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I
as
A
CYNICAL philosopher has said, j and write, urging her husband to stand
"There Is a woman at the bot- | out stanchly for the freedom of the
colonies. Those sparkling letters,
which are still considered models of
the epistolary art, were proudly read
to his friends by John Adams, for
many in that brilliant circle of states
men were known to her. While the
tom of everything." At a time |
when we are celebrating the 1
'■laratlon of Independence it is a i
vl thing to consider the part that ‘
men played in bringing it about. If 1
•re ever was a women's war It was I
W*. of the Revolution The tax on I Declaration of Independence was being
t- ■ and the stamp act that affected the
i : .• <s of domestic commodities In a
'•untry where living was hard were
fu< It influences as would most readily
arouse Ihe indignation of housekeepers.
The spirit of the women was shown in
debated Mrs. Adams wrote to her hus
band:
“I long to hear that you have de
clared independence, and in the new
code of laws, which I suppose will be
necessary for you to make, I desire that
fhetr pledge nor to use the tea and the | y° u should remember the ladies and be
readiness with which they assumed all ! more generous and favorable than your
manner of hardships in resenting tyr- j ancestors. Do not put unlimited power
During the war great ladies I int0 l he hands of the husband.
into the hands of the husband. Re-
reduced their establishments to the | member, all men would be tyrants if
most rigid economy, and women every- ; could. If particular care and at-
\\ i)f»rc tilled farms ami did Die work i Mention not paid to the ladies wfe
of men that husbands, son> and broth- I are determined to foment a rebellion
rr might serve their country.
Of the Illustrious company of men
who signed the Declaration almost
evi ry one of them was backed by some
pettlcoated patriot eloquently urging
him to action.
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"If I were of the opinion that it was
best for a general rule that the fair
sex should be excused from the cares
of war and state, I should certainly
think that Mercy [Mrs. Warren] and
Mrs. Adams ought to be exceptions be
cause I have ever ascribed to these la
dies a large part in the conduct of our
American affairs.”
Thus spoke the husband of Mercy
Warren to John Adams, and a little
study of the biographies of that period
will suggest that probably never in the
history of this country have, women
had so much to do with the shaping of
public affairs. There was in Massa
chusetts, the seat of sedition. Dorothy
Hancock, wife of John Hancock, so ar
rant a little rebel that she sdlpped off
and married him when he was in hid
ing in Connecticut with a price on his
head as a result of his defiance of the
royal government. When Massachu
setts elected Hancock to the second
Continental congress his wife insisted
on accompanying him to Philadelphia,
although far from strong and with a
young infant to care for. Her hus
band's wealth enabled her to play the
Lady Bountiful not only to the suffer-
'ng soldiers during the war, but to the
struggling and bereaved families.
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A more Intellectual and no less inde
pendent womr.n was Abigail, wife of
John Adams, another signer from
Massachusetts. John Adams was then
a poor lawyer, citing a scanty living out
of a farm at Braintree, and he could
not afford to take his wife with him to
Philadelphia. Although the main sup
port of the family and the care of the
farm fell upon her shoulders, she sent
him from her with a smiling face and
a brave heart. It was seven years be
fore she joined him in Franco, and al
though the Insolent and savage British
soldiery harassed the country all’about
her and the booming of the spins at
Bunker Hill and Charlestown filled her
with forebodings, she could sit down j
and will not hold ourselves bound
laws In which we have no voice or rep
resentation."
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Mercy Warren, friend of John and
Abigail Adams, was an Otis, the
of that James Otis whose speech
old Boston state house In resistance of
the right of search maintained by the
king's officers was one of the influences
that helped to bring about the revolu
tion. Mr. Otis had been advocate gen
eral of the colony, but resigned it to
act as counsel for the merchants.
