Year: 1878

lives Oi country St"'" ID" q" ' >
spcnd long calm days, filled "I'h mystic
rrycrjc Which passage "a, read 1t Ic-
cnn,lv drew from me sm. q partly ol
sadness and partly of amnse'oent 50 an
tipodaI to Pcnirnnis' picture MAa' me NE
Of care and hustle and responsibility tnal
our Virginia country gentleman nat now
adays. "My>tic reycric, indeed HOW
is woman to indulge In such luxury
when A little raw negro is waiting to be
instructed how To churn, or perhaps the
churn stands waiting to be manipulated
Inv the fair hands of the dame herself.


The Virginia women bore themselves
brayely under the new regime Ihey
have adapted themselves to thclr great
reverses With the fortitude that belongs
N every true woman and the versatility
that especially characterizes American
women and their chaugei circumstances


They have kept us their culture and re-
inement in way that is surprsing,"hl!e
no amount of poverty can quen"h their
love and striving for nicely and beauty
in the details of their surroundings.


Every one who lived in or visited the
South before the war knows how tender
lv the women of the better class we're
sheltered from contact with the outer
world, The winds of heaven were not
mffered to blow on their cheek too rough
ly, but in the last thirteen years a great
revolution has taken place in their lot.
Many women were left widows or father


less by the casualties Of war and the men
who survived have met with such serious
changes in their fortunes that they are no
longer able TO shield the women OF their
household from care and poverty. The
changes in their circumstances and sur
roundings have necessarily modified the
characteristics of Virginia women. Not
being so closely sheltered from the storms
of life as heretofore, contact withits hard
realities has rubbed off somewhat of their
former shrinking softness, and lessened
the pliability of their disposition. Now
adays they are often called on to think
and decide and act for themselves, hence
they are much more sef-reliant than
formerly, and in conduct as well as in
conversation take much more decided
stand. They no longer answer you "wlth
pretty, may it please you," or $50 it is"
but express their views and opinions with
considerable frmness and decision.


OF late years we have not unfrequently
known them to carry on enterprises which
were formerly considered to belong ex-
clusively to the masculine sphere, such,
for instance, as carrying on spoke mill,
filling a contract for tan bark, etc. l
know young lady who for some time
supported herself by writing series Of
articles for Canada paper describing
the political status of Virginia, all Of
which shows that under the pressure of
necessity, Virginia women are equal to
the emergency, although there are no
women more feminine or domestic. They
illustrate the fact that when the oak
gives way the vine of modern times has
inaugurated new IN )de of proceeding.
Instead of sinking to the earth and being
crushed, it struggles to hold itself up and
grow as best it can without its prop.


AS an illustration of the turn given to
feminine character and pursuits by the
changes of late years may mention a
little incident of recent occurrence. Co.
ing one day to visit young lady who
had just returned home, after teaching a
session, l found my young friend with
sleeves rolled back to the elbow, paint
pot in hand, diligently laying coat of
paint on the parlor mantle piece. This
task completed she took from her trunk
bundle of window panes aud with her
own fair hand inserted them in window
Sashes garnished with old pillows. 81
am resolved" said the young girl as she
deftly fulfilled her task, "to repair the
wastes as far as | can, and to make my
home prettier and more comfortable, for
do love it, although it leaks like a sift.
er and looks like the walls of Balclutha."
Having concluded this performance, this
versatile young lady sat down to the piano
and treated US to charming German
song, Schubert's lovely "Naehe des
Geliebsen," for she did not suffer the
practical affairs OF life to usurp her time
and attention to the exclusion of accom-
plishments and culture.


L recall another instance that Illus
trates the manner in which young South
ern women have learned to meet emer.
gencies OF late years. During the epizootic
panic of 1872 a widow lady living on a
farm with her two daughters, became
afraid that one of her horses was
taking the disease. The young ladies'
although women of culture and
high social position, we're always
ready to meet any emergency and
take it by the horns, so they made little
negro bring forth the steed, and on the
animals giving sound that they inter
preted into an epizootic sneeze they
decided at once on vigorous course OF
treatment. They had been told that it
was very important to cover up horses
and keep them warm when threatened
with this disease, so they hunted up an
old counterpane and some ragged strips
OF carpet for the purpose. 1t was a re.
markable household, numbering not a
single male. The cook and housemaid
professed TO be afraid to swathe the
horses, so the young ladies, to shame the
towards, said they would do it them.
selves, as they knew the horse to be per.
fectly gentle. The strips of old carpet
shey sewed with coarse needles around
the horses legs, that animal regarding
them the while with An air of thouVhtfnl