Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1858-06-11
THE WIFE'S MISTAKE.

thing but business, Ralph Have you no
taste for anything beyond figures p
Margaret ,'-but the sadness in the tone
was unhceded, as she continued
1--WE had such a charming evening at Mrs.
C.s. Capt. Hill related many interesting in
cidents Of his residence in Egypt, and Mr..
Warren, the famous young poet, read Maud
and some of the most beautiful passages in
Aurora Leigh ! must read TO you some
of Romney's Great Thoughts on Duty"
She went hastily to her chamber for the
volume. When she returned. her quiet en-
trance was unheard 10y her husband, whose
pen was rapidly moving along the almost in
terminable columns eff figures With an OK
preston of impatience. almost Of scorn, rest
in on her face she turned hastily away.
And this is the end Of all my dreams Of
marriage said she on reaching her ROOM
"Hc has taste for drudgery. His pursuits
and tastes arc all commonplace and need to
find those who will appreciate, with me, the
books | love, and the beautiful in art, for
which he has neither eye nor car. Why did
he not marry woman who had neither heart
nor mind to be continually unsatisfcd Z"
In the room she had left, Ralph Hale sat,
hour after hour, till his brain was weary and
his eyolids dropped. Then laying aside his
books, be remained long time in deep
thought
God bless my Margaret, he prayed, land
give me strength to bear all things. Give
me power TO make her happy"
Putting far away all thoughts Of her hus-
bands real noblencas Of character. iealously
preserving the memory of every slight diff
ference in their tastes and pursuits Marga-
ret cherished the spirit Of discomfort till it
embittered every hour of her life, and sent
suffering she never dreamed of to the heart
OF her husband, who would gladly have sac
riiiced every earthly good for her happiness.
A sudden and severe illness came to her,
while Ralph was in a distant city. One day,
during her slow recovery, the aged minister
who had baptized her in infancy was sitting
by her side.
Margaret" he said, after steadily watch
ing her troubled face, 'you are very unhappy.
have seen it long time. should not rec
ogniao in you my cheerful and happy child
May not know what great sorrow has come
to you;"
Then with sobs and tears she told him all
her unhappiness.
After short silence, the old man spoke
again; and there was sadness. almost tender
ness in his voice. Years ago. Margaret, a
wealthy New York merchant became involved
in a speculation whose failure suddenly took
from him the accumulated wealth Of his years
Of commercial enterprise. There were a few
years of weary vain strugglings to regain
what he had lost, then dcspondency linger-
ing disease and death. His wife and four
children were left penniless The eldest child,
q boy Of sixteen, had finished his preparatory
ct ctuiiaa and ob, .,
this stroke, he found his prospects for the
future were clouded; but, with noble self
forgetiulness, he turned choorfully into the
way fate had marked out for him, and walked
resolutely in it.
lie obtained situation with a merchant,
who had known his father, where his faith
fulness and untiring devotion to his duties
won the confidence of all who knew him. Dur
ing the first years Of her widowhood, his
mother taught private school for young la
dies; and it was the boys highest ambition
to relieve her of this necessity, and give her
the rest her feeble health required. ! cannot
tell YOU all his priyation. his willing sacrifice
of every recreation, his continued self-denial,
that he might Tighten the burden of those so
dear to him.
Year after year, success crowned his efforts
In the village where his mother had passed
the years Of her childhood, and the first years
of her married life, he purchased pleasant
residence for her, and then, lucrative busi-
ness being opened to him in the West, came
here.
At the time Of his arrival here accident
revealed to him the fact that the widow and
invalid daughter of one whose fortune was,
by his fathers advice, riskod in that unfortu-
nato speculation which had so changed his
own life, were living in extreme poverty To
him they are indebted for the pleasant home
that now shelters them, and for the delicate,
thoughtful ministration to their daily comfort
Now, when the commercial world is cloud
ed, and disasters crowd thick and fast upon
him, upon others, his anxious thoughts
turn to the mother and suffering sister in the
little village home, whose comfort depends
upon him, to the other lonely fireside, to
which his constant thoughtlulness imparts its
only light and to his own home and the
young wife whose happiness is dearer to him
than life For this, Margaret, Ralph Hale
gives his days to incessant toll, and willingly
sacrifices the social pleasures he is eminently
fitted to enjoy.
have been in these three homes. With
a love that is almost reverence his mother
and sister speak his name, and with full
hearts thank God for his lifc-that life so
filled with the beauty Of selfrenunciation.-
The widow and daughter, whose hearts he
has made glad, tell of numboress acts of
kindness, of his delicate and unceasing watch
tulness, and daily they ask Gods blessing on
him whose life is blessing to others
In his own home, the wife whose love
should bless him, whose gentle ministry
should comfort and strengthen him, turns
codly from him because he prefers the hap
pincss Of others to his own qualification, be-
cause the pressing duties Of life claim all his
waking hours, leaving him little leisure time
for the claims Of society, or for the high in
icllectual culture which few attain whose
lives are not wholly devoted to it,
"Oh, Ralph, | have never known you
have so cruelty misjudged YOU said the
weeping wife.
The old man continued "Some men talk
poetry some write it in words, and some
write it in their lives The true horoism
which poets have sung, the beauty of self
lbnegation and Of ceaseless devotion to duty,
which have been their inspiration, Ralph
Hale has liked. The woman who has won
the deepest love of such heart should row
srently and gratefully cherish it, as the rich
,st HES sing of her life ~