John Adams, who listened to the fiery
young orator's speech, said:
“On that day the child independence
was born!” Most of the arguments
used by Mr. Otis were those afterward
advanced for the separation of the
colonies from the mother country, and
Mercy Warren, poetess, dramatist and
essayist—the Aspasia of her time—was
the confidant and adviser of her broth
er. Her writings show how far the wo
men of that day dared go when con
science moved them. She coolly satir
ized the colonial governor and the
Tories in her drama, “The Group,” and
lauded the Boston tea party in the
‘‘Squabble of the Sea Nymphs.” Thom
as Jefferson. John and Samuel Adams,
Elbridge Gerry. Alexander Hamilton,
Henry Knox and even the great Wash
ington himself were numbered among
her friends. Her correspondents in
cluded the most distinguished men and
women of the time. She was zealous
in behalf of Independence, and when
war was declared made her homo at
Plymouth, the headquarters for many
movements for the relief of want and
suffering.
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Mrs. Samuel Adams was a woman of
less brilliant mental caliber than Mrs.
John Adams. She was the daughter of
an English merchant, and If her sym
pathies were with the royal cause
she put nothing in the way of her hus
band following his own convictions. She
cheerfully gave up her beloved tea
when Boston housewives decided to
boycott this favored beverage. Once
by mistake Elbridge Gerry conveyed
to her from Philadelphia while the con
gress was deliberating on the Declara
tion a pound of tea intended for his
wife by John Adams. She innocently
entertained Mrs. Abigail with a cup of
her own beverage to the great amuse
ment of that lady when the mistake
was discovered.
Martha Skelton, the lovely and ac
complished wife of-Thomas Jefferson,
was a no less stanch patriot than the
Intellectual Abigail Adams, although
I her influence was less obvious in public
affairs. It is notable that while con-
i gress was discussing the advisability
! of declaring independence Thomas Jef-
' ferson went home to Virginia for a
j week or more. He had been in a
: doubtful frame of mind when he left
Philadelphia, but his return found him
confirmed in faith and ready to draw
| up that series of brilliant articles
I which made the colonies free and re-
; spected in the eyes of • the civilized
j world. All honor to Martha Skelton
; for this and for the admirable manner
in which she could administer the af-
i fairs of Monticello when her country
jneeded her husband!
' Probably the most notable of New
York and New Jersey women patriots 1 of the Revolution, was one of the most
were the ladles of the Livingston fami- brilliant and beautiful women of her
ly, from which Philip Livingston of time. She was a sister of Bishop
New York was numbered among the White and celebrated for her clever-
signers of the Declaration of Independ- ness, charity and patriotism. She was
ence. Philip was the brother of Gov- one of the leaders in all plans for help-
ernor Livingston of New Jersey, whose I ing the families of those who were
home at Elizabethtown was named j fighting for their country, and she or-
Ltberty Hall. The Livingston women ganized many movements for relieving
were famous for beauty, wit and hos
pitality. One of the governor's daugh
ters became Mrs. John Jay, while his
sister was Mrs. William Alexander,
wife of that Lord Stirling who threw
away an English earldom to fight for
the colonies. His daughters. Lady Kit
ty Duer and Lady Mary Watt, are well
known in the history of Washington's
time.
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Lewis Morris of Morrlsania was still
unmarried when he signed the Decla
ration, but his heart was already en
chained by a lovely daughter of South
Carolina, Miss Ann Elliott, known to
an admiring British soldiery as “tho
beautiful rebel.” When the king’s
troops held Charleston she want
abroad flaunting thirteen plumes in
her bonnet and her opinions were free
ly expressed to the enamored officers
who wore the king’s uniform and
haunted her father's house. One of
these, the son of an English peer, laid
his heart and fortune at her feet in
vain. Once when Morris came to visit
her she saved his life by the stinging
rebuke she gave to the English officer
who came seeking him.
“Go look for him in the American
army if you dare!” she cried, and the
redcoats slunk away abashed before the
spectacle of indignant beauty.
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The wife of Carter Braxton, signer
for Virginia, was the daughter of the
king's receiver general of customs, and
when Lord Dunmore, the governor of
Virginia, seized a quantity of powder
belonging to the turbulent
the distress of the ill fed, half clothed
and barefooted soldiers of Washing
ton’s army.
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Benjamin Franklin was seventy years
of age and a widower when he signed
the Declaration, his daughter, Mrs.
Sarah Bache, caring for her lively fa
ther in his old age. She was an arch-
rebel, and with her family was com
pelled to leave Philadelphia when it
was occupied by the British. Her sen
timents were so aggressively demo
cratic that she is said to have repri
manded the head of a school who un
dertook to make some distinction in
regard to classes of society by asking
that the Misses Bache should be
shown no further favors.
