Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1899-09-08
En- ROUTE, May 81, 1899.


To the Mothers-n-law;
Your MAJEsTIEs-I h?ve always had
great charity for the mistakes of Adam,
because he had no mother-in-law to
curb him. If she had been there the
forl Id len fruit would not have been
eaten. All the world would now be
paradise; the women would still be
dressing in sunshine and the men
would still be clad in climate. All the
ills we now endure are the fruits of sin;
all sin is the outgrowth of the first
transgression, and the first transgres-
sion was committed because there was
no mother-in-law in Eden to forbid it.
Satan would have kept his distance if
Adam had been son-in-law; and even
after man had fallen, the Lord saw that
he was prone to fall still lower, and SO
he provided the third person, singular,
and named her ''mother-in-law," to be
his guardian angel and watch him day
and night. But it has been the habit
of malicious men from time immemoral
to speak disrespectfully of the dear old
SIC tlcled angels and to refer to them
rs The embodiment of tyranny and the
pcrsonificat.on of terror.
once heard of man who said that
his principal possessions in this world
were an appetite and mother-in-law,
and that he had never been able to sat
isfy either.
A crowd of boys dragged cannon
down to the river one Fourth of July
and bsgan TO celebrate the anniversary
of the Declaration of Independence by
firing across the stream. A man came
run mig, with his hat off and his hair
| floating in the air, shouting at the top
of his voice; stop shooting, boys; for
the Lords sake, stop shooting!' What
do you wish us to stop shooting for?"
asked the boys; and with voice
trembling with fear, he shouted back
to them: my mother-in-law got
drowned there yesterday, and | am
afraid you will raise her.
have frequently heard it said of sad
and subdued.loolSing men, as | have
passed along in life, that they were suf-
fering with bad case of mother-in.
law. 1t has come to pass almost every
where that if the maternal ancestor OF
the wife even suggests to the husband
in the tenderest tones of voice and the
most affectionate language that he
ough not to do a thing, he is sure to do
it, out of fear of public opinion; or II
she urges him to do thing he leaves 1t
uRdJhe to prove to the world that he is
not ''bossed' by his mother-in-law. All
this abuse and all these vicious attacks
on the mothers of our wives are mean
and contemplate and a direct re
Election upon our wives themselves
The sweetest and purest and best
woman | ever saw, except my mother
and my wife, is my mother-in-law
Her life has been sacrifice to the hap
piness and comfort of her children, and
SO it is with most mothers-in-law. In
nine cases out of ten it could be appro
priately and truthfully said that she is
suffering from bad case of son-in
law If man is unkind, or ever
neglectful of his wife, he is pretty sure
to hear from the mother.in-law: that is
right. If he fails to provide for his
family. she has right to look at hin
over the tops of her spectacles ant
make the kings English crack like {
cowhide around his ears; If he wan
tonly spends his evenings away from
his own fireside and comes home will
snakes in his boots, she has right t.
'stick her nose in his business" and he,
fists in his face, and it is her divine
right to LAY down the law" to him.
think it glorious I ing for society
that weals-minded and guilty men arr
afraid of their mothers-in-law. Other
wise many home would be turned int
hades, and many sweet and gentle
spirit would be crushed; many family
of little children would suffer, ant
many a son-in-law who now walks il
1.-THE straight and narrow path" would
be worthless vagabond In the gutter
and the slums of earth.
The mother-n-law is the conservato
of the peace. and not its disturber, a
many bad men would make it appear
She is the Goddess of Liberty enlight
ening the little world within the fou
walls of home; she is the Minerva o
the hearthstone; Jove is enthrone,
upon her brow, and the Furies sleep il
her eyes. Woe betide the son-in-lay
who transgresses the law of Jove! TO
then the righteous Furies wake an
leap like forkcd lightnings into tn
face of the transgrcssor, and he is lief
in the condition of the man who wen
out West News came back to hi
father: Your son is dead" The -ol
man telegraphed Immediately, "Sen
me his remains;" and received this re
ply: "They hain't no remains; "a cyclon
struck him"
But to the man who does his faithful
duty to his family, his country, and hi
God, the mother-in-law is thing o
beauty and JOY forever" She nurse
his children and cares for them. sh
stays with them at night while he AM
his wife are at the party; she nurse
him when he is sick and makes hir
swallow his medicine on time and cut
off all communication with the outsd
world till he is well again. If his cred
tors become too numerous and annoy
ing, she stands guard at the door an
hedges it about with fire and brin
stone. She is the cornerstone of tn
church and the leader of the "Ladiei
Aid Society" she is the president G
the Busy Bees" and the recording SC,