Year: 1869

no life exemplifies this so much as


Moore's. Poor "Bessy" suffered


many things because of the loose


ness of the apron string by which
| her rowing husband was tied, and


the length of the tether which he


allowed himself FarfalZone aBo-


roso as he was, his incessant hutter-


ing out of range and reach caused


her many a sad hour; and in after
| years she was often heard to say


that the happiest time of her life


was when bis mind had begun to


fail, for then she had him all to


herself, and no one came in between


them-no great world swept him


away to be the idol of saloon, and


left her alone at home casting up


her accounts with life, and quaking


at the result that came out. When


the brilliancy and the idolatry
came to an end, then her turn be-
gan; and she tied up her palled
| and faltering idol close to


her side forever after, and was
happier to him there than


when he was at his very brightest,


and a rover. Many wife has felt
the same when sickness has broken
| down the strong mans power to q


weakness below her own, and made


her, so long the inferior, now the


more powerful Of the two, and the
supreme. She gathers up the reins
with that firm tight hand peculiar
to women, and ties him to her
string so that he cannot es-
cape. 1t is quite a matter of pride
with her that she has got him into
such good order. He oboys her
so implicitly about his medicines,
and going to bed early and wrap
ping himself up, and avoidance of
draughts and night air, that she
feels all the rejecting glory Of one
who has conquered hero. The
Samson who used to defy the ele~


ments, and break her careful strings
like bands of tow, has at least laid


his head in her lap, and suffered


himself TO be covered by her apron.
1t is worth while to have had the


anxiety and loss of his illness for
the sake of the submission result
ing :; and she generally ends by
gaining a hold over him which he
can never shake off again. 1t is
pitiful, though, to see the stronger
life thus dwarfed and bound; but
women like it, and while the need
for it lasts, men must submit. The
danger is lest the habit of the
apron string should become per-
manent; for it is so periIously
pleasant to be petted and made


much Of by women, that few
men can resist the temptation


when it offers ; and many
have been ruined for the remand


er Of their days by an illness which
gave them up into the keeping of
wives and sisters those freside
Armidas who will coddle all the real
manliness out of their finest heroes,
if they are let If this kind of
thing occurs at the break of life,
the mezzo cammino between matu-
| rity and age, it is doubly difficult
to throw off; and many man who


had good years of vigor and strength


before him if he had kept up to the


mark, sinks all at once into efete


seniEty, because his womankind got
frightened at that last small attack


of his and thought the best way to
preserve him from another was to


weaken him over by care.


If women had their will, all ma


tional enterprise would be at an end.


There would be no Arctic expedi-


ton, no Alpine clubs, no dangerous


experiments in science, no firearms


at home, no volunteering-in their


own family at least All the danger


would be done by the husbands, and


sons, and brothers Of other women


but each would guard her own.


For women cannot go beyond the
| individual and loss Of one Of their
own, by mis-adventure, weighs


more with them than the necessity


of kneeing up the courage and


hardihood of the nation. Nor dc


they see the difference between care


and coddling, refinement and effem


macy; cOnsequentlyme are obligeC


to resisttheir influence, and many


cut the apron-string altogether, be


cause the delicate fingers will tie th'


knots too tight. They do not re


member that the influence to which


men yield as a voluntary act o


their own grace, is very different
thing from obedience to open denial
the undisguised interference ant
/ restraint which some women ik
: to show. Men respect the highe


standard of morality kept up b.
= women, and they obey the majo
and the minor laws of the refine
ment which are framed for HON


life and for society, and they con


fess that without women's infuenc
! they would soon degenerate int
: mere savages, and be no better tha
r so many Choctaws before a genore


ton was over but they do not lik
: being pulled up short, especial
; in public, and bounded into th
q safe sheep fold. And they resen


the endeavor; and the world It
= sents it, too, and feels that some
?, thing is wrong when a woma
: shows that she has the whip-han'
II and that she can treat her husban


like q petted child, or bully nj
: like a refractory one; that she b.
u him tied to her apron-strings an
y tethered to the stake of her vii
Il But there is more of this kind


thing in families than the world
large always knows of; and mar
j fine, stalwart fellow, who hol'
i his own among men, and is locke
d, up to and respected for his courag
st decision, and self reliance, sinl


into mere poodledom at HON
es where his wife has somehow ma
a aged to get hold Of the leadin
- strings, and has taught him that {


only way to peace is by submissi,
n and obedience. .
tn


ID FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT. - TWent