Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1875-09-29
Lady franklin and Other Wives.

Lady franklin and Other Wives.
1t is not worth our while to consider
whether the eternal ice and snow and the
great national expedition m1v not have
served As pedestal to lift this especial
woman : loyalty into notice; an whether,
under the hefrilled and fashionable and
commonplace lives of the women who
live next door. or io-tc Us in the horse
cars. there may no: be found love and
faith OF just rs large and pure proportions?
Love AMI Marriage are the rule among US,
and Love and Marriage are not, in spite
sf appearances. matters of rash and foul
jealousy and fouicr passions. to i'e paved
and gloaied over by The public The ma
IorIty of American wives have no oppor-
tunlty to prove the depth of their loyalty;
IN countless lives it never finds louder eX-
preston than daily service. cooking. sew
inc. the rearing of children. trivial helps,
mode>ties, furbearance, tendernes>e>, Of
fered hourly for a life long. bat TO which
no thought or notice is given by her who
gives or him who takes
There are. of course, You tell yourself.
unfortunate exceptions to this calm. un-
lostled state of married life There is,
for in~tance. WaGglls wife. whose pew is
next to yours in church. (Waugh is never
in it: he takes Sunday to bring up his
foreign correspondence. Iou knew him
when he WAS 4 iiglt-hearted Young fellow
on the farm Near Oldtown. caring for moth
ing but :. Annie and the boy. and how to
make life wholesome and cheerfuller for
them. He Is 4 gaunt, specialized old man
now. hair and eyes and skin of a washed
out, bloodless color; Waugh and Son are
among the solidest importers on White
Street. The Old man is down at the office
hours before his clerks, and at night he
receives men on business. A generation
ago his wife fell out of her place t. him
and became a piece of furniture in his
mouse. He does not know what To do with
his money. it gathers and heaps itself
about him 50 fast: his thoughts and aff.c-
tions and soul went down into it long
ago. Nobody but his wife could hope to
find in this mummy the hearty. aft rclion-
ate lad whom she lovei and married But
-he does hope it. 1t is that oil '-Charltv"
whom she clinrs to and watches for and
WHO. She believes. Will come back 10 her
at last from this Chase Of greed in which
be has lost health and youth and G. ar;,c-
ter-evcrythinT but one woman's love.
There, is too. that pretty fide,i little
Mrs Hicks WHO sits Opposite t" y.'u at
the boarding-house table. and has no
thought for anything but thai very pIg-
no>ed, disagrc"tble sch. ol-b"v al her
-.de- Young Nei is the image OF his
father. and that is whv She worsiips him.
Everybody knows where old Ned is. and
She knows ii. though she tells Us every
day that he - Is in Europe for the firm
She used tO creep down the street at night
last winter. and stand opposite certain
house on Thrty-fourth street. to see him
come ont with ! woman. (ovelier than
she was IN her freshest prime) and drive
of with her to opera and ball. and she
would stretch out her arms after him and
pray 10 Gol TO bring him back to her,
AMI believed. to. that lie wouli ID it.
Or-to 90 down 10 what Won choose to
call the lower CLASSES. where lif. iS, of
| course. you think. barred of all rom lnce
and delicacv or sent;ment-there is vour
waSherwomln. of whom voa remember
| vaguely II have helrl sh hli A drunken
husband. You met tile woman one day.
too. AMI observed what patient face she
hal. and that she was too thin and bent
to undertake such Ii. avv work. But that
told yoI nothing of the commonplace
story of Il comfortable. pleasant home, to
which her hI-b nj brou rht her. or of how
they lost il AMI came 10 live in the cellar
of \ t"nemrn; house near hv She re-
members it every day; She remembers the
handsome Young carpenter who used 10
come wli>tlinr home. and all the love and
care which he gave her then There is
not a loving word of that Old time forgot
,cn. How else could She pass over the
years of misery AMI cruelty which -he and
her children hlv. borne from the bloated,
stupid wretch vino lies there. and not hate
and l"tth him for them She does not
hate him. She is tendnrcr. more gentle
with him then she WAS in thoS,. iirS: DAYS
She works for him Ike u slave; brings
him out of the gin shop trusts in him be-
lieves in him still. thinks that IL. will
come back 10 her again rs he once WAS.
Surely. there ar,. splitl,ieS into which
men 90 down more terrible than 1nv Po-
lar Sea, and women who S;anl on The
bank Us faithful * III who sent ont costly
ships to bring back her b.lpvel again.
Surely too. il is TIM thl: we Americans
understand that this virtue AMI Sanctity of
married life i not 4 matter for rare dram
attic exhibition. but the solid fpnn ,lition of
our strength and hope az people. Let
Us have no more gtlsI or iamprrinT with
it hv so-cilled friendship. 1t is plant
best let alone To find lis own healthy
growth: or Ia change a firIreit is the salt
! Just now of orr social lfe-which needs
salt. And if it loses its SAVIOR that lif. is
thenceforth fiji for nothing b'lt 10 be tram
pied under foot of men.-N. l. Trlsune--