Wilmington daily commercial. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1866-1877, 1873-04-12
.Nevsr nm Eneoura cling word"

"Hs never speaks an encouraging word to
u.s." said servant Of Mr.. Towne. Is.that 30 ?"
'You may try your life out to please him. and
he never speaks an encouraging word. 1t 10
life under the harrow. there, and I've left. -
His children cannot leave home. He has two
boys. They are sometimes at work in the gar
den, pulling up weeds, cutting the grass, ma
lnng marten-houses and wind-mills. They put
no heart to their work it ia dull and spiritless.
They ere forever haunted with furtlve fear.
Try as they may, and try they do, their father
never encourages them. Nothing but dismal
dfizYIe of fault-finding fails from his bps. A
sound scolding, genuine cutting when they de-
serve it--and children know they deserve it
sometimes like thunderstorm purifes the
air, and makes everything the better and bright
or. Then the clouds clear away, and the glad
dest sunshine follows. That is not Mr. Towne .
way. He 10 never thunder and lightning and
over with it, not he but perpetual drizzle,
dark, damp, murky. Nothing pleases, nothing
suits him. Putting his eye on boy is 9 mark
OF ill-favor. Every child breads his gaze, shuns
it, is i'll ct ease awkward, squirming until it wrig-
giles out of the way and il gone. There are no
glad voices in his presence no out-spoken,
frank, honest differences only hesitation, in
consequence, self-contradiction for fear al
ways beclouds the brightest mind and the sim-
plest heart. t.f .-
''There is no use telling il before father" the
boys say on bringing homo bit OF news or a
tale of adventure. LOB
But, worst Of ALL 'There is no use in trying, y
as they often say. And the disheartenment Will
presently merge into indifference, possibly into
something more active. They will run away,
Evil ''speakB pleasantly" at last. and many q
young person has turned from home and sought
other companions, for no other reason The
heart with all it's warm impulses, and with'them
it's sense of short-ooming and incompleteness,
needs enlargement have 1t in order to
grow strong. =.
mot one encouraging word from father!'''
Poor boys! Bridget can leave, they can't. -
Nor can his wife leave. Poor woman She is
brave woman, too, What hopeful smile she
often wears. 1t is because she will bear upi and
smile abe must, an answering smile to the love
of friends, and the courtesy OF society, the beau
ty of flower and grass, and the slant sunshine
through the trees. But there Is no Joy within.
Home is joyless spot; for her most careful
housewifery there ia never an encouraging word
4 for the Taste and grace with which she tries 70
make home attractive, there is never an enceur-
/ aging word. To her love, her devotion, her
painataking, her sweet solcitudes TO please,
i there is never an encouraging word. The glance
of her husbands eye only takes in what happens
/ to offend; the word of his mouth only expresses
what he finds, and those are faults, spots some
1 thing forgotten or overlooked. She breads him
she fears him, shrinks from him. There is NO
freedom nor sunshine in his presence. Perhaps
in her yearning woman's heart, she has longed
| for his return, forgetting and forgiving. in his
absence the small tyranny of his exacting spirit
but the thrill OF his coming is soon deadened
-"no encouraging words and she silently
alps ont of his sight, to swallow her disAppoint-
ment and heart breaking alone. al.
There ia sense Of misery in the house, which
no stranger can detect perhaps this is too posi-
i lively expressed it is rather an absence Of JOY
Il everything spontaneous, and cheerful. and glad
| held in check. A minor tone runs through the
family life, depressing to every one. The prints
Il of an iron hand are upon every heart.
Never word to encourage" slipped from
her lips enc day. It does not seem muchi bu
who that has felt ii, does not know that ii is the
secret of many a joyless childhood, many bro
ken spirit. e. 4. -.r