
condolences to receive, none of the hap
py excitement Of training young
spirit as she would train a flower, OF
shaping q life, of seeing herself per
haps reproduced, with the cn2nce or
correcting and obViating her errors.
The mother with her baby on fer knee,
showing him his first flower, his first
picture, watching his first hearing OF
a tune, his first rapture over bright
colors, over another child, the first ex-
preston Of tenderness. will tell you
you that there has been no interest and
no joy in her life comparable to this,
and will wonder at you if you smile,
and will pity you if destiny has left
you without that experience. Even the
mother who has lost her child has an
interest that is deep and vital, and in q
way satisfying, in following that child's
spiritual growth still with her thoughts,
in feeling that she is not without q
child, nor is the child motherless
That there are women who look with
disfnclination upon the idea of bring
ing this great happiness into their
lives seems incredible. It means to
them the dropping of a year out of
their active pleasures, out Of dining.
driving, dancing, bicycling, horseback
riding; it puts q bar to the parading of
possibly gorgeous toilettes, limit for
the time being, and perhaps for a time
afterward, to theaters and operas and
all the social gayeties They are not
afraid of sickness and pain-very few
women fear pain excessively-but they
want the pleasure Of the passing mo-
ment, and they do not want care and
sponsibility. They entirely forget
that much of the sanctity of marriage
depends upon the presence of children
in the family; that health is preserved
by obedience to natural laws; and that.
if the purpose Of the universe is the
gradual perfection of the race, then
they are contravening the divine inten-
ton when barring the extension Of the
race so far as their power goes. A
woman whose husband is a drunkard
or insane may feel that she has no
right to continue that awful inl1eri-
tance: & woman in poverty may hesi-
tate about q larger family than she
can clothe and educate-Very often the
| hesitation is not on her side: such wo-
men anywhere are greatly to be COM
miserated. But the unfortunately
childless women in better circun-
stances have no idea Of what they de-
prive themselyes-a happiness 10 which
no pleasure of ball or toilette is COM
parable. They make for themselves
desert, a middle-life without compan-
ionship, and an old age without love
! And they roo themselves in the hey
| day Of their health and strength of the
embrace Of little arms, of the Kisses on
velvet checks. the watching over dewy
sleep the adoTning worship Of tender
new born souls. the ineffabIe delight of
loving something infinitely better than
they love themselvcs.-Harp Bazar