FARMERS' CLUBS. 57 



The' clianges, tlien, in farm life, which I have briefly indicated, 

 mifsHa^'epZace before the farmer's home will possess the attrac- 

 tions which it ought to present. 



An Italian statesman once said, in argument among his peers, 

 " We govern Rome, but our wives ggvern us." This may be as 

 truly said here as in Italy. 



Some persons have attempted to impress the minds of women 

 with the idea that her sphere is in the direction of domestic duties 

 alone. But this idea she has refuted in all ages. What man has 

 accomplished physically or mentally, she has and can accom- 

 plish. Her position was undoubtedly designed by the creator to 

 be one of comparative retirement. But when the way is opened 

 for the exercise of her powers, the world has never witnessed 

 examples of sterner heroism on the field of battle, or more tender 

 solicitude and untiring devotion to the sick and wounded, than in 

 the late rebellion. No example is recorded of such consummate 

 skill in furnishing aid and comfort to the soldiers in the field. Our 

 armies were in considerable measure sustained by the unnumbered 

 tons of clothing, medicines, condiments, and what was of equal 

 value, the letters of consolation and encouragement, which fired 

 the heart of the soldier with fresh emotions of love of country. 

 To these may be added the wonderful skill displayed in devising 

 amusements for sick and broken soldiers in hospitals. A love 

 almost surpassing a mother's was breathed in a thousand daily let- 

 ters, or wrought into amusing stories over which tfie weak and 

 crippled might forget the tedium of hospital life. 



"Many a woman pines because she has no great object before 

 •her. She feels no strong current sweeping through her veins, 

 impelling forward some mighty work that shall be seen and ad- 

 mired by others. She sees her husband go forth to some kind of 

 stirring enterprise ; he meets his fellows and they bow to his 

 power ; his genius finds applause, and his labors reward, while 

 she discharges her domestic duties in retirement. But his is 

 child's play compared with the grandeur of the task which lies 

 before her. And if her labors meet with no well-coined currency 

 in exchange, it is because the world has none in which its value 

 can be estimated. Let no woman sink down in despondency and 

 say, ' My labors all go for nothing in this great scale of human 

 efforts.' They are too great for mortal computation, and hence 

 unestimated, rather than overlooked." 



