Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-11-06
a,opTUNIT1Es OF WOMAN.
Bv Rev. William M. Car


Bv Rev. William M. Carr.
,fonv daughters have done virtuous-
" Int thou excellest them an.-Prov-
erbs XXI. 90.
This is what the wise man tells us Of
.bo ideal woman of his day.
woman may be model, married or
-.r,7o hut not ideal. The ideal wo-
naon Is the wife and mother. The
,,o1oI wife reigns as a queen in her
1.-TWO nvprting tremendous influence
by comforting and inspiring her hus-
land in life's battle. Such was the
,rifa Of the late President Mckinley.
though weak and i'll much of the time,
,-o+ love armed her for her task, and
robIv did she dc her part in the worlds
,rork OF the mother some one has
uou said: 1.-The hand that rocks the
orod7p cllides the world" Her constant
rroepncp with the children in the home,
while the husband and father tolls at
bis daily task, gives her the oppor-
unity of exercising the preponderating
influence of good or i'll upon the char
actors Of the children in the formative
npriod Of their lives. During these
Golden DAYS the ideal mother will both
br nrpcept and example mold the minds
and hearts Of her children into beauti-
full symmetry.
But there is a model single woman
hood as well. NIultitudes of young wO-
men. especially in America, are single
either by choice or by force of circum-
stances, and yet nobly do their part.
We need but glance at the great COM
NAMES Of deaCOnesses in our various
Christian churches who have taken up
the work these last years, as the Sisters
of Charity have for much longer
neriod, of visiting the homes Of sick
ness and poverty, bringing aid and COM
fort in the name of Christ, or the army
of nurses in our hospitals who are as
brave in their conservation to duty in
the face of disease and cOntagiOn as
the soldier who enlists for battle. Add
to these untold thousands Of young wo-
men who quietly and modestly engage
in services to exc out family expenses,
to care for father or mother, or to edu-
cate for LIES battle younger brothers
and sisters. So that many a man
would say. if he told the whole truth,
II owe MY position in life to my self
as Cray in his ''Elegy''-''full many n
flower is born to blush unseen and
waste its sweetness on the desert air?"
No, the sweet sacrifice of such life is
not a waste, but rises as an "odOr of
sweet incense" to heaven.
How much fills the hands and heart
Of the ideal mother. The responsibility
for rearing correctly, and the careful
and proper training of the children
necessarily rests upon her. To see that
the children are properly fed and cloth
ed, and with the passing years to edu-
cate properly and to be careful that the
associates are all they should be, de-
TOIve largely upon her. Then there is
the temptation to be too strict on the
one hand and too lenient on the other
If the former, then the danger that
when the day comes when the child is
released from all paternal restraint
there be a rebound in the other direc
ton and liberty be turned to license If
the latter, the danger that the liberty
permitted be abused.
The American people know how the
mothers Of President Garfield and Pres
ldent Mckinley were asked to be pres
ent when their sons were inaugurated-
tribute Of love and devotion on the
part Of those noble sons, who appreci-
ated the part their mothers had in their
success All are familiar with the say
Ing Of the martyr President Abraham
Lincoln: "All l am I owe to my angel
mother" Thank God for the oppor
tunltieS for American women, and
lhank God for the noble uses made of
'helr opportunities. May the words of
Inc wise man aptly apply: "Many
daughters have done virtuously, but
lhou eXcellest them ALL"