After the Storm

As Emerson spoke thus, he noticed a sign of returning warmth in her

pale face, and a dim, distant flash in her eyes. Her proud spirit

did not accept this view of their relation to each other. He went

on: "If a wife has no confidence in her husband's manly judgment, if she

cannot even respect him, then the case is altered. She must be

understanding and will to herself; must lead both him and herself if

he be weak enough to consent. But the relation is not a true one;

and marriage, under this condition of things, is only a semblance."

"And that is your doctrine?" said Irene. There was a shade of

surprise in her voice that lingered huskily in her throat.

"That is my doctrine," was Emerson's firmly spoken answer.

Irene sighed heavily. Both were silent for some moments. At length

Irene said, lifting her hands and bringing them down with an action

of despair, "In bonds! in bonds!"

"No, no!" Her husband replied quickly and earnestly. "Not in bonds,

but in true freedom, if you will--the freedom of reciprocal action."

"Like bat and ball," she answered, with bitterness in her tones.

"No, like heart and lungs," he returned, calmly. "Irene! dear wife!

Why misunderstand me? I have no wish to rule, and you know I have

never sought to place you in bonds. I have had only one desire, and

that is to be your husband in the highest and truest sense. But, I

am a man--you a woman. There are two wills and two understandings

that must act in the same direction. Now, in the nature of things,

the mind of one must, helped by the mind of the other to see right,

take, as a general thing, the initiative where action is concerned.

Unless this be so, constant collisions will occur. And this takes us

back to the question that lies at the basis of all order and

happiness--which of the two minds shall lead?"

"A man and his wife are equal," said Irene, firmly. The strong

individuality of her character was asserting its claims even in this

hour of severe mental pain.

"Equal in the eyes of God, as I have said before, but where action

is concerned one must take precedence of the other, for, it cannot

be, seeing that their office and duties are different, that their

judgment in the general affairs of life can be equally clear. A

man's work takes him out into the world, and throws him into sharp

collision with other men. He learns, as a consequence, to think

carefully and with deliberation, and to decide with caution, knowing

that action, based on erroneous conclusions, may ruin his prospects

in an hour. Thus, like the oak, which, grows up exposed to all

elemental changes, his judgment gains strength, while his

perceptions, constantly trained, acquire clearness. But a woman's

duties lie almost wholly within this region of strife and action,

and she remains, for the most part, in a tranquil atmosphere.

Allowing nothing for a radical difference in mental constitution,

this difference of training must give a difference of mental power.

The man's judgment in affairs generally must be superior to the

woman's, and she must acquiesce in its decisions or there can be no

right union in marriage."