The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-01-11

asylum. The half rested ~housskeeper
arises in the morning. She must have
b morning repast prepared at an ir-
revocable hour. What If the fire viii
not light; IL the marketing did
not coma; what IL the clock has stopp-
ed-no matter, she must ave the morn
ing repast at an i~rrevocable hour. Then
, the children must be got of TO school.
What IL their garments are torn; what
II they do not know their lessons: what
IL the have lost a hat or sash-they
must be ready. Then you ave all the
diet Of h day and perhaps Of several
days, to plan, but what If the butcher
has SEM e unmasticable, or the
grocer has sent articles Of ood adulter-
ated. and what if ON piece of silver
be gone, of some favorite chaiice be
cracked, or the roof leek or the plumb
ing fail, or any one of a thousand
things occur you must be ready
Spring weather comes on, and there
must be a revolution in the family
wardrobe, or autumn comes, and you
must shut out the northern blast, but
what If the moth has proceeded you to
the chest; what If. during the year, the
children have outgrown the apparel OF
last year; what If the fashions have
changed! Your house must be an
"pcILAC1d4s . SAioP, ~ HuS nc d Ills
pensary; there must be medicine for all
sorts of ailmentS-Som1thing to loosen
the Group, something to cool the burn,
something to poultice the Inflammation.
something to silence the jumping tooth,
something to sooth the earache. You
must be in a half a dozen places at the
same time, or you attempt to be.
If, under all this wear and tear of life,
Martha makes an impatient ruSh upon
the library or drawing room, be patient
be lenient! 0 though I may
fail to stir up an appreciation in the
souls of others in regard to your house
hold tolls, let me assure you, from the
kindness with which Jesus Christ met
Martha, that he appreciates all our
work from garnet to cellar, and that the
God Of Deborah, and Hannah, and Abb
gail, and grandmother Lois, and Eliza
beth Fry, and Hannah Moore is the
God of the housekeeper! Jesus was
never married, that he might be the
especial friend and confidant of a whole
world of troubled womanhood. I blum
der. Christ was married. The Bible
says that h church is the Lambs
wife, and that makes me know that all
Christian women have a right to go to
Christ and tell him of their annoyances
n troubles, since by his oath of con-
! jugal fidelity he is sworn to sympa-
thize. George Herbert, the Christian
poet, wrote two or three verses on this
subject:
The servant by this clause
Makes drudgery divine.
Who sweeps a ROOM, as for thy laws,
Makes this nj h action fine.
"A young woman Of brilliant educa-
ton and prosperous circumstances was
called down stairs to help in the kitch-
en- in the absence of the servants. The
doorbeH ringing, she went to open it
n found a gentlemen friend, who said
as he came in: Il thought that I heard
music. Was it on this piano or on this
harp?" She answered: 'No. I was
playing on a gridiron, with frying pan
accompaniment. The servants are gone,
and I am learning how to do this
work" Well done! When will women
in all circles find out that it is honor
able to do anything that ought to be
done?
SEVERE ECONOMY.
Again, there is the trial of severe
economy. Nine hundred and ninetynine
| households out of the Thousand are SUBJ
| jected to it, some under more and some
| under less stress of circumstances.
Especially if a man smoke very expen-
sive cigars and take very costly dinners
| at the restaurants he will be severe in
| demanding domestic economies. This
is what kills tens of thousands ofwo-
housekeeping to make S. do the
work of 81. A young woman about to
| enter the married state said to her
mother, "how long does the honeymoon
| Ia cit pr The mnfhQ oncurQra2 fstha
honeymoon last until you ask your hus-
band for money" How some men do
dole out money to their wives! "How
much do you want?" "a dollar"
You are always wanting a dollar.
Can't you do with so centS?" If the
husband has not the honey, let him
plainly say Sc. If he has it let him
make cheerful response, remembering
that his wife has as much right to it
as he has. How the bills come in! The
woman is the banker of the household.
She is the president, the cashier, the
teller, the discoun clerk, and there is
a panic every few weeks. This 80
years war against high prices, this per
petual study of economies, this. life
long attempt to keep the outgoes less
than the income, exhausts innumerable
housekeepers.
Oh, my sister, this is a part of the Di-
vine discipline! If it were best for you,
all you would have to do would be to
| open the front windows, and the ravens
| wou1 fly in with food, and after you
had baked so times form the barrel in
the pantry the barrel, like the one of
Zarephath, would be full, and the shoes
| Of the children would last as long as
the shoes of the Israelites in the will
derneSs-0 Beside that this Is
| going to make heaven the more attrac-
tive in the contrast. They never hun
ger there, and consequently there will
be non Of the nuisances of catering
for appetites, N in h and Of the
white robe they never have to mend
anything, and the air in that hill
country makes everybody well. There
are no rents to LAY every man owns
4, his own house, n a mansion at that
1t will not be SO great a change for you
to rave a chariot in heaven if you have
been in the habit of riding in this world
It will not be so great a change for you
to sit down on the banks of the river