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DETROIT, MARCH 8 1890.

 

 

THE HOUSEHOLD-"Supplement.

 

 

THE MODEL E0 USEWIFE.

 

Ber house is a model of neatness,
Not alone for cleanliness‘ sake.
lut for the good of her loved ones.
'And the comfort they there may take.
ler parlor is light and cheery,
And never too good to use,
ler kitchen the easiest workshop—
lie: a. prison for drudge and recluse.

Her chambers are airy and sunny,
Her linen as white as the snow.
ler closets and cupboards in keeping
‘With the system of rul'e apropos.
ler china, her grass and her silver,
,Lre dainty. polished and bright .
.Foerb are her plea and her puddings.
And her bread ever wholesome and light.

her pick‘es in crispness are perfect .
Her canned fruit and jellies the best ,

let pie‘crust the flakiest, her doughnuts

"- Pe’tectiOn to tum and to twist!

lhe is nurse to the sick and to the feeble.
From “ grandpa." to sweet baby May;

lire settles the quibbles and quarrels

‘ of the older children in play.

With foot on the rocker at evening.
Rhe dams and patches and mendv,
Wh1le Robbie and Lillian’ 5 lessons
She carefully superinten‘ds ;‘
Where the time ’mid this legion of duties.
For mental culture she gets,
Isa mystery—vet she finds it!
Best of all is ,—she never frets!
—][r'8. A. Giddings Park.

-————..._—

A woman's bureau drawer will hold half a ton
of clothes,

.A_ parasel. some bandboxes and goodness only
knows

low many scores of other things within it she
may store,

And yet there’s always lots of room for twice as
many more.

lat give a man that self— same draw er and Just
one pair of socks,
An undershirt. some d rty cuifs, an empty collar
' box,
And when he‘ s put them in, its capacity he’ll
glut,
And fill it up so awful full he‘llnever get it shut.
——0hicago Herald.

W

THE MOTHER‘S INFLUENCE.

 

“ The hand that rocks the cradle .
Is the hand that moves the world. " -/

The above quotation, somewhat hack
neyed and weather.worn through much
handling, repeated in a paper read before a
certain farmers’ institute, provoked the fol-
lowing criticism: “ This old saying should
have been buried long ago, in fact should
never have been born; it is simply a little

“soothing syrup’ administered to women,
the men hoping theleby to keep them con-
tented with staying at home and rocking
the cradle.”

Possibly these words 1.118176 at some

’

time been quoted ass sedative to a woman’s
ambition to'shine in public or to reconcile
her to those humdrum duties of everyday
living which make up so large a part of
the average woman’s existence. But it re-
mains a fixed and incontrovertible fact
that the influence that guides, directs and
controls the child is the influence that
"moves the world” in moulding public
opinion and bringing about reforms. That
regeneration is slow is because so few,
even among women, realize the might of
their power and exert it as they ought.
We cannot proceed on the assumption that
all mothers are good, conscientious
teachers, that all homes are centres of re
finement, culture and Christian principle,
and all home influences beneficial. There
are the mothers whose children are " little
nuisances,” the fashionable mothers, the
housekeeping mothers, whose children are
subordinate to clean floors and finger-
marks, and the thousands and hundreds of
thousands of women who have no concep-
tion of the higher duties and responsibili.
ties of motherhood, and Whose children
literally "‘ grow up ” like a whole genera~
tion of Topseys. It is not the principle
that is in fault, it is the performers, in that

l the impetus given the race in its infancy

does not produce such results as we wish
to see. Thus said a great statesman: “ The
power of the cradle is greater than the
power of the throne; Make me the
monarch of the cradles, and I will give to
whomsoever will the monarchy of king—
doms."

