The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1919-11-21
The State.

The State.
have written of step-mothers and
old .raiuc. shall COW say something
concerning third class of women,
who | think have not received justice.
There were in South Carolina in 1910
; (the year of the last census), of
native white parentage, 19,903
widows, and 1853 widowers; in
Charleston, 954 widows, and 258
widowers; and in Columbia, 637
widows, and 1856 widowers. These
bereaved ladies are therefore an
element we'll worth considering.
They have not been so much
aspersed as step-mothers, nor as much
snubbed as an old maid; but they
have been much criticised, being
thought by many men and not few
of their own sex to be, usually, either
forward and hippant, or crafty, or
else greedy >and domineering. The
last named quality is made conspicu-
Gus by Martial, the Latin epigram-
J nlatist, in his congratul llation Of
Licinius on his retirement from pub
lie life. By saying, that his friend is
now relieved from the ''horrid' court
crier, the complaining client, and the
domination Of widows-"imperia vid-
uaruni' | have sometimes had
trouble with widow clients; but this
was not on account of their trying
Ito govern me, but was the result OF
their following the advice of laymen
who knew no law-they thinking that
the men who could show them how
to cultivate potatoes or run Sunday
school class was qualified to direct
them in legal business.
Many unkind things have been
written of them. Shakspere has
seven earnest and serious Macduff
saying, "new widows howl, new
xnrphans cry.'' Why employ the
word 'howl," which applies only to
beasts? And gentle Charles Lamb,
writing to Patmore of his (Lamb's)
cousins funeral, says, 81 can't de-
scribe to you the howl which the
widow set up at proper intervals" "
And again-"She howls in E la, and
/ comfort her in B fat And he
goes on to say, that when he and his
sister Mary went with the widow to
arrange for administration of the
dead husbands estate, and Mary fell
: through broken chair, 81 grinned,
and the widow tittered-and then l
knew that she was not inconsolable."
And he underscores the last nine
wc...c''ss-to emphasize them.
Like that sex in general. widows
nave been charged with Inconsistency.
There is some reason for it; for be-
ing more under the influence of senti-
ment and emotion than men, they
are more likely to be diverted from
consistent courses Of action. But in
matters involving moral principles
and the great objects of life, | have
found wo.ne3-:na:dS, wives, and
widows-quite as constant and per-
severing as men. And I think that
the chorus, in the Medea of Euri-
pides, is about right in ascribing the
circulation of the charge against them
to the fact that men, and not women
slrg the songs.
The forwardness Of young widows
is csnsured by St. Paul, who says,
fthat when they wax wanton" (that
lis, headstrong) against Christ" they
wander from house to house, become
ss&N,llc2s, ausybodies, etc. He does not
say taat all or most Of them are SO;
s3mt his advice that all widows under !
sixty years of age be denied the care
of ifse. Christian societies. and his |
injunction t Rat they marry and go to
raising ;dhadsen indicates that he
Thought 'tirase bad doings common |
amongst them
Very few men, or women remain |
the same aaftef marriage. The close
I'd 'coa1a IN: g 5soeistion with another
mature paHsoa affects almost any
ones disposition. Generally, in
marriage, among persons of decent
character, according to Tennyson,
the husband gains Gin sweetness and
in moral height" and the wife in
,.es2ental breadth" Unless tn ewoman
is svsgv meek or indolent, or the
husband "a tyrant and busybody, she
Acquires energy and self-reliancc'
And If he is wanting in energy, the
requirements of the situation foster
stnat quality in her. And when she
&c seft a widow, the demands OF her