THE WIFE'S RIGHTS IN THE HOME.
By M. C. DuBois
[A Note by the Editor.—As to the truth of the following article, we have no question. Neither have we any as to the motive or spirit in which it was penned. The great question is as to its use. If wives, wronged or otherwise, use the article in an aggressive way, or use it at all as a weapon to strike a blow at a recreant husband, or a lecture to instruct him, the good advice will probably be resented, and the article will fail of its mission in that family. Let each husband read it himself, let him take home to the heart every truth applicable, and do all in his power to make home what it ought to be.] At the outset let it be perfectly understood that nothing that is written here is written with a purpose to “hit” any particular husband, or to stir up strife in the home. But from personal observation I know that many wives do not have their God-given rights accorded them in their own homes, where they toil so faithfully day after day. The home is as old as creation. Its corner-stone was laid in Eden while in its perfection of beauty and purity. I love to think of the joy and peace that reigned within that Eden home. I do not imagine that Mrs. Adam had to worry about her wifely rights, nor that Mr. Adam lectured her, telling her she should obey him in the great and small duties of home life. They were happy in their innocency until the fall. How sad that they had to leave their lovely home. What sorrow must have filled Eve's heart, as she looked upon the ruin her disobedience had wrought. Doubtless she could not have borne it, but for the promise there given her. Satan caused her to bring ruin into the world; God permitted woman to give to the ruined race a Saviour, and woman was first to proclaim a risen Christ. But to our subject. We may almost wonder why the wife's rights in the home should need to be discussed. If every husband measured up to the standard given in Eph. 5:25-29, it would not be necessary. Alas, so few love their wife as Christ loves the church. Many men are really selfish with their wives, and yet do not realize the fact. The wife has rights, legal, moral, and physical. “Marriage is a legal relation arising out of a contract.” “At common law the husband and wife are considered one person [in most States]. A husband is bound to support his wife; and if he fails to do so, she may purchase necessaries, for which he is liable.” So much for her legal rights. She has religious rights, which should be respected by the husband and by the other inmates of her home. The wife has also a right to the love and respect of her husband. Next to love is the right of consideration. “The first lesson to be learned by the newly wedded pair is that of mutual and equal partnership,” says a writer upon this subject. “Closely following upon this relation is the recognition of the great need of consideration; the consideration that takes into account her feelings, her finer instinct, her sex,” the same writer adds. But God only knows how many women suffer, in their married lives, from a lack of this element of consideration. Love is a fine thing with which to endow a home. It is the foundation of everything. Consideration, born of true love, builds a strong bulwark around the home. In such homes, even in the smallest details of every-day life, the wife's rights will be respected. A wife, if she is capable, should be the mistress of the home, with the right to plan her work to suit her own convenience and feelings. Not long since I read of a woman who committed suicide because her husband scolded her. He came home at night and found her doing some domestic work that he thought ought to have been done in the morning, and spoke sharply about her tardy ways. She threw herself from an upper window, and died soon after. This was a wrong and foolish thing for her to do; but in all probability this scene was the last straw's weight added to her overburdened heart. The wishes of the wife should be consulted in all the household arrangements. This is her wifely right; but I know homes where everything moves just as the husband dictates, even to the arranging of the furniture, and other matters pertaining only to woman's work. I have been in homes where the husband utterly disregarded the wife's rights in the kitchen by bringing all sorts of dirty work indoors, and strewing her floor with dirt and litter, thereby making extra work, and hindering her in her work, which must be done. Some husbands are very slack, and have untidy habits, thus adding much to the wife's daily work, and causing her great annoyance and inconvenience. She has the right to have her feelings respected in all these matters. The wife should know the exact condition of her husband's finances. This is her right. There are women who do not care to know anything in regard to their husband's business, but this is not right. Many husbands and wives get along pretty well until the financial question is touched; then there is trouble. But having in a former article spoken upon this subject, I pass it by, hoping every husband will deal justly by his wife in money matters. Perhaps it is well to stop right here. If husbands and wives measured up to the standard found in the Bible, there would be no trouble along these lines; but self is enthroned in the human heart, both man's and woman's, and clamors for the first place. O, that the Spirit of God would awaken husbands and wives to see their loving duty to each other before it is too late.