In reading of the lives and work of great
men and women, we almost invariably find
it noted as a factor in their success that
they had good mothers~1nothers who
d‘owercd them with intellect, then directed
and developed it, instilling right principles
at the same time. Good and great men of
all times have acknowledged this, reverent-
ly aiid gratefully. When a man’s convic-
tions, given to the world from pulpit, plat-
form, or through the press, stir the world
to right injustice and remedy wrongs, we
know they are no mushroom growth, but
the result of a life’s discipline, begun and
outlined in his tender years, when his
mother’s influence was dominant. Ask
nine men out of ten—I mean moral, upright
men——wl1at influence has been strongest in
their lives, and you will find their answers
trace back to the mother and the home.
Thousandswho have gone astray, regret-
ting their lost innocence, will answer dif-
fe1ently.A young- mau, «110 .1t‘1nrri in .1
, Canadian pris1. n tor a 1: r1 no 17! (:11 is than

 

 

 

.‘
a

punishable with death, was visited by his
mother. "Leave me!” he said. “ You
brought me to this. I learned in the
streets What brought me here, because I
had no home. I never want to see you
again.” Cruel, more cruel than death;but-.
what a testimony to a mother’s responsi~
bllity!

Every argument for the advancement-
and enlightenment of woman rests, directly-
or indirectly, upon the value and power of
her moral training of the young of the race.
Yet growth must necessarily be slow.
Think of iti There are but three genera.
tions to a hundred years, three steps in a.
century!

“Are women to blame for all the ex
isting evils in the world? If not then the
hand that rocks the cradle does not rule
the world." If a sponsor is wanted for all
evil we must go back to the Creator, who
permitted its entrance and set for us a
perpetual struggle with sin. If all women .
were of one mind, and all alike earnest in.
their training, who can say what great
work might not be accomplished. But
they do not agree in their views, any more
than men; the traditions' in which they are
educated become their standards. Do you
think the wife of aVanderbilt, enjoying
all the luxuries of wealth, has the most re-
mote idea that her husband’s riches were.-
amassed by dishonest and dishonorable
means? Could you convince the wife of
the United States Senator who lifts her
wine glass in her jeweled fingers at dinner,
that her act has the slightest connection:
with the misdeeds of the laborer who gets:—
mad drunk on cheap whiskey and murders...
his wife?

When we see an evil or a wrong we.
cry out at once, “ Oh, we must have a law -
to remedy that.” But there are evils and
wrongs that legislation cannot touch, that
can only be fought by moral means, mak~
ing them odious and unlovcly, educating
ourselves and others to higher standards of.
thought and life. The “moving hand ’*’
is that which gives the upward trend to
poor humanity, by educating those who
will soon be lawmakers to a sense of justice,
honesty, uprightness, which shall give us
just laws, and a morally upright people
whose endeavor will be to obey, not evade-
them. Yet, since we cannot legislate nor
educate acquisitiveness out of human.
nature and man is a tyrant by natural and
hereditary instincts, the poor will always
cry out against the arrogance of the rich,
who will get all they can; t e poor in their

,1 place would do the same. Put J ay Gould’s

 


 

 
  

   
      
     
    
  
    

  

.2 THE HOUSEHOLD.

"millions in one scale and alife of toil and
penury in the other, and you might rake,
-our fair Peninsular State with a fine tooth
“comb without finding 91 mar- ry“: would .
mot Seize the gilded prize by preference.
Women do not license saloonkeepers, but
“they have moulded the minds of men till
‘S'license is demanded. Their influence is t,
“bringing about. a state of popular feeling E

"which demands a more rigid enforcement i changing the order a little he obeys; in fact
-:of existinglaws, and the (nactment of pro- . a great many

hibitory statutes. Is not this a great ad-
vance over the times, two steps in a century
“backward, when every man kept liquor in
this house, set out rum and sugar for the
:minister and the deacons, and thought no
”building could be raised, no field reaped,
'without the aid of the little brown jug?
The progress of a true reform is always
"flow, yet for that very reason permanent
:and abiding. Children have been educated
‘dnto its principles—the ruling motives of
itheir matured estate. Let a great wave of
sentiment sweep over a country and see
how quickly it dies out! It is emotional.
thence evanescent. Women. when they
leave the care and trainin :-of their children
to servants, or expect the schools to educate
in manners and morals, while they, like
«Atlas, bear the burden of the world upon
"their shoulders, are in cficct releasing the

«substance to grasp the shadow.
E .iTRlX.

