Rensselaer Union, Volume 10, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 February 1878 — Seeking a Good Wife. [ARTICLE]

Seeking a Good Wife.

“A good wife is a good thing.” The man who said that knew what he was talking about. Upon a wise selection of a wife largely depends the happiness, comfort ana success of a man. We have made grand advances in our arts and in general civilization in the century that has passed, and we are glad to believe that to-day woman occupies a nobler and a truer position than ever before in the history of the world. We have not a word of criticism for the mothers who have gone, for to them we are largely indebted for the results of the present; nor is it criticism to assert the superiority of woman of thia age over that of any in the past. Her facilities for education are greater, the field of her usefulness ftna labor broader, and, with it all, her domestic love and care have not been diminished. There have been a great many skeptics about, the propriety of educating women, for the reason that it would take her from the dominion of home, and produce anarchy in this, the very citadel of happiness.' Experience has not only proved these fears unfounded, but that cultiTSted minds, adorned and strengthened by study and accomplishment, only better fit woman for the true helpmeet to man; that phe makes a better mother for his children, and brings more happiness and more 'ove and ipore brightness to the home where she reigns and rules. Since the doors of seminaries and colleges opened to receive women, the doors of the home have not shut out a single charm of domestic life. On the contrary, we. believe they have been , --.tv.--.-: _ - ----- - • ' .

multiplied and refined by the graces that follow a united cultivation of head and heart The cultivated man seeke ing a wife is no longer Beared by the words “blue-stocking,” or “strongminded,” for it has been fully provdthat the largest culture of a woman’s mind changes none of the lovable woman's thoughts and affections, and only ennobles and dignifies her as the aid and adviser of her husband, and the guide and inspiration of her children. We do not mean “strong-minded” in the sense that society often takes it, viz., masculine habits of dress and masculine ways, and a desire to carve amid the rubbish where the rougher nature of man is only fitted to labor. Sdch women, although honest and earnest, represent but a meager minority of the cultivated women of the Nation. Neither when wc speak of women in the higher walks of life do we wish to include those who have attained their position by worship at the shrine of fashion; whose make-dp in dress and whose stock in trade is out-

side appearance. The prominence of both classes has caused severe criticism of women in general, and, we may add, unjustly. In seeking a good wife the cultivated man would scarcely expect to find her in either class. Elegant costumes, diamonds and brilliants; fair, white hands, unsoiled by any employment, are, with rare exceptions, sought after by the emptyheaded and empty-pocketed men of society; but the man of thought would hesitate to tread upon a path dangerous to all future happiness. Go where you will, to the mansion of the wealthy or the home in the humblest cottage, and you will find the true queen of that household one selected for her womanly virtues, her domestic habits, the cultivated mind. These all endure the wasting hand of time, and grow more beautiful and attractive with age. Young men of these times hesitate to marry because of the extravagance of women. They misjudge the sex by the painted butterflies of society, who do not represent true womanhood any more than the sporting man does true manhood. Our seminaries and colleges and our Christian homes are bright, and joyous with the jewels of true women—girls who have accomplishments of head and heart, who are not ashamed of being aids to their mothers in the duties of the household; who know the mysteries of the kitchen as thoroughly as the Greek verbs or the highest class of music; and the young man seeking a wife can find one in this large class that will relieve life of manv anxieties, turn aside many cares, and make the descending years of life as peaceful and full of charms as the beginning. Life, with its bright realities, begins, when there is a union of hearts and hands, from this sure foundation. Hopes built upon any other are doomed from the beginning, and life drags over the weary years and ends oblivious to earthly joys. - Chicago Inter- Ocean.