Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1857-08-01


made in Gods image, Graves the love
others, as essential to bis own happines
The man that asks no love is q monste
The man who expects none is a child
despair. There may be hearts so frozen b
selfishness, or ossified by pride and egotisn
or paralyzed by disappointment, as to b
Indifferent to affection. ...-
But these are icebergs, drifting in darl
ness, on Polar seas cold, barren, desolat,
In them no tree or shrub plants root n
flower sheds its fragrance there. No melod
of living joy is cbanted there. God foun
that it was not good for man to be alone
chiefly because he needed the conscious aIec
tion of female heart, to soften the asperitie
of his owr, and thus give completeness to hi
being.
In the deep, full affection of q wfe's heart
the husband finds that appreciation an,
interest which every soul covets. This stim
ulates his enterprises. This makes him brav
in peril. This cheers his hard labor 1hi
comforts him under irritation, slander, re
proach, in the outside world.
TO meet this craving Of man woman il
adapted.
She is not ambitious of wealth or fame
She shrnks from great changes and great
perils She is not fitted for the struggles o.
the forum, the conflict of arms or the labors
OF the field. Her home is her earthly II cav
en-; and she holds loving heart to cheer
him, to whom God has given loftier ambi
ton, deeper craving Of earth's wealth, q
stronger arm and q higher courage.
Subjected by the ordinance of God and the
laws OF the land, to abide sterner will than
her own, she is furnished with a wealth Of
affection which makes her burden of subordi-
nation light and melts and moulds to tender
ness the controller of her destiny.
81 am loved at home," says the husband or
the son I; and this thought nerves his prnci-
pie in the hour of temptation, and gives
soace to hardships on the land or on the
lone sea-
The treasure OF a wife's affection, like the
grace of God, is given, not bought. Gold is
power. 1t can sweep down forests. raise
cities, build roads, and deck houses. 1t can
brlbe silence or noisy praise. 1t can collect
troops of natterers, and inspire awe and fear !;
but, alas wealth can never purchase love-
Bonaparte essayed the subjugation of Europe
under the influence Of genius almost in
spired-an ambition nsatiable-and backed
by millions Of armed men. lie almost sue
ceeded in swaying his sceptre from the
Straits of Dover to the Mediterranean from
the Bay of Biscay to the Sea Of Azoff On
u uelu DdHlleT UOateU tTl-
umphant; but you all will bear witness that
his greatest conquest was the unbought heart
of Josephue-his sweetest and most price
less treasure, her outraged but unchanged
love. If a man has failed TO estimate the
affection of ue-hearted wife, he will be
likely to mark the value in his loss. when the
heart that loved him is stiled by death.
III. The heart Of her husband doh sofely
trust in a faithful rife ,tor companionship.
The family relation gives retirement without
solitude, and society without the rough iEtru-
sion of the world.-lt plants in the husbands
dwelling friend who can bear his silence
without weariuess-who can listen to the
detail Of his interests with pathy-who
can appreciate bis repetition Of events only
important as they are embalmed in the heart
Common friends are linked to US by a slender
thread. We must retain them by ministering
in some way to their interests or their enjoy
ment.
AS we cannot always give novelty and
interest to our conversation; MS we cannot
always make it for the interest, convenience
and pleasure Of our friends to adhere to US,
as we are liable to those pecuniary and social
vicssitudes which may tax their patience or
their purses, our ordinary friends, like sum-
mer birds, are liable to come and g0-to be
coldest when we most need sympathy--and
absent and Indifferent, when we most need
their support
What luxury il is for man TO feel that
in his own home there is true and aflrc.
lionate being, in whose presence he may
throw of restraint without danger to his dig
nifty; he may con6de without the fear Of
Ireachery and be sick or unfortunate with.
out being abandoned.
If in the outward world be grow weary of
human selfishness, his heart can safely trust
n one whose soul yearns for his happiness,
and whose indulgence overlook his defects.
No wonder he says:
my every earthly joy to blend
And harmonize my Ife
Give me tTee, tender friend,
And be that friend MY WIFE"
III. The heart Of husband doth safeiy
rust in IdiM.fd rife for personal comfort.
Who is it that gives care to the neatness,
order and tidiness Of our dwellings, our halls,
our parlors, our bedchambers? Who is 1t
that consults our tastes, our aflinities, our
repellances; aHl so regulate our tables, our
,ouches, our apparel, as to minister 10 our
comfort
Who is it that supplies our lack Of interest
in ordinary things and sends US out in society
pTepdTtu 10 meet tne clalinS OF uecency,
taste and proprety? Who caters for our
appetites and swelters in heated kitchens
for our indulgence; and often, unthanked
md unbessed, plies the needle, in the lone
evening, for our benefit?
Who is it that schemes by rigid economy
to get the most elegance and comfort from
the least tax on our incomes; who furnishes
the ready pin, the napkin, the bandage for
our wounds, the cup for our thirst. the friction
for our aching head, the medicine for our
pains? What angel of mercy is it that
watches by our sick pillow, bears all our
and irritatious, and moves with
muffled step when we slumber?
The assduities of faithful wife are so
common, so various, so cheerful, so unexact-
ing, that husbands are likely TO regard her
kindness as they do the sunlight and the
dews of Heaven, matters Of course-to be
received without gratitude. But the con-
stancy which makes them familiar-to a
rightly constituted mind-deepens the sense
of obligation. While the husband safely
trusts in the companion of his years for his
personal comforts, she has a right to expect
that her bene6ceuce shall be appreciated
If not, he will be likely to find her worth in
her loss. Her absence or death, is, 20 the
little world of home like the loss of the