Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1907-06-08

time wove the garments for their hus-
bands and brothers and sons and fa-
theirs.
A Royal Weaver.
But, though the weaving Of the gar
ments In olden times was considered
one of the most tedious Of tasks, yet 1t
was looked upon by all true women
as one of the noblest of occupations.
No true princess, no true queen In a
| royal palace was too high or too rich
to perform this duty for her men folks.
In the last chapter Of Proverbs an
oriental queen gives a description OF
perfect woman. | have always be-
| ieyed that description was filial pic
ture of her own mother. What does
the royal author say? "She seeketh
wool and flax and wOrketh diligently
with her hands" This means that the
queen and her women made the gar
ments that her husband wore to battle
and to his kingly receptions. And she
was not the only royal parsonage who
boasted that the women who wore the
royal purple were the same women
who wove their royal garments. Alex
ander the Great never put coat about
his shoulders that was not made by
his own mother. With pride he showed
| the Persian princes who came to visit
| his court the many beautiful robes
which were the results OF the skill of
Olympias, who was the daughter OF a
chieftain, the wife Of n sovereign and
the mother Of cOnqueror When the
Egyptian queen desired to make
present to the Spartan princess Helen,
on whose account the Trojan war was
waged, she sent to her a piece Of her
own embroidery. All, do not tell me
that the spider that Is a strand maker,
spinner, a WEAVER, has not a royal
occupation. If the queens and prin-
cesses OF old, with all the wealth of
the royal palaces, thought it not be-
meath their dignity to work with their
fingers for their loved ones, surely 1t
is as royal an occupation for the wives
and mothers and daughters and sisters
of today to care for the temporal
wants Of their dear ones in the modern
homes.
| wish that the royal occupations Of
Queen Olympias might be In vogue
among our women Of today. / would
that the needle might continue to be
one of the scepters of female influence,
because it is the type Of female in
dustry, like the spinning wheel and the
ancient distaff and spindle. l would
that the wives and the mothers and the
daughters OF our present generation
might not feel that their intellectual
advancement raises them above the
duty Of looking after the temporal well
fare of their homes. Our picture gal
lerles and popular books contain por-
traits of women in gorgeous attire, but
I think that If we had an artist to
paint the portrait that is dearest to our
memory we would not ask him to find
the most flarlng colors he had, but to
paint the quiet, dull dress that was
/ worn In our nurseries in which mother
used to put us to bed. We can see her
now as she sat by d table on which
| was placed lamp. In her hand would
| be needle and darning gourd and a
stocking with blgshole IN It BY our
mothers side would be big plleeef
clothes which she Vas nendIng, and
as we would look at that familiar pic
ture we would say: "Yes, she was al
ways sewing for us. She was always
working for u.s. She was always liv-
Ing for u.s." May God continue to make
our wives and our daughters like our
mothers and grandmothers of old,
| queens Of the home, with the royal
scepter of needle.
An Example Of Industry.
But the spiders are more than mere
| weavers. They not only set the exam
| pie Of industry to man and woman and
child, but they are to be recorded
| among the greatest benefactors of the
| human race They are the greatest Of
| all destroyers Of insect life. They are
| the mortal foe Of the fly, the locust
and the grasshopper. II it were not
| for the destroying work Of the spider
in all probability most of the labors OF
! the farmer and the husbandman would
| 90 for naught Then the plaques OF
| Egypt would be here. The lOcusts and
the grasshoppers would literally de-
stroy all the crops. The work of check
ing or keeping down the dangerous In
crease of insect life by the spider Is
| simply infinite in its Importance.
During the darkest days Of Robert
Bruccs life, after the king Of Scotland
had been defeated In five different
battles and deserted by all his follow
ers and while he himself was a fugi-
tive chased by the English soldiers, he
Law down one night to sleep in little
cave. You all remember the legendary
story as printed in your childhood
primer. During the night by the camp
fires light the noblest of all Scotch
men watched a little spider spin his
web over the mouth Of that cave.
When morning came pursuing squad
of English soldiers passed that way
They were hunting for the fugitive
king. When one Of the soldiers came
up to the entrance of that cave and
was about to enter another soldier
called: mo need Of going In there
Don't you see spider has spun his
web over the entrance to that cave
No man would go in there without
breaking 1t down" Thus RoDer'
Bruce's life was saved by spiders
web. But I want to tell you that the
spider Is just as much the savior and
protector of man today as he was sup
posed to be in times Of old in Scottish
history. Over every tree branch, II
every flower garden, about every field
Of grass and crop Of wheat, the spiders
every night and day are spinning theil