Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1859-02-25
THE WORTH OF A TRUE WIFI.

THE WORTH OF A rRuE WIFI.
The man that asks no love is q mon
stcr! The man who e.rpccts none is a
child Of despair There may be hearts
SO frozen by sel6shness, or ossl6ed by
pride and cgotism, or paralyzed by dis
appointments, as to be Indifferent to af
lection. But these are iccbergs drift
ing in darkness, on Polar seas !; cold,
barren, dcsolatc. In them no tree or
shrub plants root; no bower sheds its
fragrance there. No melody Of living
Joy is chanted there. God found that
it was not good for man to be alone,
chiefly because he needed the con-
scious affection of female heart to
soften the aspcrities Of his own, and
thus, give completeness to his being.
In the deep, full affections Of wifc's
heart, the husband finds that apprccia
ton and Interest which every soul COW
cts. This stimulates his enterprises.
This makes him brave in peril. This
CUtHlUILS ullll uuuCI tllltNtlOI> SAdhuCA3
reproach, in the outside world.
To meet this craving of man, wo-
man is specially adapted. She is net
ambitious Of wealth or of fame. She
shrinks from great changes and great
perils. She is not fitted for the strug
gles of the forum, the conflict of arms,
or the labors of the field. Her home is
her earthly heaven, and she holds allow
ing heart to cheer him to whom God
has given loftier ambition, deeper
craving for earth's wealth, stronger
. arm, aud higher courage. Subject.
ed, by the ordinance Of God, and the
laws Of the land to abide sterner will
than her own, she is furnished with II
wealth of affection which makes her
burden of subordination light, and
melts and moulds to tenderness the
controller Of her destiny.
The treasures Of wife's affection,
like the grace of God, is given, not
bought. Gold is power-it can sweep
down forests, raise cities, build roads,
and deck houses. 1t can collect troops
Of Aatterers, and inspire awe and fear.
! But, alas wealth can never purchase
love. Bonaparte essayed the subjuga-
ton Of Europe, under the influence Of
. genius almost inspired-an ambition
insatiablc-and backed by millions of
armed men. lie almost succeeded in
swaying the sccptre from the Straits Of
Dover to the Mediterranean from the
Bay of Biscay to the Sea Of Azoff. On
many u bloody field, his banner aoated
triumphant. But his greatest conquest
was the unbought heart of Josephine
his sweetest and most priceless treas
.urc her outraged, but unchanged love.
If any man has failed to estimate a
true hearted wife, he will be likely to
mark the value Of his loss when the
heart which loved him is stille,l by
death. a
In tho true wife the husband finds
rnet affection only, but conspanionship
"a companionship with which no 9TH
-frecomparcs. The family relation gives
retirement without solitude, and society
without the rough intrusion of the
world. 1t plants in the husbands dwell
ling a friend who can listen to the de-
tail of his interests with sympathy
who appreciates his repetition Of events,
only, mportant as they are embalmed
I'M ithe heart. Common friends are
linked to US by q slender thread: We
tnust retain them by ministering, in
some way, to their interest or enjoy
mcat. What luxury it is for q man
to feel that in his own home there IS a
true and affectionate being, in whose
presence he may throw of restraint,
without danger to his dignity /; he may
confide without being abandoned. If,
in the outward world, he grow weary Of
human selfshness, his heart can safely
trust in one whose soul yearns for his
happiness. and whose indulgence over
looks his defects.
Nor, in the matter of personal COM
forts, in the thousand things which
combine to shed happiness upon mans
pathway through life, is the wife less
precious gift Of Cod Who is it that
gives care to the neatness, order and
tidincss Of our dwellings,, our halls, our
parlors, our bed-cham oers Who is it
that consults our taste, atfnities, our
repellances, and SO regulates our tables,
our coaches, our apparel, as to minis
ter to our comfort /? Who is it that
supplies our lack of interest in orJina-
ry things, and sends US out into socie-
ty prepared to meet the claims Of de-
cency, taste, and propriety? Who ca
tiers for our appetites, and swelters in
heated kitchens for our indulgence
and often unthanked and unblessed,
plies the Leedle, in the lone evenings,
for our benefit? Who is it that schemes,
by rigid economy, to get the most ell
egance and comfort from tho least tax
on our income? Who furnishes the
ready pin, the napkin, the bandage for
our wounds, the cup of water for our
thirst, the friction for our aching head,
the medicine for our pains? What an
gel of mercy is it that watches by our
sick-pillow, bears all our complaints
and irritations, and moves with muffled
step when We slumber?
The assiduities Of faithful wife are
50 common, SO various, SO cheerful, so
unexacting, that husbands are likely to
regard her kindness as they do the sun
light or the dews of heaven matters Of
course-to be received without graft
tude. But the constancy which makes
them familiar-to rightly constituted
mind-deepens the sense Of obligation.