156 THE aROUNDSWELL. 



ganization having for its object the rounding off the rough 

 edges of every-day life, its power for good would be 

 greater than it was ever before able to exercise in any one 

 single direction ; for, as is truly said in one of the circulars 

 sent out by the Patrons : &quot; Every husband and brother 

 knows that where he can be accompanied by his wife or sis 

 ter, no lessons will be learned but those of purity and truth.&quot; 



WOMEN AS KEEPERS OF SECRETS. 



Another fear, early expressed, was that women could not 

 keep a secret. It is unnecessary to say that this idea is now 

 thoroughly exploded. In all the workings of the Order 

 nothing is yet believed to have escaped the lips of one of the 

 female members where it should not be told. The reason is 

 obvious. The wives and daughters of farmers are not sur 

 rounded by the false glitter and deceptions of fashionable 

 life. They share the labors and the sorrows of their fami 

 lies ; they are treated as the equals of, and co-workers with, 

 the men. Their tastes are simple, their aspirations pure. 



Many a city belle envies the robust health, the blending 

 of the rose with the lily, characterizing the country girl. 

 The one is engaged in frivolities and fashionable dissipation, 

 such as drive the carmine from the cheek ; the other takes a 

 healthy, practical interest in the affairs of daily life around 

 her. The mere votary of fashion may be able to keep her 

 own secrets, but she does not always keep those of her 

 friend. The rural wife or maiden keeps not only her own, 

 but also those of her friends which may not be told. 



Maidens as true and faithful abound also in our cities, 

 but they are not found in the circles of those butterflies 

 who worship at the altar of fashion, but rather around the 

 fireside of the God-fearing man of business, the artisan and 