"For,” said Franklin's daughter,
“there is in this country no rank but
rank mutton.”
Everywhere, among all classes, this
spirit of independence animated the
women. Is it any wonder that their
men could write and sign tho Declara
tion? Tile heroes of '7G were inspired
by the heroines of '76.
BETTY RODGERS.
BOT
AN ARISTOCRATIC FRUIT
TLER.
Lady Algernon Gordon - Lennox,
sometimes known as tho best dressed
woman in England, has announced her
intention of establishing a fruit bot
tling industry at Broughton, Oxford
shire. She has discovered that the de
mand for preserved and bottled fruits
increasing enormously. In 1!>00 and
colony, 11901 the value of bottled fruits import-
through the intervention of her father,
the British government was made to
see the wisdom of recompensing the
colonists for this loss. Dunmore did
not forget this slighting of his au
thority, and his revenge was the burn
ing of Norfolk.
| Mrs. Richard Stockton, wife of one
I of the signers from New Jersey, was
another patriotic bluestocking. Her
verses were much admired, and even
General Washington himself thanked
her for those she wrote in honor of the
surrender of Cornwallis. She was the
writer of the triumphal hymn, “Wel
come, Mighty Chief Once More,” sung as
he passed through Trenton on his way
to his inauguration, airs. Stockton was
the sister of Dr. Elias Boudinot, a well
known figure in colonial history, and
her daughter Julia was the wife of Dr.
Benjamin Rush, one of the signers for
Penn:-. tnia. airs. Stockton was a
woman jf such elegance and dignity
that she was playfully called “the
duchess." Her husband’s wealth and
her own talent gave her great influ
ence in the affairs of the time.
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airs. Robert Morris, friend of Martha
Washington and wife of the financier
ed into England amounted to $11,000,000,
and since then it had gone on increas
ing. In her opinion England should se
cure the benefits arising from such a
demand. The fruit industry had been
carried on with great advantage in Es
sex. Cambridgeshire and elsewhere,
and Oxfordshire seems particularly
adapted for the industry. She strongly
advocates the teaching of fruit culture
in the elementary schools and thinks
that county councils might lend their
assistance in this direction.
To encourage fruit growing In the
Banbury district Lady Algernon pro
poses to establish a fruit bottling
“plant” on her own account and is in
negotiation with a Maidstone firm in
regard to the subject.
FADED UPHOLSTERY.
To restore faded upholstery beat the
dust out, then brush. Apply a strong
lather of castile soap with a hard
brush, wash off with clear water, then
wash with alum water. On becoming
dry the colors will look as well as ever.-
When colors are faded beyond recovery
they may be touched up with a pencil
dipped in water colors of suitable shad*
mixed with gum water.
Topics That Concern Womankind Exclusively ^
W E live and v.-e learn! »
Sad, but true.
If you have made an
error In the selection of
your spring costume cheer up and re
flect that you have learned something
that will last you for a lifetime. What
ever other mistakes you may be guilty
of in future days you will never com
mit that particular one again.
If you look at things this way you
will become decidedly cheerful Instead
of thinking of suicide as a friend told
me she did when her new suit came
home!
1 learned this point of view myself
from a very cheerful woman. No
amount of mistakes ever soerned to
appall her. She bobbed up serenely
after the worst catastrophes.
She told me site had read so many
hard luck stories of really great peo
ple and the many stupid things they
had done In their youth and even mid
dle age that she felt quite indulgent;
toward her own self when she slipped
up. The only times she ever got angry 1
with herself, she went on to say, were
wh6n she made the same mistako
twice.
And there's something In that.
Worth Considering.
I wonder if there's a man who doesn't
like to see his wife well dressed and
who doesn't sit up and take notice
when that lady wears a new gown or a
novel hair arrangement, although he
may pretend that he doesn't care two j
raps. i
In view of this marked leaning of the j
male sex toward novelty and change (
will you please tell me why some wo
men fly In the face of Providence and
their own hnppiness by never caring I
how they look in the bosom of their j
families?
A woman will scrimp and save (even
extracting pennies from the household j
iccount) in order that she may have
will never give away their old gowns,
but feel they must wear them all In
succession and “get a change.” But as
a friend remarks, “It's a poor change
that makes you look homelier.”
