The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-11-21
|GHTS AND DUTIES OF WIFE

Rev. G. C. Miller, in his fifth lecture
Marriage and Divorce, Nov 8, discuss
the Rights and Duties of Wife. He
id in part:
Woman as we have seen, meets man
upon the footing of a passive slave,
t as an intelligent assistant. 1t will
rdly be disputed that in the great en-
Pre- of character building, the power be-
md the throne is the Christian wife and
other. The home is her sphere in a
nse In which can never be a man s
here. Nevertheless when it is asked,
Who is the head of the household" the
swer must be the husband" The
bostle Paul teaches that it is the duty
the wife to submit herself to her hus-
nd as unto the Lord, but in the same
cath he adds this injunction: Illus
nds, love your wives, even as Christ
30 loved the Church and gave himself
p it. " But if it is duty of the husband
love his wife, it is her highest right
demand that love as God says: Thou
5alt love the Lord thy God and Him
Rly." SO the wife should say: Il am
e only one to you, and / am not will
e, to divide your love with another
The woman who insists on remaining
a pedestal from which she lords it
Ter her husband will end by finding her
pr the foot-stool is comfortable, nor
Zen an honorabl BILE place to occupy in a
pine. The husband and wife who go
m in arm make the ideal home.
The wife has a right to expect the hus-
nd to show his love by giving her the
reference of his company. cannot un-
Prstand why, after people are married.
q husband goes out alone, seeking his
easures in one direction and the wife
another. Companionship is one of the
lief objects of marriage. 1T is not
pod that the man be alone, I will make
5helpmeet for him." When wife ac-
lstoms herself to seek pleasures out
$de OF the home and away from her
lsbands she not only points out to him
vites the danger of each one seeking
part, pleasures that are positively for
dden.
The real tragedy of the home is not
hnouhced by the bit of white crepe that
ltters at the door, no, it is estrange-
ent-the passing of loves kindness.
AS every one knows, the old English
anrrlage ceremony .n contains the word
bbey" in the minister's address to the
,ide. The question as to whether she
iould promise to "obey" her husband
is been much discussed and there seems
4 be pretty general agreement in Eng
nd and America that she should not.
is surprising how few writer's who
7lter their protest against the use of
Pc word obey really take the pains
learn and grasp the meaning of that
'ord in its Scriptural application. They
llever write as if it meant servile obe-
4 7ence as ii the husband were to dole
ut his commands to his wife just as he
pes to his servants or his cattle and
bat the wife were thus SubmissiVely to
Pnd before him. His is a most per-
acious, misinterpretation of Scripture
4 ld a libel on it's real teaching. The
ION, to your own husbands - adding
.lrther on "even as Sara obeyed Abra-
Iam, calling him lord" But it also saws
\ husbands: Dwell with them accord
Rg to knowledge, giving honor unto the
life, as unto the weaker vessel and as
bing heirs together of the grace of
sinst When tbe word tdherefSpe dSr people protest
ther understand it in it's Scriptural
bnse or be silent about it. 1t Simply
Jeans to assign to the husband the
eadship of the family. This Christian
fadship has been woefully lost sight of
4 our day, and is responsible for more
! lmily sorrows than most people dream.
|he result Is, husbands, not a few, have
Pcome weakllngs whom neither wife
pr children can respect, and the re-
possibilities of the home have fallen
|pon the shoulders of the wife. 1t is a
|ld fact, that many husbands are not
I to assume the dignity of their high
|atiOn and there can be but little ques-
on that their wives are far more op-
fessed by their unfitness for that sta
ION than they would be could they look
b to them as lords in the good old
friptural sense of that term. There is
b honorable sense in which woman may
b called the weaker vessel " but never
ban.