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Untitled Article
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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On * a ? the Wards would caricature flowers for u , fimtwa $ another litter the mormtig room with cutting rninniYifl nii [ n n mto * a rickety ornament for the mantel-piece of some friend rnAriiynia balls . One would practice , with wearisome iteration , an air ktn ajfnteatbiiig voeal exhibition , to the infinite annoyance of a&othar \ vhd ( by itteans of skipping the didactic and historio&l pcwrtioas ) w&s ^ fcrying ' to get through the last new novel .
Time * the' estate of the wise , was in this house a waste ; each had her weedy patch , which bred its corresponding insects , spread * ing annoy&nce and disgust around . Almost daily disputes Juuting the sisters , lectures from mamma—propounded more for thectispiajr of her authority than with any view to the advantage of the delinquents —• eating , idling , gossiping , dressing , perhaps visiting , dragged through the hours of the day , often with weariness and pain , generally with indifference .
To marry well was the one aim and object of these girls . What did they anticipate from marriage ? Escape' from mamma ' * control , exemption from the necessity of association with each other , a household over which to exercise the arbitrary sway to whteh they abhorred to submit , the distinction which attaches to nfcairied peopte , —^ more luxury , more finery , more indolence . What did they expect from a husband ? Adoration ; that when absent lie should tail for the maintenance of a splendid home , when
present deify the being he had enshrined in it . What did they expect to give in return for this ? Their persons ; nothing more . Of the moral and intellectual power which creates a perpetual variety of fascination , which preserves a consistent standard of excellence , they had as much idea as the maggot has of the mammoth * As they thought a pleasing exterior was enough for them to bring into society , they thought it more than enough for home , where they could appeal to the admiration of only one , instead of many .
Silly speculators ! what visions were these ! The adoration of which you dream shall turn to the dust and ashes of disgust and indifference ; you shall be pieces of property bearing * your husband ' s name , like his streetdoor ; occupying his house , like the rest of his goods and chattels ; receiving his guests , like his servants ; going hither and thither , like his shadow , wherever his caprice or the necessities of his fortune may carry him ; and then .
if you conceal your sufferings and disappointments , you may die in the odour of conjugal sanctity at thirty , or if you be made of sterner stuff and oan throw off the anguish which otherwise preys inlyy you may survive unto widowhood , keeping your grief a profound secret unless as far as cap and craps are concerned . JLa Bruyire says , ' Why should men be blamed that women have no learning 1 What laws , what edicts have tijey pub } jsja « 4 taspitqhibit ibem fr * m opening their eyes , from reading re ^ mtatnigor making tfatiir advantage of what they t \ Wf i tf&a ^ U **** #
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Skeitkei * f Btmettie Mjfe ***
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No . 106 . 2 Z
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1835, page 645, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2650/page/17/
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