The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-08-24


Thomas Carlyle, one of the greatest |
Intellectual lights of this century, has
accorded his testimony to the worth of |
MS wife on her tombstone: "In her
bright existence she had more SORROWS
than are common, but also a soft ami
ability, capacity for discernment,
and noble loyalty of heart which are
rare. For forty years she was the true
and loving helpmate of her husband,
and by act and word unweariedly for
warded him, as noGo else could, in all
of worthy that he did or attempted"
Tie wife of Sir William Hamilton,
Professor of Logic in the University
of Edinburgh, was true helper to her
husband; indeed, it is more than prob
able that without her many of his best
works would never have been written.
When he was elected to the professor
ship some of his opponents declared
publicly that he would never be able
to fulfill the duties of his position, as
he was nothing but a dreamer. He
and his wife heard of this and deter
mined to prove that it was not true.
They therefore arranged to work to-
gether. Sir William wrote out rough
ly, each day, the lecture that was to
be given the next morning; and as he
wrote his wife copied it out and again
and again they sat up writing till far
into the night. When Sir William
was struck down with paralysis, the
result of overwork, Lady Hamilton de-
voted herself entirely to him-wrote
for him, read for him, and saved him
in every way.
John Flaxman, the sculptor, had
made considerable progress in his work
when he married Anne Denman, a
noble-spirited, intelligent woman, full
of love for art, and with an intense
admiration for him as an artist. 1t
happened that soon after the event he
met Sir Joshua Reynolds, in whose
opinion no man could hope to become
an artist who did not devote himself
entirely to art, and who had not stud
led patiently and reverently the works
of the great masters in Italy itself.
"Well, Flaxman, said Sir Joshua,
81 hear you are married. You are
ruined for an artist
Flaxman went straight to his wife
and said to her
"Anne, am ruined for an artist. p"
"Who has ruined you, John?'
cit happened in church, he re-
piled, "and Anne Denman has done
it,
He then told her what Sir Joshua
had said, and added, 81 should like to
have been a great artist
"And so you shall be, and go to
Rome too, if that will make you one. "
Glow? ?" said Flaxman.
"Work and economize," she replied.
81 will never have it said that Anne
Denman ruined John FlaXman for an
artist"
And so the brave couple did work
and economic. They worked patient
ly and hopefully for five years, never
asked help from any ore, never men
toned their intentions to any one, and
at last went together to Rome, where
FlaXman studied and worked to such
purpose that he achieved both fame
and competency. His success was not
shared to the full, however, by his
faithful wife, for she died many years
before him.
The wife of the late DR.. auckland
considerably assisted her husband in
his labors. She used to write from
his dlctaJlOn 1Or hours III Il LlIuo. size
herself furnished many of the draw
ings with which his works are illus
trated, and she skilfully and dexter
ously mended many of the fossils
which but for her would have been
useless.
The wife of Faraday was a true
helper to her husband. After twenty
eight years Of married life, he speaks
i'll his diary of his marriage as an event
which more than any other had con-
tributed to his earthly happiness and
healthy state of mind, and says: ''The
union has in nOwise changed, except
only in the depth and strength of its
character"
Thomas Hood, the wit and poet,
speaks thus of his wife: 81 never was
anything, dearest, till l knew you, and
| have been a better, happier and more
prosperous man ever since. Whatever
may befall me, the wife of my bosom
will have the acknowledgement of her
tenderness, worth and excellence from
my PEN"
Speaking of Hood makes us think of
two notable instances of great writer's
of our time who have not been happy
in their wives-namely, Charles Dick
ems and Bulwer Lytton. 1t is neither
pleasant nor a thankful task to eX-
pose the spots which spoil the beauty
of great works of art, nor to call at
tention to the littlenesses which de-
tract from the admiration we feel for
great men; nevertheless, there seems
ample reason for believing that in
both these instances whatever fault
there was did not lie wholly with the
wives. Thackeray, who has been fire.
quently spoken of as a similar in
stance, was most loving and beloved
by his home-circle, but sustained
deep affliction in his wife losing her
reason after the birth of one of her
children.
The consistency with which so many
women have cherished the memory of
their husbands when death has re-
moved them from their sides cannot
but call forth both respect and admira-
ton. Our Queen is herself a noble
example of this. The depth of her
sorrow for the loss of the good Prince
Albert, and the faithfulness with
which she cherishes and honors his
memory and teaches her children to do
so, are known to all.
Lady Franklin, too, holds foremost
place among the faithful and true.
When her husband, Sir John Franklin,
did not return at the expected time
from his last expedition to the North