.-———~ —90

”VALUE OF PARENTAL EXAMPLE.

«on! she was thcome. my bonnie wee latsie,

 

.Cls welcome as song-bird and flowers of spring.

‘From the moment the babe is laid in the

worse than all, benumb and destroy the
better feelings, need the punishment far
more themselves. “Thou must be true
thyself, if thou would’st teach." And no
one is capable of governing an ther wlo
cannot govern himself.

Sometimes a child refuses outt"ght to
comply witha request or order; by distract-
ing the child’s attention for an instant and

tactics can be used, until
children reach an age when pride comes to
thh rescue. Many order their children
about much like dogs, and think no ex-
planation is necessary. There are times
when it is highly necessary that they should
know the reason why such and such things
are required of them. Parents too often
blind their eyes to the fact that there is a
duty they owe their children; and the ex~
ample set in the home, the knowledge
gained about the table and fireside are far
more important in giving bias to character
than sermons and lectures. The good
qualities and tadylike manners 0'. the
mother will be reproduced in the daughter,
and the strict integrity and honest, honor-
able character of the father be transmitted
to the sons.

On the other hand, the mother who knows
her daughters are living lives morally and
physically wrong, and never places ob-
stacles in their way, need ask for no pity
if her head is silvercd and her face seamed
with lines, and her heart broken. The
father who stands in the saloon and takes

 

 

THOUGHTS ABOUT OUR SCHOOL
SYSTEM.

I did not expect to gain an entrance to

the HOUSEHOLD in my first attempt;
thought I might reach the thres old and
make my courtesy. The “welcome to the
new comer ” the Editor extended encour- .
aged me to try again and risk the conse-
quences. I do not expecr to call very often,
but the subject now open for discussion in
its columns is one in which I have always
a beenlinterested, what can farmers’ wives do

to make our distr'ct schools more eficient.
Believing a good district school united
with good home training will better pre-
pare our children to meet the many temp-
tations and rtspnnsibilities of life, this is a
subject that should interest one of the
mothers.

So wise and liberal is our school system
that a common English education is within
the reach of all who are disposed to avail
themselves of the advantages it presents.
In carrying out the system it is essential
that the school building should be located
in a healthy and pleasant situation, and
supplied with all modern appliances
and conveniences. In employing teachers
less regard should be had to price than
qualifications such as moral character and
ability. It does appear that when thus
furnished with suitable house, teacher and
books, parents and guardians might safely
transfer their children from their homes to
the school room without any further care.
Yet in many instances when this has been

 

his daily libations need not be surprised if
some day his son touches elbow with him

done disappointment and “vexation of

, cause the tear to fall, the lip to quiver.

1'

‘ . be if the whip were applied. Another may

*young mother's arms there comes asense of
responsibility. And when the mird begins
to unfold, like the petals of a rosej when
the eyes open in wonderment at things
strange and new, the question arises,
~‘naturally, “ Am 1 morally responsible for
”this human soul intrusted to my keeping?”
”With the growth of the little one there
comes increased anxiety, and the idea he-
comes fixed that; alone and unaided the
steps can never be guided. aright. While I
have never been a believer in strict home
discipline that will bear no deviating. no
matter what the circumstances, I firmly be-
lieve that the father and mother are largely
responsible for the future welfare of the
xchild. A code of 7am: may be necessary to
re. well crgarized borne, bitt the mother of
eight Litilt‘Jeu will fell 3.01.1 that no two of
«hem bear the same governing; dispositions
dieing :0 unlike that a punishment that

would prove efficacious with one would
.. but add fu=;l to tie flame with anorher.
1' The child will have a nature so sensitive
.— that a look or a move of the head will

One can easily see what the result would

i
I

at the same place. It isn’t the prescribed
rules for the little ones'that. determine
whether they will be good or bad men and
women; it is the example set by the parents
in the home, and if we would have our
children all that the fondest hopes can ask
for, we must guard well our thoughts and
actions, for that it depends largely upon
ourselves is a truth past argument.
BATTLE CREEK. EVANGELINE.
-..____..¢......__.

FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS.
There has come a new fashion in funeral
arrangementswwhich I think is a great
improvement. over the old way. It may
not be new to many of you, but has come
to my notice within the last few months.
Instead of the family sitting in the parlor
with the casket during the exercises, they,
with a very few chosen friends, are shut
into the library or a room at the head of
the stairs if the funeral is a large one, until
the exercises commence; the door is then
opened enough to allow them to hear the
remarks. The particular friends and
honored guests are seated in the parlor,

 

 

have a strong sense of honor but a spirit of
mischief that often leads him into trouble,
"x- but the truthfully owns his fault; a few
"Well Chosen words, alit’le guidance and
check to the exuberant spirits and the
child develops into a soundvnrincipled

 

man. It is an extreme case that needs the
ww’hip, and the man or woman who will,

the others as usual. The family take their
last look before people arrive. As the
people come in they view the remains, if
they wish, before being seated, then there
is no stirring about or confusion until the

last funeral I attended (that of a bank presi-

H. E. H.

 

 

‘in the heat of passion, fall upon a child
and beat and lacerate the tender flesh, and

family with their dead have left the house
and are seated in the carriages. Atthe

dent) there was no singing; that was an

spirit ” have been the result. VV'nat can be
done? An appeal has been made to the
farmers’ wives.
The teachers have and ever will have my
strongest and heartfelt sympathy. It seems
to me they are far less responsible than the
complaining parents who have created the
very necessity for such a result. In nearly
every school there are enough children who
will not readily submit to authority to
make it unpleasant. for the teacher and the
well disposed pupils. Self control is pos-
sible to a child. Wise training on the part
of parents can secure it. It may seem un-
just to censure the mother. the one so
deeply interested in the children, who
watches so tenderly these “ darling buds of
hope and promise.” But who else can
assist the little one in this struggle for self-
control? which is possible at an age while
he is yet unable to speak or to understand
what is spoken to him. I have come to a
conclusion a little different from Ruth’s.
I think love and respect will surely follow
in the path of strict obedience. This in; at
be secured with much kindness and affec-
tion but more firmness. The will must be
brought under subjection. This is so easy
if commenced as soon as the child knows
what is right or what is wrong. Do not
wait until he is old enough to threaten the
life of his father, then try to whip the dis-
obedience out of him. It is too late. If
every child was obedient to parental
authority and that kind, gentle and loving,
but firm, would not that influence prove
salutary in the school room and in the

 

 

 

other thing I liked.
Anton .

q

various departits of life? Most of us.

 

9'3. 1'

 
 
  
  
   
   
  
   
   
  
 
 
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
 
  
   
 
  
 
  
  
  
 
 
   
 
  
  
   
  
 
  
   
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
   
  
  
   
 
   
   
  
  
  
 
  
    
  
 
   
  
  
  
   
  
 
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 


 

*'~--‘..._ .A, .

'1‘ H E

HOUSEHOLD.

3%

 

have learned we must submit to authority
in some form all our lives, and if learned
in the nursery and taught by the kind and
loving mother, how much easier to submit
to the rules and regulations of I society or
societies, laws of State or nation, orthc One
high over all. FLORENCE.

Bron Rmon.
-————-.O.—————-

CHILDREN’S CLOTHES .