Give me a plain shirt waist with a
neat collar and tie. You may have all
the fixed over
finery you want.
Don’t keep old
dresses. They
never look like
anything. They
clutter up the
closet and add
to the worries
of life.
I believe in sim
ple, appropriate
clothes with few
attachments, or
what I call “doo
dads.”
One of the
most stunning
dresses I have
a handsome gown to wear to church or j
to the woman's club, but as for house
wear. why. her three year old chaJM* j
with the tight sleeves ar.d narrow skirt
is plenty good enough or, 1 am sorry to ;
say. a faded dressing jacket and a ;
passe odd skirt (when it isn’t a petti- ;
coat) is considered quite good form for ■
breakfast wear.
Can you blame a man for retiring
behind his paper when he has that sort
of a vision to gaze upon? Or. Indeed,
for getting out of the house as soon as i
possible? i
On the way down to the office, by the i
way, he sees in the oar pretty, well i
dressed women, and he compares them ;
with the frumpy personage he has,
just left among the ruins of the break- 1
fast table—much to the latter’s dis
advantage.
There is no sense in wearing old
things ground the house. Borne women
A plain thirl tcoitl irifl seer, lately was
a neat collar. a perfectly plain
navy blue shirt
waist dress with a plain collar and a
big blue sailor hat to match. The whole
thing couldn't have cost more than $15,
and it looked smart.
It’s funny, but you will invariably
notice that the people who can afford
to be extravagant have the most prac
tical clothes, while the woman who can
only afford two dresses a year will
have these made in bright colors and of
a style likely to pass away before after
noon.
An Unprofitable Habit.
Mora friendships are broken from
borrowing and lending things than
from any other cause.
Lending money is fatal, if you ever
expect to get it back promptly, or,
sometimes, at all.
Lending clothes is almost as bad,
while as for lending pets or leaving
them to be cared for that reminds me
of the Irish old maid who left her
darling parrot in the care of an inti
mate friend for a couple of months,
and on her return, behold, the friend,
having become enamored of the bird
herself, refused to give it up! There
upon the loving relations of years were
severed violently and the injured one
hied her to the priest for redress, weep
ing and wailing the while, “She came
between me and me bur-r-rd!”
And her plaint became a byword In
that parish!
It is always well not to expect too
much of any friendship, not to bore
friendship, not to tempt it with par
rots or anything else, and, above all,
not to make weighty confidences to it.
Oh, the miseries that have arisen
from confidences between intimate
friends! You make a call, say on a
rainy day. You are blue, and there is
nothing to talk about, so you open up
your heart and tell tilings you never
should, things which you would give
your soul to recall when you have been
out of the house only half an hour.
But It is too late. Your secrets are
no longer your
own. They may
be the property
of a dozen peo
ple tomorrow or
on the next
rainy day when
your friend in
her turn goes
visiting and be
comes confiden
tial from lack
of ordinary con
versational mat
ter.
Of course I
leave out the
possibility that
you and she may
quarrel some
day or have a
slight coolness.
In the care of an inti
mate friend.
It’s a wonderful woman who does not
tell all she knows under those circum
stances.
I don’t say there are not women who
wouldn't keep silent, mind you, but the
percentage is smaller than you think.
So better not risk things! If you
have secrets keep them to yourself,
then you are sure they are safe.
The gorgeous gown with filmy laces
On other days may aid her graces;
Today she is more fitly dressed,
For freedom’s flag becomes her best.
A Dangerous Question.
Speaking of women, one of the meati
est questions they can ask is (confi
dentially), “My, dear, what do you
think of Mrs. So-and-so?”
I always answer that I think she is
perfectly lovely. No matter what my
real opinion is.
And why?
Because having been guilty several
times of the absurdity of telling the
truth I have b ; en confronted with my
own remarks—after many moons—to
my intense embarrassment.
No, indeed, I’m wise now, and every
woman is just too sweet for anything
while everything she docs is just right.
Others I know are wise from the
same experiences.
I begin to think it is only foolish wo
men who say right out what they
think.
Strictly Noncommital.
