Preble County Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1857-1859, 1858-08-12

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and he, from vague suspicion of thu
truth, held back from repeating the re
ference.
! With what painful distinctness wa:
this whole scene restored, as Mr.. Car
son sat grieving over his great loss, in
the desolate home from which the light
of loving face had departed forever
Oh, what would he not have given fol
power to change that one cruel act
Away from the rebuking record, writ
ten in his book of life in characters new
er to be erased, the grieving and repent
ant man turned his eyes; but it was on
| ly to gaze upon another almost as pain
full to behold. As this faded, memory
restored other scenes in which he was
the mean, selfish oppressor, and she the
loving, patient, long suffering wife. II
had been all exaction on his part, and
gentle compliance on hers, even though
compliance must often have been through
reluctance or pain. He had been a
selfish tyrant; she a yielding, dutiful
subject, though often burdened beyond
nat ure's power of endurance.
And now, as Mr. Carson read over
the past, he saw new meanings in al
most every life-incident. The sad eye;
the pale, pleading face that grew thin
ner and paler with every passing year;
the almost stony look that answered to
his unkind words; the silence that often
sealed her lips for hours after his arbi-
trary denials; all these and more, were
present to him now, and he tried, but
in vain, to put them out of sight.
How little had he taken her needs Of
mind or body into consideration, during
all the years of their married life. He
had scarcely thought of her as a being
as one given to be the servant Of his
wants and pleasures. 1t mattered little
how she thought, felt, or desired. If
her action served him, that reached the
compass of his estimates.
Loving and patient" What new
power to smite him as with a whip of
stinging scorpions, was this testimony of
the preacher gaining every moment
Yes, she had been loving and patient
amid cruel wrongs and neglects, that
sapped the foundations of her life
Loving and patient, though daily she
bent lower and lower beneath the heavy
weight of her uncheered duties.
As these were the memories that
came back upon the bereaved husband,
.as he sat, with his motherless children,
in the home now made desolate. There
had been an angel in his house for
not recognized her presence, even though
her hand crowned his days with COM
fort, and made his pillow soft for him at
night. And worse than this: for good
deeds he had returned harshness; for
love, GOODNESS; and for gentle words,
unkindly speech.
Not a CLEAN of consolation found its
way into this night of sorrow and self
rebuke. Our dead return not. As we
have seen them, SO will be our memories
of them blessed, or accusing mories
according to our deeds.
How many hundred of bereaved hus-
bands are sitting in the shadow of grief
to-day, mourning for the departed ones,
whose loving presence will no more give
warmth and light to their DWELLINGS,
Ali what are their companion thoughts?
What their crowding memories? What
their pictures from the past? Like
those Of Mr.. Carson? Not all, we trust;
yet, TO all must come the recollection Of
acts or omissions, that the world if pos
sessed, would hardly seem too much to
give, if that great sacrifice could change
the record.
But to those VI no have still their home
treasures around them, the lesson comes
with hope as well as rebuke. All, how
little inclined are some men to think,
that the patient, uucomplaining ones,
who move daily through their dwellings,
have equal wants and aspirations with
themselves. How singularly inclined
are selfish sensual minded men, to un-
dervalue ard think lightly of woman S
wants, yearnings, pcculiarities, and ne
cessities. Their range of thought and
feeling, sweeps rudely away from hers.
Their hearts but rarely respond to the
same touches of sympathy. If, now,
and then wife drops her pure pearls
of feeling at the feet of her husband, he
tramples them in light scorn under his
feet, and she learns, from these sad
experiences, to keep more sacred her
precious treasures. And SO she with
draws more and more into herself, and,
it may be, turns to her husband some
rougher side of her character, thus ex-
posing one that will suffer least from
the rude contact to which she is daily
exposed.
Ali who can tell in what externally
pleasant homes these fearful heart mar
tyrdoms are going on. Beautiful man
sions, rich attired, give charm and ele-
gance to our streets. They smile down
upon US every where, with their assu
rance of happy hearts within. But,
every now and then, wan faces, and sad
dreamy eyes look out upon US from the
windows; or we catch glimpses, through
futtering walls, of hopeless counte-
nances, as victims of social wrongs glide
in and out of waiting carriages. Alas
alas! What a mockery OF life is all this
If some are not patient and loving, as
was Mrs. Carson, who bore up under
her heavy burdens with seeming cheer,
fulness, until she fell exhausted, and
perished by the way side, ere half the
usual allotment of days was filled up,
who can wonder-who can strongly
blame? All have not the religious trust
that gave strength in her weak ness, and