 

Wo.l dresses for little girls are made
with high round waists, full sleeves and
gathered skirts, and many of them have
velvet ribbon trimmings. The waist is
buttoned behind, and the goods shirred in
rows round the neck, with a double stand~
ing frill of the goods instead of a collar;
three or four rows of shirring hold the full-
ness at the waist line front and back. The
sleeves are shirred round the wrists, the
skirt, simply hemmed, has two or three rows
of shirring at the top. The velvet :ribbon
is used as bretelles over the shoulders, end-
ing in rosettes at the waist line, and in rows
round the plain skirt. The velvet some-
times contrasts with the goods, two shades
of the same color being preferred, as a
pale green cashmere with darker green
velvet, but black is used a great deal.
Challi and thin wool dresses for summer
will be made this way, with grosgrain rib-
bon for trimming. A hem four inches
deep is the correct thing. Another newer
style, one becoming to girls of thirteen and
fourteen, is to have a good deal of fulness
drawn from the shoulders, armholes, and
under arm seams, to meet down the middle
of the front in two ruffles of the cashmere
doubled. The V-shaped space left at the
throat is filled with pleated surah or plain
velvet. Jacket fronts over a drooping
blouse are also to be worn. Sleeves are
high and full on the shoulders and modes
ately loose about the arm.

Ginghamswor any cotton fabrics—are
made up very simply. For the small tots,
plain round waists are trimmed with
bretelles of white embroidery—two or three
inches wide, scallops turning toward the
front—and collar and cuffs of the same.
A sash of the dress material is sewed in the
under arm seams and tied behind. Other
round waists have four box pleats, separat-
ed by rows of embroidered insertion.
Sleeves are full, mutton leg shape, in one
piece, full on the shoulders and plain at
the wrist. Two widths of goods form the
skirt, which comes half way between knee
and ankle. .

Six year old girls wear waists of plaid
cut bias and lapped from shoulder to waist
line, surplice fashion; a Vof tucked muslin
fills the opening, the back has two tucks
on each side of the buttons; a sash is set in
the side seams. A plain plaid front is cut
down the centre and turned back in nar-
row revers edged with embroidery, a piece

4 of wide insertion filling the space between.

Two and a half breadths of Scotch gingham
are used for skirts, and three and a half
for ten year olds; these skirts are very full.
Clusters of tucks, or rows of insertion be.
tween tucks trim the skirts, many are
entirely plain. Guimpe dresses are still
worn, but the above models are newer,

 

Outing flannels, which are so cheap and
pretty, are made up in sailor suits, full
skirts and blouse waists, with sailor collars
of cashmere braided with white and tied
low with colored ribbons. Scotch plaid
ribbon sashes are to be worn with plain
dresses of any color; their use is inappro.
priate with figured goods.

The small boys who are between their
first and second birthdays, wear dresses of
chambery, gingham or lawn, with high
round waists, coat sleeves, and gathered
skirts long enough to reach the ankle. The
waists have four box pleats down the front
and two each side of the buttons at the
back. Their spring cloaks are of pique or
striped wool, with box-pleated waist, full
gathered skirt, and a short cape, which
with collar and sleeves is trimmed with em-
broidery. Boys from two to four wear
shorter skirts, coming half way to the
ankles, low kid boots and short white
seeks. Their dresses button in front and
have a kilt skirt sewed to a pleated waist,
a belt of the material two inches wide being
stitched on to hide the seam and lapped to
the left, its pointed end fastened by one
pearl button. There is a deep sailor collar,
and a collarless white linen plastron to
imitate a sailor’s shirt. These dresses are
made of striped or plain linen, and of
striped flannel.

Other dresses are made to button behind
under a box pleat which hides the buttons.
The front is cut off jacket shape, edged
with embroidery, and opens over a side
pleated round waist. A belt crosses the
back at the waist line, its ends pointed and
buttoned; coat sleeves, and high collar com-
plete the waist. The skirt may be pleated
or gathered, as desired.

“—9..—
HELP WANTED.

