The Best Wife And The Best Home

■"rt'hat kind of womeo make the beet wivcs ?" It is evident th&t the to tJlis question must depend iltogcther on what is the ideal of home. Thousande of years ago the idcul home of the Aryaia race was a plaee to wWch, aliove all other consideratians, the and mother were joint mier, equal in authority. As Str Monter Williaims saya, "íí the fatlier was regarded witli uwe as the pi-iiiiiavy source oflife, the mother was au object o! devotion to the children of the famiily as the more evident auihur of their exLsteuce. . . . To the Avyan iamily the faüiar and moth were present gods." In BUCto a sate of puljlic opinión it was natural tliat the sime equaUtj shoulil extencl evei -vwliere ; and thus ili" Aryan wii ol India was not only the mater of pe&ce, oraer, nappmras nad beauty iii lier own home, but she also fulfilled tliis function in the state It is durimg tliat epoch that we find the le.st homes inider the guidance o tlie best housewive? ever prodused on Iudia's soil. But in au evil hour a false concep tion of the relation between the hom naul the state arose in Iuilia, and women oï the aristocracy gradually ee ludrd iheunseives more and more v.-ithin the narrow walls, and behind tlie curtatoed door of the home, devotuiü tliemsclves more and more es,,,.],. bo the tae : ol considerin the wishes and Interests o! thelr ow immediate circle o; relatives only Mark the rcsult. It is conceded, on all sidefi, ihat nowhere else ave now found wive-s more obedlsnt to their husbands, nnore devoted 10 their cbüdifii. more diligent and zealous in perfn.mriïi-r of all their liousehold duües, more deotedly pious and ious in cvery movement of their üauy lin, But ju-t in proportion as the IL.n.lu wfc !ri; n u-rowed her thought (.. ;i, . c ur o! hier wn home alone, )ias eh become the most ignoraat w-ife. and ter home the least worthy as a human 'ii al. Iu view oí Uiis deeply Blgaifieant faot in the history oï the race rom ...i.:..i, ,,-u íuivü.h-ps are descended, I would say tlie best wife is slie wlio nrver forgets that no household livetli lor itself ; and -vvlio understands tiiut, as cacli nation is bat a collection of homes Sbe ca.n never iuliUl her task of helping to make the best hoaiies unless she coustantly keeps in mind her own relation to the natioa. Thus the puWic-spi ited woman wlio holde her domestic aoad her politioal duties in harinonious 'balance is the kind of woman who wlll make the beet wlie and the best home,- From '■Wonnen. Who Make the Best Wivea," Deimoresfe Magazine lor June.