Semi-weekly Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1851-1852, 1851-05-06


it will mot add to my labors or my anxiety. /.
must look after the household affairs whether
we have one farm or two
The wife shed no tears. She was sorry that
her husbandsshould loose the social distinction
consequent upon some property more than 9th.
ers possessed, but it was pardonablesfeeing
her, that the loss of property placed her more
upon his level, aud removed somethingssof the
appearance of difference between them.
This, then, was not much Of grief.
"It lasts yet"
The sudden death of the irst-born. child, "A
beautiful boy, was the next disturbing cause.
was not in the house during the short sick.
ness of the child, hut attended the funeral,
followed the body from the antique house of
mourning to- the church yard. Whenlthe clods
fell upon the coffin, thought the heart OF the
mother would have burst. She leaned over to
look down into the resting.place of, her child,
and the arm of a friend seemed necessary to
prevent her from "going unto hinI
And said, at lasts no longer"
The friend and neighbor led her back to her
husband. The gentle look of affectonatesym.
pathy which he gave her as he placed her arm
within his, and drew her towards him, that she
might lean OH his manly strength, showed me
nv mistake.
The mother had suffered, but the affection,
nay, the happiness Of the wife was complete.
Could mother be happy returning from the
yet unsodded grave other only child9
Death had softened her heart, and fitted it.
for the ministrations of new affection. d The
father had suffered in the death Of the boy as
we'll and as much as she, and yet at the mo.
ment of deepest anguish, he had hushed bis own
grief that he might sustain her in her sorrow.
The mother mourned but the wife rejoiced.-
How beautiful and beautifying for the moment
had sorrow become. It seemed to me as If af-
fection had, never before possessedsuch charms;
it needed affliction to make it apparent as the
sunlight pouring through crevices into dark.
ened chamber becomes visible only by the
floating particles that reflect the ingushing rays.
The affairs of the couple were not sosspros-
porous as the virtues, the industry, the econo-
my, and the womanly excellence of the wife
seemed to deserve yet she never repined.l l
think one or two instances of excess on the
part of the husband drew largely upon the for
bearance Of the wife, but as even the excess
was accompanied with expressions of affection
they, though maudlin, seemed to compensate.
The feeling then was rather slight apprehen-
sion for the future than grief for the present
sorrow and deep modification might have been
felt. But these few instances, joined some un.
accountable decay of means, did not disturb
the happiness of the wife, a happiness which
seemed to me perpetual Joy. fags
Was the woman apathetica Had She no
sensitiveness Was she made to 60 through
life with gentle laugh, and drop into the grave
her son proved the contrary. ~ ~
The loss of property, to one who had been
poor before, seemed to produce no grief and
let the reader remember, or. if he does not
know the fact, let him learn it, that the loss of
property is more bitterly felt by those who have
from poverty risen to possession; than It is by
those who from infancy to the disaster, had al.
ways been rich. s,, l.4tI
The loas of properly produced no griefs
The death of her child led to a new affec-
ton for, and an enlarged Joy in, her husband.
His unfrequent but still obvious departure
from sobriety, long unattended with rudeness
or neglect did not offend the pride of the wife.
"It will not always last" said /. b.
inoou 40 O iiOtuot, diooSas ono, -
must abate portion OF my social state, and I
may, once in long time, be mortified by some
low indulgence in my husband, but fixed, deep
permanent grief as wife, it is probable / am
10 be spared, as companion ofmy own con-
stitution with that Of my husband shows, that
in the course Of nature, shall be spared the
misery of mourning for his death and be saved.
the solitary woes Of widowhood
The loss of property rendered necessary
more labor on the part of the husband, and that
labor kept him more from his home than for
merly; but the gentle welcome of the wife
cheered the toil-worn husband, and her delicate
cares changed the gloom settling on his brow
into smiles of satisfaction. There was, perhaps
more pleasure in the efforts which she was ma.
king, to produce the evidence of gratifcation
in her husband than there was in the mere ex..
change of smiles of welcome and thanks. Tho
wife grew proud of her influence to bring him
back to enjoyment, she felt new consequence
when she found that she could not only recip-
rocate smiles, but dispel frowns, not only share
in the pleasure of home. but dismiss the pains.
How holy is the Office of a good wife, and how
pure must be her sentiments, to derive the high
est qualification by producing the happiness Of
another. -e
1t was late in summer afternoon, and by
appointment the husband ought to have return
ed two or three hours before. The noises Of
revelry had for long time disturbed the outer