It is some time since I wrote to the
HOUSEHOLD, and I have been "just going
to ” for several weeks. I Went to see Beatrix
holiday week, and I can assure Jannctte
she is not at all a person to be afraid of,
and I do not think she was mentally pick-
ing flaws either in my clothes or myself
during my call. Next time you. go to
Detroit go and see her; she will give you a
hearty greeting and you will enjoy a visit
with her and a teen 5:: the Ii'ovsnrrorn
album, too. 1 must say that we Hover:-
H:)‘.’.':.‘-.-"’.;lt". are a wry the locking crowd
(my picture is not there yet, so I can say
this without. deserving the name Mrs.
Conceit). I am going in again some day to
take another lock. I liked them all, and
some of them I fell in love with, but I shall
not tell who. I might emulate some of the
story books and say “gentle reader, it is
you."

To-night I want some help. In my
dining room there is a patch of new plaster,
where I cannot make the paper stick; I
have papered it three times and now it is
off again. Can any one give a remedy?
Also can any one tell what will take out
the stains on white muslin caused by
alum water, it has left pale orange colored
stains.

We went to the Farmers’ Institute last
week, in spite of the worst roads I ever

 

saw. There was a good attendance. It
was the first one I ever attended, but I hope
not the last. There was apaper read,“0ur
Children’s Inheritance,” by Mrs. Bowers,
of Clawson, that was excellent. I wish it
could be published in the FARMER. I would
like to have it, and it would do us all good
to read it. I think there might have been
a little more of special interest to women
on the programme, although I myself felt
an interest in everything I heard. Some
of the women said they “did not care a
cent about ‘ The Silo and Road System,’ ”
but I do. I have to ride over the roads (a
severe punishment now), and I believe
thoroughly in the silo. I must stop now or
Beatrix will say that she does not believe
in such long letters.

Onow. MRS. ID.

 

‘—

WOMEN IN ANCIENT EGYPT.

Miss Amelia B. Edwards, who has been
called “the most learned woman in the
world,” lectured in this city recently, and
as one woman has always anxiety to see
with her own eyes another who is peculiar-
ly dowered with brains, beauty, or Wit, of
course I made arrangements to attend.
Miss Edwards was not popularly known in
this country, except among those interested
in archmology and as the author of several
popular novels. until she came among us
and started on her lecture tour, heralded
by a great deal of newspaper talk and en-
dorsed by Boston and the Redpath Lyceum
Bureau. But she has been a great success.
The intellect of this city placed itself at
her feet, so to speak; the social world
bowed its aristocratic knee in homage to
the learned woman who is empowered to
write Ph. D., LL. D. and L. H. D. after
her name. In appearance, she is “ English
all even” English in indifference to dress,
English in pronunciation, speech, manner,
and thoroughly so in preferring her own
land and its customs to any other.
Although she is in her fifty-ninth year She
looks much younger—fully ten years
younger, owing to her fresh complexion
and erect figure. She is of medium height,
but looks tall because of her dignified
presence; has gray eyes, a large mouth,
gray hair, which she wears combed loosely
back from a full, well developed brow.
At the reception in her honor at the Art
Museum here she were black silk with a
eorsage knot of yellow roses, and a jet
bonnet and yellow plumes; she appeared
before her large audience in black, with a
cashmere shawl draped ungracefully about
her shoulders and pinned awkwardly at
one side. But all thought of presence or
dress was utterly forgotten when she be-
gan her lecture, to the subject matter of
which her deliberate yet animated delivery
and clear enunciation added not a little.

Miss Edwards is a woman of remark-
able versatility. She is descended from
the Walpole family, so well known in
English literature, and began her career at
seven years of age, when she wrote a poem
which received the “ baptism of print.” At
twelve she had written a historical novel;
at fourteen she began to study music and
distinguished herself as composer and per-

 


 

 

,.
,
2L ,. ~,.,.__....-,.._....

 

 

ail THE HOUSEHOLD.

