Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1875-05-12
A few Words TO Husbands.

1
We have frequently read advice IN w;ves
and very good advice too, and as IL costs moth.
| ing but little arrangement Of ideas often
| uppermost in our mind, we would like the
privilege OF saying few words 10 husbands.
| We know there are many husbands, noble
men, who faithfully perform their part, who
cherish their wives as themselves, and whose
| lives are above reproach. And we know
| there are worthless women living lives Of sel-
fish ease, recklessly spending what their hus-
bands earn by hard work and carefraught
days and nights but IL is not Of these we
speak, but the far greater class Of working
women who bear more than an equal pre- 2or-
tion Of life's burdens.
We have read much on the subject of
making home happy, and il is generally CON
sidered to be something the responsibility Of
which rests wholly with the wife. All, but
we don't believe IL. II takes more than one
TO make home happy, although one can make
1t miserable. One great cause Of unhappi-
moss in the household seems TO be that wo-
men do not smile enough. What If there be
nothing to smile for We have certainly
seen some overworked and unappreciated
ones who, 70 our thinking, had not much 10
smile for unless it were that the good God
would presently take them home 10 rest
who made home neat always, and tasteful,
as FAR as they had time and means TO do it 4;
whose meals were well cooked Of that will
preserve love), and who were models of
economy; but IL was thankless service,
patiently rendered. And their husbands
were not Intentionally unkind, but unthink-
ing, and probably indifferent, Just such men
as the world is full of--men who would very
quickly detect the first symptom Of over
work in horse, but would suffer the women
thaw g.D tl.at~ a. 81
ady-physical, mental, and perhaps morals
fastened upon them that no earthly power
can remove. We have often wondered that
husbands could not see and value more the
services Of a wife, into every one of which is
woven so much of her life-strength and vital
ity, and why they could not sometimes bear
with a hasty word uttered in WEAKNESS or
weakness, for which they claim 80 much toll
GRAFTON themselves--why they cannot SOME
times see what il is that takes the fire from
the eye and the elasticity from the spirits
and, in short, why SO many men must expect
so much in the way of comfort and encour-
agement and give az little as possible in
return.
II is said that man comes in at night,
tired from business cares and annoyances, to
rest and, no matter how cross or abstracted
he may be, his wife must be all smiles and
pleasantness. What right have you, hus-
bands, to drag in your cares and place the
burden upon her who, perhaps, was up half
the night with the teething child while you
slept, and whose whole day has been one
round of neverending, wearying work And,
worse yet, what moral right have you to
bring home the ill-temper others have caused,
and vent it on the woman you professed before
God and man to love better than all the
world beside2 Why should you give her
sharp answers and hasty language that, If
given to business acquaintance, would JUS
tify them in putting you from their pres
ence, simply because she has no one whose
right it is to protect her from you, and, if
she complains, lament that her temper is not
| as good as it used to be when you married her ?
! Surely it was not so with you in your
courting days Were you not very thought
full of her then Were You not interested
if she had only headache 2--and her head
never ached then as it has since, or her heart
either, for that matter. Did you not remem-
Der the holidays and birthdays with some
little token, which, however small, was cher
ished for the giver's sake And if you
heard her express wish for some pretty tri-
| fe, or new book, did not you esteem it
| pleasure to get it for her Z? Now she gets
nothing without asking for it, and sometimes
not then. II she is depressed, do you kindly
inquire into the cause, or does she bear all
her burdens alone, and yours also ? If she
complains Of physical weakness, do you see
that she has the rest and attention she needs,
| or do you call it q woman's nervousness and
forget it the moment you close the door after
you y In those days, you used to tell her
how dear 20 you she was. Perhaps it is
years vince you have told her anything of
the kind, although there are many reasons
why she should be dearer now than then.
II your wife is silent and undemonstrative,
il may be because she is too proud TO beg for
what you do not voluntarily yield II she is
| changed from what she once was, there is
some good reason for it; and it would be
well If every man knew that the best part of
a woman's life dies out when she discovers
that marriage is the end instead of the be-
| ginning Of loye.--Rural Nep Yorker.