The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-07-30
From the Home Magazine.l
THE YOUNG TIFE'S NEGLECT.

AMY ivy sat d4OuG IL AGA uACN-
ty parlor sewing, or rather embroider.
. ing a baby's garment of fabulous 6ne-
ness, by a dim drop light. A cluster
of white globes over her head reflect
ed the faint ray of the FIRE. but held
no spark of radiance of their own ;
the fire itself, ill-tended and smother
ed by bad Goals, burnt low. and with
in a small circle, giving little promise
of CHEEKY warmth or brightness. 81
Perhaps, had lamp or blaze lllumin-
ed it more plainly, the room might
have been found deficient In other
attributes. A bookcase, a piano, both
of beautiful exterior, a multitude of
choice ornaments scattered about the
tables and ch~iffoniers; even the nicely
assorted colors and taste of paper,
carpet and furniture, failed to re-
deem n certain homeless look about
the whole, more like the parlor of q
clearinghouse, marked for neglect
and discomfort. than that of a private
lady. There are some women who
give a grace of refinement and care to
the homeliest details of domestic life,
IN whose hands ugly accessories are
bewitched into beauty, and beautiful
ones, so tended and disposed as to
produce more than their natural
effect.
Evidently the fair woman in the
rOcking-chair was none of these. She
alone could not see hat neglect and
ill-usage were marring her tapestry
and gliding, that dust lay thick upon
the polished mantels, and cobwebs
lurked behind the carved chairs. Her
husbands fastidious taste had hung
the walls with charming pictures to
please her eyes. and spread the floor
with rOse-buds for her feet to walk up
on: but she seldom looked at the sunny
landscapes he loved, and did not nos
tice how the rose-strewn carpet was
blackened with coal dust from the
carelessness Of Servants, while she was
intent on the leaves and holes Of her
bToderie ARglaise.
More than the room was neglected
her dress, though it was evening, and
she inbabiting a house In a good qnar-
ter Of the large city, was only a morn
irg trimmed with silk, 1t Is
true, and once confined by cord and
t~assels; but silk so frayed, worn, and
defaced, tassals so scant and bare,
that they had long ceased to be Orna-
mental. Her beautiful, fair hair, was
combed plainly, and not too smoothly
from her face, and gathered into al
~unbecoming bunch at the back OF her
small head; her feet were thrust into
old slippers can only hope not
down at the heel-her delicate waist
unconfined by rosette or ribbon a
languid, l~istless, half-invalid air, rest
ing like a cloud over the pretty face
and figure, almost destroyed their
claims to youth and beauty.
Yet. less than five years before,
Amy Nelson had been charming with
both-had been n belle, having scores
of admirers and plenty Of lovers
had danced. had dressed. had ridden,
skatad aud driven, and done all
things that modern bellies must do,
without any painful sense of the ia
tigues she was undergoing; had mar
ried for love, a handsome man of
good position and rising fortunes;
the sweetest bride in the world, in
her delicate silk and orange-howers,
with a room full Of presents and an
elegant trORsseGU, had shown at a few
parties in dresses belonging to the
same, and then sunk languidly into
the Castle of Incidence, her tastes
and a little ill-health had made of
the home her husband hoped to find
a paradise.
What he did find It, it would be
hard to say. A clearinghouse from
which he could not escape. where
meals were furnished with frightful
irregUlarity, badly cooked from the
best materials; where was no society
" that of a woman whose careless
costume offended his artistic Eye. and
concealed the lovliness for which he
had married her. In the nursery he
found the same spectacle, attended
by an Irish nurse, and had little
pleasure IN counting two delicate,
~ill-gOverned children, whose pretty
faces We're blanched by confinement
in the close hot air, and whose tenn
pers were forever made peevish by
the arranging of their long yellow
curls, aud the care of their elaborate
dresses.
The chill, dark parlor was usually
empty; ill-dusted, aud swept by care
less, hireling hands, that had left
their defacing marks on all the ele-
CANT triies he had gathered here for
his wife, when he adorned it for their
future home. The music she no
longer played; the books she never
read the treasures of art and taste
which he had accumulated for her
sake, but at which she hardly
looked, lay forgotten and forsaken.
N this cold. barren. deserted
place. All the life In the house
struggled and screamed upstairs
in the unwholesome room with the
barred window, where Amy sat with
her feeble darlings and wrought fine
rcacs for their wearing-or else it wa:
ehattefisg with an Irish brogue, il
those unknown regions below stairs
whore cook, and chambermaid, and
waiter, WASTED his substance with ne
supervision but their own.
Often he wondered if other houses
Their wives were like this; aud so
IusteSd of dark and lonely rooms
there came to be full aud lighted
c~lub-hOuses; IN place OF genial, afec.
tiOnate cOmpanionship, more genera
and more frivolous society; for wan
of satisfying food and drink at proper
hours, the ever-eravfng appetite fol
pine and cigar. the artificial need oil
wine or other stimulant, the frequen
necessity of delicate and SUMPTION:
restaurant fare. after a series of re
pulsiVe meals at home - and tn
growing tastes be felt in himself, ant
saw In others about him, for the pub
lie places and scenes, amusements o
the hour; the e~xeitements and dissi
patton OF gay and fashionable life
into Witch many of his association;
tendei 70 east him. Naturally %,.social
agreeaHhs and genial; fond Of al
beautiful and pleasant things; re
pulsed by the GOODNESS and narrow
ness Of his domestic life, he wa
drifting away from the existence an,
fnnnnnrn &c hia nnnnnn- -.