The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1880-05-22
" THE AULD WIFE"

| udu9htci just DioSSOmlnS INTO glrlSll
beauty, loves her all the better for the
thought that comes to him. like thrill
Ing realization OF his Youth again, that
she is the very picture of what her
mother was at her age. And then an
unconscious sigh disturbs him as he
chances at the mother. and sees the havoc
that has been wrought in that once
smooth fair face as the years have been
slipping by, taking many things with
them besides rosy bloom and dimples,
bright teeth and luxurant locks. He is
not SO foolish as to complain OF the in
evitabie, to ask why she cannot always
he young. OF to forget that he himself
has suffered a change, that his forehead
is very much higher than it used to be,
and that his old wcddiI. coat would not
bS an! means meet across his shoulders
now. But, nevertheless, he feels it Il
subject of regret. even if he does not ac-
knowledge it to himself, that when
beauty dies the love of beauty does not
'iS 90 "Sii. vi tiiftt SoihS olltl illtt lllplC
satisfactory and lasting beauty, the
beauty OF the soul, which tranStigures
the worn and weary flesh, does not al
ways and surely take its place. Perhaps
he is SO fortunate, when gazing in his
wiies face, as to see this beauty of the
soul that has grown there, till now, illu-
mlnatlns and irrttdldUing, 1t shines like
name burning in an alabaster vase. Or
perhaps, as in very few extraordinary
instances it has happened, the original
beauty is all that it ever was, even after
the lapse of very many years, and has
only mellowed and deepened with time.
But neither of these possibilities is a
universal or frequent one.
If, however, he sees neither the origi-
nal beauty that has grown under the dis
cipline of life to replace the other, there
is some reason for his signing; and if any
little shade of self-reproach mingled with
the sigh, there would often again be
reason.
Vi nv" many Hst' iiS psttSS', III
all his love of her. and thought as their
youth was deepening into middle life,
how best to save that b DOM on the cheek
to spare that smooth forehead, to keep
the old sweetness that he loved round the
eye and lip? Cares must come in spite
of him, cares and grieis and troubles,
since the tale of 10 ones life is made
without them. Bat has he constantly
remembered to make himself the wall
against which they first should break. OF
to be personally the means OF bringing
none of them upon her? Has his pride,
his ambition, his love OF pleasure exceed
ed his means and required her, i'll the eff
fort for responsibility, to do something
much like making bricks without straw?
Has he allowed his unquiet temper to
keep her nerves always at concert pitch
with fretting and fault-fnding and eXac-
nerves? Has he demanded of her in all
her departments a perfection that he has
not rendered i'll any of his? Has he given
her any cause for contempt of him as for
one caring more for eating and drinking
than for anything else? Has he forgotten
all the strain on a delicate frame that the
birth and bringing up of children are,
not to speak of housework or the direc-
ton of servants. if she has them? Has he
taken care to remember that even if sup
plei with every bodily comfort, and per-
haps luxury, her soul yearns more after
the old tender assurances and words of
admiration: Has he, in fact, just SO far
as iii his power, warded off trouble,
brought home happiness, taken pains to
put on a smiling face when coming in the
door, and added to her stock no unrcason-
able solicitudes?
OF course almost every wife knows that
she is indispensable to one phase of her
husbands contentment, to the manage
ment of his food just as years has taught
her his tastes. the care of his clothes, the
cheerfulnesS of his home. But there is
lio " lie ilNlHS WIZ tiotS lob ioDS W NC
made constantly aware that she is indis-
pensable to him for herself. and herself
alone. rs well as all the rest, and there
are too many wives dead for no other
reason than that the assurances failed
to come. and so life lost its SAVIOR, and
they slipped out of it unh eeding and I'M
needed.
That husband who wants to see the
beauty of youth on the "auld wife's"
face. or as much of it as the positive
laws of nature can spare him, Las loaded
her with no care that could be avoided,
and if he could be avoided, and if he
could not give silk gowns and plum
cakes, has seen to il that he gave her no
anxicties either. Physical burdens great
er than the strength do much toward
undermining the good looks of youth,
but there are other destroying influences
more potent yet, 1t is anxiety and the
wear and tear of tired out nerves that
whiton and thin the hair, that engrave
the mouth, and that, far sooner than
time would do it, mako the weary mus
cles flascid and let down all the plump
roundness and lovely curves into loose
skin, and call the flood from the cheek to
the aching heart. The wife, too, whose
husband does not now and then glance
at her teeth, is apt TO let the time for
going to the dentist slip by; whose hus-
band does not ever pass a caressing hand
aeor the hair, cease to care how it is
dressed. There is much music, excel
lent voice, in this little organ" says
Hamlet; and ali the more, then, it needs
to be kept in tune; and the husband who
wants tho old beauty of her girlhood or
tho beauty of the sweet and contented
spirit, must take some heed to retaining
tho one and creating the other; and he