Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1853-03-31
BY REQUEST.
The Husbands Present.
BY A JoURNEYMAN PRINTER

of December. The snow lay deep upon
the frozen earth, and the bright moon,
riding half way up the heavens, lent a
crystalline lustre to the scene. In the
high road, short distance from quiet
reposing village, stood the form of hu-
man being. His garments were scant and
tattered-by far insufficient to keep out
the biting frost; his frame shook and trem-
bled like the ice-bound boughs of the
weeping willow that grew near him, and
his face, as the moon-beams danced upon
it, exhibited all the fearful footprints of
the acknowledgements. Poor, wretch
ed and debased he looked-and such, in
truth, he was.
Before him at the end of neatly fem
ced and trelised inclosure, stood small
cottage. 1t was elegant in its simple neat
ness, and just such one as the humble
lover of true comfort and Joy would seek
for home. The tears rolled down the
bloated cheeks of the poor inebriate as
he gazed upon the cottage, and at length,
as he clasped his hands in agony he muir
INJURED:
"Oh, thou fond home of my happier
days, thou lookest like heaven of the
past Beneath thy roof I was married to
the idol Of my soul, and, within the peace
full walls, God gave me two blessed chill
dren. There, peace and plenty were mine,
and love and JOY mere mine. My wife
God bless her gentle soul-was happy
then; and my children-may heaven pro-
tect them-laughed and played in glee-
some pleasure Gladness played upon
us then, and every hour was season of
bliss. But lost them as a fool loseth
his own salvation! Six years have pass
ed since the demon that | took to my
heart drove us from your sheltering roof.
And those six years Oh, what misery,
what anguish, what sorrows, and what
degradation have they not brought to me
and my poor family! Home, health,
wealth, peace, JOY, and friends, are gone
all, all gonel Oh, thou fatal cup-no,
I will not blame thee. 1t was II who
did 1t. Year after year I tampered with
thy deadly sting, when 1 knew that de-
struction lurked in thy smile. But, but, !"
and the poor man raised his eyes to hea-
ven as he spoke, "there is room on earth
for another man-and I will be that
man !"
Within the only apartment of miser-
able and almost broken down howell, sat
a woman and two children-a boy and
girl. The cold wind found its entrance
through a hundred crevices, and as its bi-
ting gusts swept through the room, the
mother and children crouched nearer
to the few embers that still smouldered
upon the hearth. The only furniture was
four poor stools, rickety table and scan
/ tily covered bed; while in one corner, near
est to the fire place, was heap of straw
and tatered blankets, which served as
resting place for the brother and sister,
Part of tallow candle was burning upon
the table, and by its dim light one might
have seen that wretched mothers coun-
tenance. 1t was pale and wan, and wet
With tears. The faces of her children
were both buried in her lap, and they
seemed to sleep peacefully under her
guardianship.
At length the sound of footsteps on the
snow-crust struck upon the mothers's ears,
and hastily arousing her children, she
hurried them to their lowly bed and
hardly had they crouched away beneath
the thin blankets, when the door was o.
pened. and the man whom we have already
seen before the pretty cottage, entered
the place. With trembling and fearful
look, the wife gazed upon her husbands
face, and seemed ready to crouch back
from his approach, when the mark of a
tear-drop upon his cheek caught her eye.
Could it be, thought she, that that pear
ly drop was in truth tear! No-per-
haps a snowflake had fallen there and
melted.
Once or twice, Thomas Wilkins seemed
upon the point of speaking some word to
his wife; but at length he turned slowly
away and silently undressed himself, and
very soon after his weary limbs had touched