The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1905-11-16


the characters of wives by the conduct
of their husbands.
Inevitably when you find a conse-
Grated, earnest man working for
Christ in the church you will find a
noble, devoted wife back of that man,
who is chiefly responsible for that
mans conservation. OF course there
are exceptions to all rules, but excep-
lions do not destroy the rules. So in
variable has been my experience in
this respect that when / find a man
Joining the church whose wife thinks
more of card parties and dances and
club meetings and dinners than she
does of her prayer meetings l have but
little hope of that man being an active
or spiritual church member. l have
known many women to stay in the
church as faithful loyal workers in
spite Of goddess husbands, but l have
In only two or three instances known
husband to be true to his church
vows if he has an Indifferent or a god
less wife. My brother, l believe, that
next to our mothers the human beings
who have had the most to do with our
religious conduct have been our godly,
consecrated, Christian wives.
| Our wives have broken their alabas
ter box of ointment of spikenard very
precious upon our family affairs and
made us what we are spiritually. But
have they not done more than that?
Oh, yes. They have literally sacrificed
their all for us and submerged their
lives in our life. When Benjamin Dis
raeli retired from the ministerial
bench Queen Victoria wished to ele-
vate her favorite prime minister to the
peerage. He declined at that time the
honor for himself, but he practically
said this: "Your majesty, the honor
you would confer upon me would graf
ify me more if conferred on my wife,
for all that / have been able to accom-
plish In English craftsmanship is due
to her devotion and self sacrifice" So
for the time he remained plain Mr..
Disraeli, while his wife became Count
ess of Beaconsfield. Not until some
years later did he accept the honor
urged upon him and take the title of
Earl of Beaconsfield.
When the aged banker, Rothschild,
founder of the banking house which
now bears his name, was dying he
called his boys to him and said, 'Nev-
er make a financial move until you
have consulted your mother" What
the wives of Disraeli and Rothschild
were to their husbands in a temporal
sense our wives have been to us. They
have submerged themselves in our
lives. They have nodded themselves
in our work. They have poured out
their lives for US. All, yes, as we have
had good mothers, we have also had
good wives.
The Tired Wife.
And here let me state something
which has been on my mind for long
time. l have been noticing how tired
your wife looks of late. Aye, she is
beginning to get that tired look your
mother had during her last few years.
You have often said to your brothers
and sisters since your mothers death,
"Oh, if father had only made her hold
up little she would have been with
US nowF Yes, perhaps she would.
Your mother was one of those willing
horses" who work themselves to death.
Your wife is the same kind Of wo-
man. Her alabaster box of ointment
of spikenard very precious which she is
now pouring upon you is her life's
blood. You had better make her hold
up or your children may soon be saying
about their mothers premature death
what you said about your mothers.
Yes, we have all had good mothers.
We have all had good wives.
But as our minds wander back into
the dim past there is another sweet
face which arises above the horizon of
our memories. Next to the mother and
the wife think this third face belongs
to a young girl who has had the most
influence in our mental and moral and
spiritual development. l allude to that
sweet sister who grew up by your side.
She was a good girl. You cannot
speak of her now without your lips
trembling and your eye being moisten
ed with tears "Oh," you say, 'if we
were not so far apart how l would love
to go and have one of the old chats we
used to have!'
Truly, she did for you what she
could She naturally did more for you
than any of the other children, because
you grew UP together. You played
your games together, you trudged to
/ school together. She was a little older
than you and was always looking after
you. When you got into trouble you
always went first to her. Cannot you
hear her gentle voice saying: Now,
brother, you must not do that Mother
would not like you to do it." Though
the older sister when she corrected
you would always make you angry,
she would always make you feel will
Ing to do what you ought to do. Yes,
yes, that dear sister has sacrificed
great deal for you. When you were
little she used to give you her pennies.
Like the poor widow, she gave you her
mite. 1t was not much intrinsically,
but it was her all. When she grew
little older she still continued your
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