Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 May 1884 — The Mother-in-law. [ARTICLE]

The Mother-in-law.

The mother-in-law! God bless her! With all her alleged faults we love and honor her. May she control the household of her daughter to her dying day. May she rule the best husband in the land. May she be a godmother to his children. May her paregoric bottle never run dry. 'May she never grow blind to the faults of her son-in-law, and may she continue to chastise his children whenever it suits her own sweet pleasure. The man who has no mother-in-law among his earthly possessions is a rare specimen of humanity. Barnum would seek him at early dawn. It is- a rare occurrence for a husband and father to exist without a mother-in-law. She is always on hand in time of trouble. It is she who lays out the corpse of the dead child, and smooths its little marble brow with her brown and withered hands. It is she who performs these duties when the heart of mother and father fail them. She is a blessing instead of a curse. The mother-in-law! God bless her! May her gray hairs remain with us to the last. May her snuff-box be always full and her tobacco-pouch filled with plenty. May she govern the father, the mother, and'the children. May we respect her likes and her dislikes. May her peevish wants be gratified. Bless her dear old heart, she is not what she is painted. We read of her with laughter and ridicule, but when we meet her kindly face in our own homes, wo love, honor, and respect her. Yes, even obey her. Her days are numbered, Mid we should make happy her declining years. The mother-in-law! God bless her!— Will M. Clemens, in St. Louis Illustrated Magazine.