Evening star., 1901-12-14

doors and out. tempted in all points like
other women but always without sin. Her
housekeeping must be a marvel of excel
lence, with a time and place for every
thing, and an ever readiness for the unex-
pected events, which are sure to happen.
She was not to be thrown off her base by
the irruption of any number of her hus-
bands people" on washing day, when
she could serve only picked-up dinner
nor by the descent of the sisterhood into
her parlor, on Sunday moons between serv-
ices, to eat their lunches, eked out by her
freshly drawn tea and seed cakes. Her
husbands white neckerchiefs and starched
bosoms and cuffs must always be immacu-
late, and her own apparel and that of her
children must be spick, span and uncrum-
pied, as if it had just come out from the
bureau drawer.
Comeliness and grace must drape her
like garment, and yet she would not be
tolerated if her beauty fired the hearts of
the male members of the parish. She must
be "chaSte keeper at home" and yet
visitor not only among the poor, the sick
and the afflicted, but in all the households
of the people. She was the preordained
president OF all the missionary, maternal,
charitable and sewing societies formed
among the women, and a leader in the Sum-
day school and female prayer meeting"
And to crown the whole she was expected
to administer her husbands usually meager
salary so that it would cover all expenses,
although 1t was partly paid in meal and po-
tatoes for the family, and hay and oats for
the horse, with spareribs and roasts of
beef at killing time" and a donation
party at the end of the year
And yet the minister had no difficulty in
supplying himself with a wife Though
the position was formidable, it was deemed
post of honor, and the successful min
isters wife was regarded as a remarkable
woman, and very justly. If a clergyman
unwisely accepted pastorate before mar
rying he was sure to be embarrassed by
the number and variety Of matrimonial can
IN
mention more serious happenings.
Interesting Reminiscence.
When 1 became the wife of Universal
ist minister, over fifty years ago, the most
lugubrious prophecies of disaster attended
me, for 1 was then a member of a very
conservative evangelical" church. The
apprehensions of my friends, which were
never realized, sprang from their ignorance
of the unlikeness of orthodox and liberal
parishes. Both Unitarians and Universal
lists were, az that time, in the thick of their
mighty struggle for existence, with the
whole orthodox world banded against them.
The members of the two denominations
were either "comouters' from the older
churches, or recent converts to what their
opponents regarded as fatal heresies, and
were ostracised by their former brethren.
Enthusiastic in their defense of what they
regarded as truth, and confident of ultimate
victory, the liberals were very tolerant
gether in a friendship born of battle for the
right. There was less organized work for
women within their parishes and the min
isters wife, as rule, suffered little among
them from exactions or criticism.
All this l learned from personal observa-
tion and experience, and from the confi-
dences of heavily burdened "parochial
wives in the older churches. Their griev-
ances were not confined to private utter
ance alone. For suddenly, like bolt from
a clear sky, little book, entitled "The
Shady Side made its sensational debut in
church circles and was read by everybody.
The author was evidently a woman of spirit,
whose lot had been cast with an uncon-
genial parish where she had been super
vised and nagged beyond human endurance.
II was followed Immediately by 1.-The
Sunny Side" written by Mrs. Phelps, the
mother of the distinguished author, Mrs.
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. She wrote from
different standpoint. The wife of an
eminent clergyman, and the daughter Of
another, who was a power In Andover
Theological Seminary, her lot was cast
among refined and cultivated people, from
whom she received love and helpfulness,
while the other one met only criticism and
hindrance. Mrs. Phelps became the pet OF
her husbands parish, whereas the author OF
contention"
Her Cruel Fate.
Both books were widely read. and much
discussed, publicly and privately. 1t be-