 

former. At twenty-one she returned .to
literature, and in ten years published ten
novels and a volume of poems. She is an
artist of no mean ability, and is able to
illustrate her own books; and as journalist
has “ done” everything but parliamentary
debates and police reports. A visit to
Egypt in 1873 and ’74, about which she
wrote in “A Thousand Miles Up the
Nile,” turned her mind to archaeology and
she set about the study of this science with
all the ardor and interest excited by a
favorite pursuit. Her year in Egypt re-
s'ilted' 1n the founding ofasociety to rescue
and preserve Eg ptian antiquities from the
ignorance of the Arabs, who valued
obelisks and sphinxes only as material for
their lime-kilns, and the cupidity of the
tourist, who carried off and dispersed
treasures which would be invaluable in
museums. The American subscriptions
tothe fund of this society have equalled
those of England, hence it deserves the
name of Anglo-American; and there is in
fact a branch society at Boston, whose
president is Dr. Winslow. American
colleges have been first to honor learning
in the person of Miss Edwards, and to
confer honorary degrees upon her. How
many languages she can speak I cannot
say, butas sheis one of the first Egyptolo-
gists of the age,
knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, Arabic,

Assyrian, and other literature, and of the
progress of art. and science in each nation,
itis to me a wonder how “ one small head
can hold so much. ”

I cannot help moralizing a little, right
here, on the ,difierence in women. Most
women, at her age, seem to have lost in-
terest in life and the world, and to be
living principallyto save funeral expenses.
They have forgotten most of the acquire-
mentsof youth, and appear contented that
it should be so. How many women at
forty—two would take up such a study as
archaeology, with all its difficulties! Not
many. None -but those trained in intel-
lectual pursuits from youth up, and with a
genuine love for learning.

The first lecture was on “ Queen Hatasu
and theWomen of Ancient Egypt.” All
we know of prehistoric Egypt is that it

was divided into petty states under auto—t

cratic rulers, probably afterwards consoli-
dated into United Egypt; no relics of a
stone age have been found, all evidences,
if such exist, being buried cubits deep
under the debris of centuries. Egypt is the
oldest country of which we have records.
Athens and Rome were unknown when
Egypt was old, the Assyrian empire is a
thing of yesterday compared to the an-
tiquity of Egypt.

Egyptian writings are of three kinds—
the hieroglyphic, found on tombs and
obelisks; the hieratic, a modification of the
hieroglyphic, and used in the sacred or
priestly writings; and the demotic, the
most modern, being used five or six cen-
turies before Christ, and the most difficult,
which were the legal writings. From these
demotic writings much of the history of
women is learned. These three styles m ay
be compared to modern shorthand, run

and this includes a.

ning hand, and printed matter. We are
most impressed by the difierence between
the condition of the women of Egypt in
those ages and that of women in other
countries. Four thousand years before
the Christian era women in the valley of
the Nile enjoyed a most remarkable degree
of freedom, independence and dignity.
They were in every ,respect man’s equal,
in some his superior. They had all the
right and privileges of men. They could
buy and sell, mortgage and foreclose prop-
erty, make government contracts, and
were accustomed to transact all kinds of
business. A papyrus in the museum of
Turin is a contract made by a woman for
the purchase and future delivery of grain.
Another is the complaint of a woman to
the governor, setting forth that the ofiicers
of a certain garrison had delayed to pay
her for supplies furnished until a year
after delivery. Herodotus, who visited
Egypt in the time of Darius I, wrote that
Egyptian-women went to market, bought
and sold and carried on commerce, while
the men stayed at home and piled the
needle; but until these papyri were dis
covered it was supposed the historian wrote
in a humorous vein. Now we know it was
in very solemn earnest—to the men at
least.

