Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1855-07-31
yr ri IG e. ! r. LSI ID Z .
From TX Mnrvcl's ''Drcam Life.n
A GOOD WIFE.

lHE tn0uSnt Ol Nelly suggests new
dreams that are little apt to find place in
the rhapsodies of youthful lover. The
yer! epithet Of good aoife mates tame.
ly with the romantic fancies Of first
passion. 1t is measuring the ideal by
too practical standard. 1t sweeps
away all the delightful vagueness Of
fairy dream Of love, and reduces one to
to dull and economic estimate OF &C.
tual qualities. Passion lives above all
analysis and estimate, and arrives at its
conclusions by intuition.
Did Petrarch ever think Laura would
make a good wife did Oswald ever
think it Of Corinne Nay, did even
the more practical Waverly ever think
Of it in tho impassioned Flora ? Would
it not weaken faith in their romantic pas.
sages if you believed it What have
such vulgar, practical issues to do with
that passion which subIimates the fac.
ullies, and makes the loving dreamer to
live in an ideal sphere, where nothing
but goodness and brightness can come ?
Nelly is to be pitied for entertaining
such thought; ; and yet Nelly is very
good and kind. Her affections are with.
out doubt, all centred in the remnant Of
the shattered home: she has never kno wn
any deeper love,-never once (ancied it
-Ah, Clarence, you are very, very
young!
And yet, there are some things which
puzzle you in Nelly. You have found
accidentally in one Of her treasured
books-a book that lies almost always
on her dressing table-a little withered
flower, with its stem in slip of paper;
and on the paper the initials Of your old
friend Frank. You recall, in connec.
ton with this, her indisposition to talk
of him on the first evening Of your re.
turn. 1t seems-you scarce know why
that these are tokens OF something
very like leaning Of the heart. 1t doe:
occur to you, that she TOO, may have hel
little casket Of loves and you try one
day, very adroitly, to take look into
this caskct.
You will learn, later in life, lha
the heart Of modest, gentle girl is {
very hard matter for even a brother Il
probe: it is at once the most tender ant
> The most unapproachable of all fast
, nesses. 1t admits feeling by armies ant
I great trains of artillery, but not a sin
v gle scout. 1t is calm and pure as pola
: SHOWS; but deep underneath, where n
footsteps have gone, and where no ey
}, can reach, but One, lies the warm an
,hrobbins earth.
y y Nelly-and the though
y brings tear Of sympathy to your eye
must have such a heart, 1t speaks i
l every shadow Of her action. And th
70 uery delicacy seems to lend her a char
n that soouM make her a ,oie to be love
q and honored.
~ Aye, there is something in that mai,
II emily modesty, retiring from, you as yc
vance,-retreating timidly from a
70 bold approaches, fearful and yet joyo,
70 which wins upon the iron hardness
re- mans nature, like a rising fame. Z
10 force Of action and resolve he oppos
IN force. To strong will, he mates his ow
= Pride lights up pride. But to the 60
<. tleness Of the true womanly characte
us he yields with gush Of tenderness viii
er nothing else can call out. He will n
nj yer be subjugated on his own ground
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