Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1849-07-04
nj ISC T. L L A N Y,
THE W8FEas WELCOME.

"The world well tricd-the sweetest thinp In life
Is the unciouded welcome of e wife,
believe that with all my heart. have tasted
some of the sweets of life, and with as keen relish
for them as any one, but sign to the above decIa
ration, and do not care to know the man who calls
il in question.
That ,oetcOrne has reclaimed many wanderer
on the verge OF ruin, has preserved many, who, but
for it., would have gone astray given life and peace
to the heart Of many sonof toll and care and made
the cot of the poor an Eden.
The acant Of 1t has driven many man TO the
bowl, the gaming table, the company Of the dsso
lutte, 10 hell 1T has made many home prison,
many husband an enemy, many fathera tvrant.
many children fatherless, and many wives widows,
whose fathers or husbands yet live. And when !
see man negecting lovely looking wife, and
seeking his pleasure in the haunts of sin. to know
whether most to pity or to blame him. wish to know
if the wife Of his bosom always gave him the I'M
couded welcome OK smile, when he entered his
own door.
ifshe did, but he cared not for tiff she spread
the wes of her pure love to Irvine his heart, while
he broke away from the sweet enchantment-if she
made 1t sunshine always in the house, and was
cheerful in adversely well as gay in hours of joy
ii she strove to be an angel at the gate to keep
him within the Eden that she loved, while he
would yield to the song of the syren and wander
from the arms that embraced him, TO seek the en-
villain hated Of God and justly despised of men,
And such are many of those whom we see on the
road to ruin. The love of fond wife would have
saved them, butthey rejected it and deserve to per-
ish.
But if-and 1t rs a serious if--if she meets him
returning from his days and toll in the field
the shop, the study, or the forum or the Sen
ate--lt matters not where what his Iabors he
flies from them with joy to find repose and peace in
| The paradise OF hrs own home but if she when
he loves meets him without the joyous welcome of
glad heart, sunlt eye or with frown or a look
of cold Indifference, the mere absence Of delight .
if she meets him not with the living speaking shin
ing evidence that her heart leaps with badness
when its lord has cone it is not strange TO me that
his heart sinks, and he seeks for pleasures where
he looks not for love. He can be happy without
love abroad, but home, though heaven full Of an
gels, without love, is hell.
Glove is thing of frail and delicate growth.
Soon checked, soon fostered feeble and yet strong
IL will endure much, suffer long. and bear
What would weigh down an angels wing to earth
And yet mount beavenward but not the less
IL dietb Of a word, a look, thought;
And when il dies, il dies without sign
TO tell how far il was in happier hours
1T leaves behind rcproachcs and regrets,
And bitterness within affections we'll
For which there is no healing"
There is truth as well as poetry in this. and oft
the domestic circle where poetry never had wor-
shipper, has felt the sad power of this tfu,h. GA
word, look" has been the death blow Of love tina
shed bliss in that circle, and has driven fond hus
band forth to seek relief for wounded spirit in
scenes that allure to destroy. Mrs Ellis, in her
"Wives Of England" has most happily drawn the
portrait of wife as she should be- al beiae Ia
come home to-" 1t is not witt nor beauty. nor
wealth, nor religion, that makes wife crown of
rejoicing TO her husband. Nor all these combined
wife may have them all and love her husband
not give him an unclouded welcome never make
his house no home.
co. man may bear with sufcriugs; his heart
is a strong thing and god-like in the grasp
OfPain that wrings mortality but tear
One chord affection clings TO, part one tic
That binds him unto woman's delicate love-
And his great spirit yicldeth like reed"
When such thought as this is put into print
the most Of readers laugh at it. as the soft senti
] men!alism OF young poet, but every family has