The marriage contracts of the Egyptians,
translations of which the lecturer read,
show a complete reversal of our customs.
The English bridegroom says, " With all
my worldly goods I thee endow” but he
does not mean it; and it has taken years of
struggle and miles of petitions to enable the
wife to gain even a provisionary interest in
her husband’s estates. But the Egyptian
bridegroom literally fulfilled this pledge.
He bound himself by a carefully worded
contract, specifying every detail and
signed by numerous witnesses, to provide
his prospective wife with a certain sum
for “dress money, by the month and by
the year, ” and another sum for pocket

money, during the period of betrothal,
which was generally a year. Upon the
consummation of the betrothal by marriage,
he surrendered to her, absolutely, the con-
trol of his property—all he had and all he
might afterwards inherit or amass, bound
himself to defend her right to it, and for-
felted a specified sum it he took another
woman as wife, in tead of the one to whom
he was betrothed. It would appear that
women then exercised the right now
vested solely in men, that of choosing a
matrimonial partner. The marriage con-
tracts read from husband to wife; he said
“I accept thee as my wife.” The sums
set over as dress and pocket money varied
according to the means of the individual (I
think this ancient custom might with great
benefit and propriety be revived in the
present day); but always the betrothed
maiden was maintained during the interval
between betrothal and marriage by her
prospective husband. Two of these mar-
riage contracts contain clauses stipulating
the wife shall furnish her husband with
food and clothing, and also provide for
funeral expenses and memorial tablets.

 

Would not the nineteenth century man

: In Like Lgy pt howl under such matrimonial

 

obligations and financial requirements-—
which however he usually manages to
make binding upon the women of his
household! The husband took the name of
his Wife; the sons that of the mother. The
double crown descended to the Pharoahs-——
a term applied to the kings of a certain-
dynasty and meaning “ ruler”——through
the female line, and Rameses the Great in

herited his throne through the right of his
maternal ancestry.

While the Egyptians dwelt by themselves
these laws worked very well, apparently;~
but the incoming of other races brought
abuses. I’Vhen the Greeks invaded Egypt,
the native women were captivated by the
handsome strangers, and not a few con-
nived at the murder of their husbands and
afterward became the wives of the Greeks.
But after the Arabs conquered the land
women descended to the inferior and de-
graded position they now occupy under
Moslem rule.

Marriage was not a religious ceremony,
merely a civil contract; or at least this is
the only form mentioned in any writings
yet discovered. That the contract was 'a
variable one is proven by a document dis-
covered in which the woman contracted to
pay the man a stipulated sum—~“fifty
argenteos ”—if she “disdained him” or
took another husband. '

(To be Continned.)

 

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.-

 

A soar BUBBLE party isa good frolic for
the children. A tablespoonful of glycerin.
added to apint of good soap suds will make
the bubbles last longer and grow larger.

Hon. T. T. LYON, noting the fact that
he has a hedge of the Japan Quince, ten
or twelve years old and ten or twelve rods
long, and which forms an impenetrable
barrier, alludes to the character of the at.
tractive looking fruit, which he says is
used in small quantity, in the family
dietary, to flavor the milder apples, arid
which imparts to the sauce a pleasing
sprightliness and piquancy of flavor not
excelled by the use of the varieties of the
quince ordinarily used.

 

Contributed Rec1pes.

 

OATMEAL Baum —'I'wo heaped cotree eup-
fu s steamed Quaker rolled white oats: half
pint boiling water; two tableSpoonfuls brown
sugar; butter the size of a black walnut;
wheat flour to make a thin better. When
lukewarm add half coffee cup good yeast. Let
it rise over night. In the morning stir in flour
enough to mine as still? a batter as can be
stirred with an iron spoon. Put into well—
buttered tins and let rise again. Bake in an
evenly heated oven —not too hot‘at first—one
and a half hours.

POTATO SALAD.——Twelve cold boiled pota-
toes, sliced thin; two medium sized onlons,
sliced thin: two stalks of celery, chopped flue.
Pmce in alternate layers in a large bowl or

'saia'i dish. Just before sexvmg pour over the

following dressing: Two eggs, beaten light;
one teaspoonful mixed mustard; pinch red
pepper, and as much vinegar as is needed;
boil; let stand until cold.

Barren Can‘

Evsnonrnmn.

 

 

 

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