The Portland daily press., 1869-04-02
aDeIish,ful Men,,

isn't he delightful man?" This oues-
tion was addressed to me by lady in COM
pany, concerning gentleman who had rem
dered himself, during the evening, peculiarly
agreeable. Before answer that question, l
said, would like to see him at home.
would like to know if, when he jars his wife's
feelings, he says, "Beg pardon" as smilingly
aud promptly as when he Stepped upon yon-
der lady's dress. / would like to know II,
when he comes home at night, he has some
pleasant little things to say, such as he has
scattered about so Iavishly since he entered
this room this evening; and whether if the
badly cooked dish, which he gallantly declar-
ed to the hostess at the table "could not have
been improved" would have found similar
verdict on his own table, and to his own wife.
That Is the test. am sorry to say that some
OF the most agreeable society-men, who
could, by no possibility, be guilty of a rude
ness abroad, could never be suspected in
their own homes of ever doing anything else.
The man who will invariably meet other
ladies with "How very well you are looking p
VIII often never, from one day to another,
take notice OF his own wife's appearance, or
II so, only to find fanlt. How bright that
home would be to his wife with one half the
courtesy and liberation he invariably shows
to strangers. "Allow me to differ"-he bland
ly remarks to an opponent with whom he ar
CUES in company. "Pshaw what do you
know about it ?" he says at his own fileside
and to his wife. Children are "angels' when
they belong to his neighbors; his own are
sent out OF the room whenever he enters it,
or receive SO little recognition that they are
glad to leave. "Permit me-" says the gallant
male vis-a-vis in the omnibus or car, as he
takes your fare; while his wife often hands
up her own fare, even with her husband by
n rnn doP CHI &c
well" when she see politeness is for every
place butlhome- me-consumption.
"Oh, how men miss il in disregarding these
little matters" said a sad-eyed wife to me
one day. And she said truly; for these little
klndnesses are like breath of fresh air from
an open window in stifed room we lift our
dropping heads and breathe againl Little I"
did sayl Can that be little which makes, or
mars the happiness of human being? A
man says rough, rude word, or neglects the
golden opportunity to say kind one, and goes
his selfish way and thinks it of no account.
Then he maryels when he comes back--in
sublime forgetfulness of the past--that the fa-
milar eye does not brighten at his coming,
or the familiar tongue voice a welcome
Then on inquiry, il he is told of the rough
word, he says: "O-o-hl that's it's it?-
Now it isn't possible you gave that second
thought? why, 1 forgot all about It'll "as if
this were really palliation and merit
1t would be ludicrous, this masculine OBJ
tuseness, were it not for the tragic conse-
quences-were it not Tor the loving hearts
that are chilled-the homes that are dark
ened-the lives that are blighted-and the
dew and promise of the morning that are
so needlessly turned into sombre night.
Little thingsw There are no little things.
Little things" SO called, are the hinges of
the universe. They are happiness, or misery !;
they are poverty or riches; they are prosper
ity or adversity; they are life or death. Not
human being Of us all, can afford to de-
pise 1.-THE day OF small things."
FANNY FERN.