Have you ever noticed a peculiar type
f woman, I wonder? She never ad
mits that she dees not know every
thing. If you took her into the palace
of the emperor of China she would not
give you the satisfaction of a single
“Ah!” Neither would she ask a single
question if she died for it. She might
commit the most fearful social breaks,
but she would cover them up in soma
way and give an excuse, and she would
rather choke than ask what was the
proper thing to do in time to avoid
those mistakes.
You see this type of American wo
man abroad quite often, I am sorry to
say, and she drives you wild!
It reminds me of the story of the
schoolgirl from a little country town
who was taken to see New'York. Site
was as blase as a girl of eighteen can
be, and when her hostess nuked her
what she thought of the city she said
that some parts of it were quite nice.
Fifth avenue and Riverside drive, for
instance, which reminded Iter of heme!
Can you beat that for provincial sin'.’
For the matter of that, any one Is
provincial in my estimation who can go
through life never admitting tho su
periority of any one or*auything unc
never showing either surprise or ad
miration at new sights, cities or cus
toms.
Give me the people to travel with
who are never afraid of asking plenty
of questions or of looking interested.
Really Worth While.
And while I am on the subject let
me branch off just a tiny bit and say
right here that if there is any woman
| I am enthusiastic over it's the one who
I can own up she has made a mistake.
The other day a woman boasted that
she had paid $5 a yard for a certain
I beautiful piece of lace 1 admired great
ly. Soon afterward I met her on the
street, and she said, “My dear, I don't
I want to leave you with a false im-
! pression; I made a mistake about the
i price of that lace, it only cost me
j $2.50.”
I Now my opinion of her went up 50
per cent. There are so many bluffers
in this world one learns to value sin
cere and plain spoken women who are
not ashamed to appear just what they
really are.
New York.
DAUGHTERS OF EVE.
An elderly woman on being examined
b^oro the magistrates as to her place
of legal settlement was asked what
reasons she had for supposing that the
deceased husband’s settlement was at
St. Andrew's. The old lady looked
eameetly at the bench and said. "He
waa born there, he was married there,
and they buried him there, and if that
isn’t settling him there, Td like to
know what is!"
That brilliant circle in London, of
which Mrs. Thralc, Mrs. Elizabeth Car
ter and Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu were
members, is scarcely mere than a mem
ory, but an attempt has recently beer,
mode to rescue the name of Mrs. Mon
tagu from oblivion in a biography writ
ten by her niece and now another vol
ume of memoirs has appeared.
Every girl has an awful time trying
to decide which is the worse—to live to
be an old maid or an old married wo
man.
Paris has seven free eating houses
expressly for poor mothers. Last year
they furnished 37.0110 meals The res
taurants are small, but scrupulously j
clean. Over the door is the sign, the
“Free Res-
Xothing is !
these cozy
translation of which is
taurant For Mothers.”
charged for at any o!
places.
Mrs. E. P. Buckingham of California,
who started with twenty-five acres, has
now 140 acres covered with trees and
vines. She markets 600 tons of fruit
annually. Mrs. Jl. D. Sherman owns
one of the finest ranches in the state.
She has 200 fancy bred cows which yield
her an average profit of $52 a year each,
besides 300 acres of wine and raisin
grapes, almonds and orchard fruits.
Countess Waldersee, widow of the
lute Field Marshal Count Waldersee,
and a daughter of David Lee of New
York, is the only American woman so
far to have been decorated with the
Firs: Class of the Prussian Order of
Louise, founded about a hundred years
ago by King Frederick William III., in *
remembrance of the heroic part taken
by his consort, the beautiful Queen
Louise, in Germany’s war against Na
poleon. The insignia is somewhat like
the famous Iron Cross in form and is
fastened to the left shoulder by a white
and black ribbon.
Through the energetic efforts of Mme.
Brisson. a university for women has
been* opened at Paris in which a course
in housekeeping is to hold the place of
j honor in the curriculum. There will he
other courses in dressmaking, millinery,
shorthand, hygiene, history and litera
ture. The idea is to attend to the prac
tical matters of life first, but not to
neglect the ornamental.
Mrs. George McC. Reynolds and Miss
Nina F. Howard of Glencoe, Ill., are
running a flourishing violet farm. They
send 2.000 violets a week to the mar
ket
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