The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1867-02-01

Qre0, dn0 VIII piIter InOuR uts, uuTIIo
: from TIE house. As he passed on, h
Thought Of the home he had so ofte
pictured to himself in former days,-th
lchcerful, inviting fireside, and the nes
smiling wife who should always gree
jhim. there. g..-g r-s-r
AM Lizzie Barclay had caught tbs
look of her husband, and itspoke TO he
iplainef than words. She saw what wa
/ in shis thoughts, and with,a feeling q
utter dependency, she called her hus
band unjust, and unfeeling, never ono
dreaming that she was not doing tn
best in her power to make him happy
and contenied. Thus, with beay,
heart, she plodded YEARLY on through
the day, and when at night the tea
things we're put away, after the unsocia
meal, and the children fast asleep, sb,
sat. down by the fire, TO soothe her sor
rows, aud ease her troubled heart, b.
lwomsn's solance,-s good, hearty cry
Harry had gone out 1t was not ofter
now that he spent an entire evening
with her, and it was seldom that sbt
knew where he was. She reviewed
Iagsin, in thought, The happy scenes o
! her childhood, when a mothers love
shielded her, from evil, and in fancy
stood again, with bursting heart, be,
side that mothers grave. Then, wher
the poignancy Of her grief had subsidized
the joyous hours Of her girlhood, in the
home OF wealthy and indulgeDt uncle,
who had done everything but teach her
the, responsibilities Of life, passed before
her Vision. She Remembered her irst
meetipg With Harry and their happy
fcourtship, when bis dark, earnest EYES
had looked into her own, and vowed
stsrual iore.- She knew then that be
was poor, Comparatively, and III she
married him, she must forego many Of
the Injuries TO which che had been ac-
customed; but, oh ! she had Just bright
romantic dreams of love in cottage
Little did sheutlream Of the cares and
anxieties found eYen there. Scarcely
| five years had passed, and ow!--she
had never imagined that she could be
half 90 miserable. She did not know
Why It was, but Harry seemed to have
grown weary Of her. And then he was
50 very particular,--sn thought him
rather. exacting, - 4tsaa IL. ~ e.. u.
I Lizzie Barclay was not bad at heart.
She was young and inexperienced, and
her greatest fault was lack of energy.
She had been too much accustomed to
lean upon Others, and was too much in
Eclined to yield to, trifes., If her hus-
band chided her for fault, she wept,
and told him he did not love her; and
as he was not always as gentle in his
reproofs as he might have been, she had
learned to answer sharply in return.
But Harry was far from being the cruel
man she thought him. Trained to hab-
its of the most perfect neatness, by a
mother whom he considered the EN-
bodiment Of all womanly virtues, moth
ing shocked him more than slovenly
Eeppearsnce, and--disorderiy house ar
IraBgements. He ksd never once 1inag-
ined that his wife could be different, in
this respect, from his mother, and be did
notAeonsidef how little accustomed Liz
zie had been to managing affairs herself,
or how much she needed the. careful
training amother 4 only can give { Had
be really understood these facts--had
he only known how well she really low.
ed him, and how much she would have
been willing to do for hin, the case
would have been different. As it was,
he attributed all to want Of taste aud
love Of order, and a disregard for his
comfort, and so each laid the blame en-
Itirely to the other, and the breach be-
tween the husband and the wife was
daily growing wider II, at times, she
did strive to do better, he considered it
enly what she might always do, aad it
was his opinion that no one deserved
praise for the .nlerss performance of a
duty, aud SC WITH hbeld tHe word OF praise
and encouragement which bis young
wife $40. ionged for, and which might
have dona so much toward establishing
the very state Of things be desired. And
Lizzie thought at is no use trying
Harry, deesBnot care heslIdook, erwhat
l do,--he does not even appear to no
tice it." and so she srelapsed into the
same old way. b.
On this particular evening Harry
wended his way, as usual, TO the read
ing room. Taking up paper, he glanc-
eJ rather earelessly overits contents, for
his thoughts were not there. The sad
face of bis wife haunted, him, and her
words as he left the house,-"Are you
going again tonight, Harry" still rang
in his ears. He thought-"How glad
ly wouldI stay with her, if she would
but, make my home pleasant! If |
stayed she would only recount herday's
trials to me, and I have enough Of my
own, and, besides her untidy appear
ance is enough to drive any one from
home" He only thought this; he
would not have said it for the world.
Suddenly his eye was arrested by the
title of a sketch in the paper he held
"Praise among the married" His first
lthought was, "How little have 4 to
praise r'-but then secret monitor
whispered, "Do you even praise when
you hare occasion" He read the piece
carefully through. The thoughtt had
never occurred to him before, that per-
hsps it was praise and encouragement
when she did do well, that his wife
needed. Long time did Harry Barclay
ponder that evening, as he sat there,
unmindful of what was passing around
him, and at last he came to conclu-
sion, which it would have been well for
him to have reached before,-viz: that
he might possibly have misunderstood
his wife, and might not have done ex-
actly right, in all things. And he re-
solved that if ever again he saw her
striving to do right, it should not be for
lack of encouragement, that she did not
succeed fTg s GZHIA34 -
Meantime Lizzie sat with her face
buried in her hands, giving loose rein
to her bitter thoughts, and SO entirely
was she engrossed by her gloomy rev.
erie that she needed not the gentle rap
at the door, which was twice repeated,
and then the door was softly opened,
and a good rnotherly face looked smil-
ell, ;,,z ;rz;o lnnE oh. IN nn nhn