The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1882-1884, 1883-06-14
SUNSHINY HUSBANDS.
BY MRS. MARGARET E. SANGSTER

BY MRS. MARGARET E. sANasTEK.
We read so much about the obliga.
tion laid upon the wife to be a perpet.
ual sunbeam in the house, that a
word to husbands on the same topic
may not be amiss.
A cheerful atmosphere is impor-
tant to happy home life. It is very
hard for children to be good, when
they arc exposed to an incessant hail.
storm of tault.fnding from their
parents. 1t is very difficult for wife
to maintain calm and charmingly
sweet demeanor when her husband is
critical, cynical or sullen, aad takes
all her tender efforts with Indifferent
appreciation.
/ know full we'll the air of polite
amazement. or amiable incredulitv
with which men receive the statement
of woman's opinion that. in the
house partnership, wife and not hus.
band pulls the laboring oar. Still it
is true that. let mans business be
eyer so engrossing, ever so wearisome,
ever so laborious, the ere fact tn at
he goes to it in the morning, and re.
turns from it at plight, sets him above
his wife in ease and comfort. For
him. the slavery ofroutine has its in.
|tervals and it's breaks. He gets a
breath of the world outside; he has
change of scene daily he sees people
and hears them talk, and his home is
distinctly his refuge and shelter.
Let wife and mot her love her
home and her children with the most
absolute, answering devotion, and
serve them with the most unselfish
fidelity, there are, nevertheless,times
when she is very weary. a. ..
She knows, better than any one
else, the steps and the stitches, the
same things done over and over, and
the pettiness of the trials that come
to nursery and kitchin. They are SO
insignificant that she is ashamed to
talk about them, and / fear she some.
times forgets to tell her saviour how
hard they press her, and SO, bearing
the cross alone, it's weight becomes
crushing. ..t
A -sunshiny husband makes a mer-
ry, beautiful home, worth having,
worth working in and for. If the man
is breezy, CHEEKY, considerate, and
sympathetic, his wife sings in her
heart over her puddings and her
mending-basket, counts the hours till
he returns at night, and renews her
youth in the security she feels Of his
appreciation and admiration.
You may think it weak or childish
If you please, but it is the admired
wife, the wife who hears words of
prai Sc and receives smiles or con.
m endation, who is capable, discreet,
and executive. / have seen a timid,
meek, self.distrusting little body fair.
ly bloom into strong, self-reliant
womanhood, under tonic ana the cor
dial of companionship with husband
who really went out of his way to find
occasion for showing her how fully
he trusted her judgement, and how
tenderly he deferred to her opinion.
In home life there should be no jar,
no striving for place, no insisting on
prerogatives, or divisions of interests.
The hu sband and wife are each the
complement of the other. And it is
just as much his duty to be cheerful.
as it IS hers to be patient; his right
to bring joy into the door, as it is
hers to sweep and garnish the pleas
ant interior. A family where the
daily walk of the father makes life a
festival is filled with something like