The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1853-11-09

'~"' h'teT slJuDP lew minutes IN
moody silence, the young husband remark.
ed, ut is useless to attempt to conceal the
truth from you, mother. You must see
how much am disappointed in my wife.
Without being positively i'll, she grows
more languid and dropping, and inefficient
from year to year; and where l hoped to
lind an aid in the manifold duties of life,
| am only dragged DOWN. ard by her
weight of helpless weakness, labor to
fulfill conscientiously my part of the con-
Jugal contract, but It is vain to expect from
her any corresponding efforts"
"llow do you divide the duties of the
conjugal contract 2" asked his mother,
with ? pcrceptible smile.
"Why, OF course, it is my duty to pro-
vide the course materials out Of which her
skill may prepare domestic comforts
For instance, am to see that the la der
is abundantly supplied, and she that the
table is place Of rcfrcs!ment and plea
ure."
Then YOU hold that
"'Thcrc is that in life
To which we cling with most tenacious
grasp,
Fen when its lofty Claims are all reduced
To the poor common privilege ofiiningr"
Poetry, from my practical mother.
"CcrtainIy. There are few things more
practisa! than poetry. My dear boy, wo-
man was not given to man merely for his
physical comfort. Ii she did not exist.
cooks, and bakers, and tniIors could SUP
ply, and perfectly too, the daily demands
OF life !; and il some finer articles of the
wardrobe were little neglected, they
would soon be rclinquisl,ed altogether
Adam might have been fine thriving
animal, without giving up a portion of his
physical existence TO he formed into an
helpmeet for him"
"But YOU sec, woman was made for the
purpose Of hc!ring him, after ALL
"ies, she WAS to he help adapted to
his needs, which certainly were not, n:
that time. those Of the kitchen and laun
dry. What was needed by man, at that
time, and ever after, was n companion ::
something that would awaken him TO hiph.
er life than that Of the senses, something
that would call him ont of himself and his
own narrow circle Of selfish cniovments.
In world Of full grown men, some of the
finest traits Of manhood must lie compar.
atlvcly dormant. There would TO very
little 10 project and cherish, to cultivate
and bless"
"Bui, dear mother, 1 have been from
my childhood accustomed to seeing wo-
man cu'tivating and lessing Others, with
out waiting for the performance Of anv
such duties. towards herself"
"lf you mean your mother, James, let
me beg you not to throw your compli-
ments away. You NAV, perhaps remem.
her thanking Heaven that Eliza was not
like me-"
Il do remember it, perfectly, and never
w"s an uniiIlal utterancc more severely
punished. In the bitterness Of nv subsc
quent experience | have surely expiated
those ungracious words"
"Bnt, my dear son, what | then told
YOU has proved true. Eliza has one of
those t~ining natures that need pcrpat-
ual support. II you had made it one of
your daily aims to call forth, ami devel-
rpe, and perfect the finest qualities of her
nature, | think your patient culture would
have reaped rich reward"
"But | have told you that, as the head
of household, have something else TO
do besides cul;ivating my WIFE"
"And what more important pursuit do
You recognize, my boy I"
First and foremost, til. pursuit Of a
Ii'cll' hood; the means Of defraying the
expenses Of the day and hour"
Life with You, then. is n locomotive
with just power enough to drag an empty
car. There are thousands of such lives.
Tut | hope not to be compelled to count
yours among them"
"Mother! am willing that others
should blame me entirely for Eliza's lost
vigor and faded bloom, hut did hope
that you. If only from maternal partiality,
might have felt some compassion for nv
position"
"My poor, selfish boy ! do feel chief
ly interested in the subject upon your ac.
count 1t is because | know that bv no
possibility can you avoid the penalty OF
neglect OF your conjugal duties. that I
wish to see them fulfilled to the letter
Believe me, you are mistaken in your
ideas OF the relative importance of pur.
suits. There is no field OF flabor that wouId
so richly reward your exertions AS that OF
cuitivasing the mental and moral qualities
and Iersonal grace. ~ 49,, .f :,