Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1871-04-06

dreams L recall III, and once again thOS
happy days, with their bright hopes
their blissful realities are mine.
Daily my betrothed grew nearer ant
dearer to me though modesty restrain
ed any protestations of love, her ST
lence was more eloquent than words
When my wedding day arrived / would
have made it the occasion of gran6
festival; Iwished the world to witness
my prond joy; but my bride looked
on marriage as too solemn, too serious
a thing for mirth.
A prouder, if not a happier man, was
/, when, after we had finished the
bridal tour, she was at last installed al
mistre 81 of my magnificent mansion
Fete after fete was given to her, anG
we plunged into the vortex of fashion
able m, trimonial gayety. Fanny, how
ever, preferred the quiet pleasures o.
home to the gay scenes into which she
was introduced and so, in truth, die
i, bnt my vanity reioiced in her tri
umphs. Secluded as she had beer
from society, she had none of the faults
Of the initiated, and / was proud to
contrast her artless, unaffected mein
and modest dignity, with the aately
pretensions of those around her.
At length the bridal parties were
over, aid in the quietude of our home
our characters began gradually to un
fold themselves to each others view.
/ found that was not mistaken in my
estimate of my wife's love. She loved
me with all the ardor of her warm, i'm.
petuous nature; her faults were not
called into action, and she was radiant
with all those good qualitias which %
delight man. How very happy we
werel how very happy we might have
remained Ny moon of perfect love
was at its full All was JOY, all was
brightness but the shadow descended
on my hearth. 1 brought it there, ]
fed it, / nursed it, until the light OF
Joy was entirely extinguished, until
the sun of happiness had departed for
ever.
1 have said that my temper was nat
urally violent; that 1 was obstinate /:
that was selfish. Previous to my
marriage circumstances kept this in
trinity of disposition in check, and, for
some months after / controlled it. 1t
had but slumbered, it was not quench-
ed; and /, who had undertaken to cor
rect this very fault In another, now
myself became its slave. The bonds
were soon broken; the first unkind
words were spoken, the words which
are so easily repeated after they have
once been uttered. The first Quarrel,
that sad event in married lite had tax
en- place between us, and both felt that
henceforth, that perfect love which We
had hitherto enjoyed could return no
more. Could We ever divest ourselves
of the memory of those cruel words
" But we might still be comparatively
happy, if this evil occurred no more -
so said my weeping wife, when after a
passion of tears she offered me her
hand.
Things passed on smoothly for a
time, but the bonds were broken. and
1 ceased to check the ebulitions of
anger which the slightest circumstance
called forth Before the second year
of my married life had passed away l
became that worst of all oppressors, a
household tyrant At any annoyance,
no matter how shght-if my meals
we're not ready at the appointed hours,
If paper or book was mislaid, would
give way to expressions of anger, of
which, afterward 1 felt ashamed, know
ing how unworthy they we're of nan;
and yet, when again enraged, repeated
them. and more violently than before.
My wife bore this with patience, but
her indulgence chafed me, and some
times uttered taunts which no human
being could suffer In silence. Then
came q reply; and when this reply did
come, sad scenes occurred. / would
work myself into an insane passion,
and uttered words which in my cooler
moments I suddered at, and which
drove her weeping from
the room. And yet soon after would
she come and beg to be forgiven for
the very words which / had forced her
to utter. The demon within me re-
joiced to see her pride thus humbled
before me, for never, no matter how
much in fault, did / seek a reconcila-
ton. NV temper became more and
more violent, and at length, in one of
our frequent quarrels, proposed
separation. Had serpent stung her,
she would not have gazed on it as she
did on me. Never shall / forget her
look, SO deathly pale, as she came near
me and placed her hand on my arm.
"Philip," she said, "do you think l
could survive such an actG Do you
think 1 would cast stain on my
younger sisters2 Do you think / would
send my gray-haired parents sorrowing
to the grave, or bear the worlds sneer-
ing pity? Never never !" she exclaim-
ed. II will die first. Persecute me,
torture me, infict every refinement of
cruelty upon me, if you will, but never
will / consent to such proceeding;
never shall the world call me other than
your wife while we both live You came
to me when i was young and happy;
you took me from home where had
never known sorrow; you have blight
ed the hopes of my young life, and now
you seek to cast me away like toy of
which you are tired"
Irecoiled at myself; but l remained
unchanged.
We had been married four years, and
Fanny had greatly altered in that time
The gay, light-hearted girl had be-
come calm, dignified woman. The
world looked upon us as examples of
happiness, for we were
both too proud to betray the truth.
OF late, Fanny's manners had chang
ed; she ceased to reply to my fits Of
passion, neither did she now come and
seek reconciliation with NE. An icy
calm reigned betweenus. This existed
for some time; but, while wished it
broken, my pride prevented me from
making the first advances. Fain
would / have had it dispelled by any
means which would not have humil-
lated me; for with all my unkindness
1 really loved my wife, regretted the
violence of my temper, and lamented
my want of self-control. But now
what should doi Ny pride forbade
any advances on my side, and feared
that none would come from hers.
At length, I saw that her pride was
aroused, and I dreaded that she would
obey It's dictates, even though il broke
her heart, for I knew she still loved
me. Day by day her cheeks grew paler,
her form thinner, and I saw she suffer
ed but my 6endish pride would not
n 4