Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1861-11-06
Upkindness in the Household.

r ness, y lclOldS QleQ IN 1IUJ.
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d Uukindness in the Household.
There is much more misery thrown mt
the cup of life by domestic unkindnes
than we might at first suppose. In think
. ing of the evils endured by society frOr
) the male-viOlent passions of individuals
! we are apt to enumerate only the NOR
: dreadful instances of crime; but what ar
the few murders which unhappily pollut
; the soil of this Christian land-what, VI
ask, is the suffering they occasiOn-wha
their demoralizing tendency, when cOmpar
ed with the daily effusiOns of ill-humol
which sadden, may We not fear, many
thousand homes? We believe that an in,
, calculably greater number are hurried t.
the grave by habitual unkindness than by
sudden violence; the slow poison of churl-
ishness and neglect is. of all poisOns, the
: most destructive If this is true, we want
a new definition for the most fagrant of all
crimes; definition which shall leave out
The element of time, and call those actions
the same, equally censured by the right
eous government of Heaven, which pro-
ceed from the same motives, and lead to
the same result, whether they be done in
a moment, or spread out through a series
of years. Habituai unkindness is demor-
alizing, as well as cruel Whenever it
fails to break the heart, it hardens it. To
take familiar illustration: wife who is
never addressed by her husband in tones of
kindness, must cease to love him, if she
wishes to be happy. 1t is her only altern-
ative. Thanks to the nobility of our ma
ture, she does not always take it. No; for
years she battles with cruelty, and still
presses with affection the hand which smites
her; butt is fearfully at her own expense.
Such endurance preys upon her health, and
hastens her exit to the asylum of the grave.
If this is to be avoided, she must learn to
forget what woman should never be tempt
ed to fOrget-the VOWS, the self renunciat=
ing devotedness of impassioned youth; she
must learn to oppose indifference to neglect,
and repel him with heart as cold as his
own. But what tragedy lies involved in
a career like this! We gaze on something
infinitely more horrible than murder; we
we see our nature abandoned to the mercy of
malignant passions, and the sacred sus-
capabilities, which we're intended to fertil.
ize with the waters of charity the path
way of life, sending forth streams of Bit
terest gall. A catalogue of such cases,
faithfully compiled, would eclipse in turpi-
tude and horror all the calenders of crime
that have ever sickened the attention of the
world.
The obligations of gentleness and kind
ness are as extensive as the claims to man
illness; these three qualities must 20 to-
gether. There are some classes, however,
in which such obligations are Of special
force. Perhaps precept here will be pre-
sented most appropriately under the guise
of an example. We have now before our
minds eye couple whose marriage tie was,
few months since, severed by death. The
husband was a strong, hale, robust sort of
man, who probably never knew days
illness in the course Of his life, and whose
sympathy on the behalf of weakness or sutf- /
ering in others. it was exceedingly difficult
to evoke; while his partner was the very
reverse, by constitution weak and ailing.
but withal woman of whom any man
might and ought to have been proud. Her
elegant form, Ler fair, transparent skin,
the classical contour of her refined and ex-
pressive face, might have led Canovia to
have selected her as a model of feminine
beauty. But, alas! she was weak; she
could not work like other women her hus-
band could not boast among his shopmates
how much she contributed to the mainten-
ance of the family, and how lals ly she
could afford to dispense with the fruit of
his labors. Indeed, with a noble infant
on her bosom, and the cares of house
hold resting entirely upon her, she required
help herself and at least, she needed what
no wife can dispense with, but she, least of
aii-symparay, fOTiDearance, i and all those
virtues which flow from a
heart of kindness. She, least of all, could
bear harsh look-tO be treated daily !
with cold, Disappearing reserve. a petulant
could not but be death to
her. WeWill not say it acaS-e enough that
she is dead. The lily bent before the storm,
and at last was crushed by it. We ask
but one question, in order to point the NOR
all: In the circumstances we have delinea-
ted, what course of treatment was most con-
sonant with manly spirit-that which
was actually pursued, or some other, which
the reader can suggest?
Yes, to love is to be happy; and to make
harpy and to love is the very spirit of true
manliness. We speak not of exaggerated
passion and false sentiment; VIC speak not
9f those bewildering. indescribable feelings,
which, under that name, often monopolize
tor time the guidance of the youthful
heart; but we speak of that pure emotion
which is benevolence intensified, and which,
when blended with intelligence, can throw
he light of joyousness around the mani !
old relations of life. Coarseness, rude
less, tyranny, are so many forms of brute
oower-so many manifestations of what it
S mans peculiar glory not to be; but kind
less and geLtleness can Dever cease TO be :
IANLY.
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