Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-12-08
THE FIRST HARSH WORD.
Let 1t Never Be Spoken, or IL Done, Never
Repeated.
For the REcoRD-UNIoS.

fOr the hECOhD-ONlOS-l
Perhaps but some trivial request pre-
ferred by the wife and refused by the hus-
band; sarcastic rejoinder; bitter words
and reproaches, and then-could they but
know 1.-THE first layer in the foundation
of an unhappy home has been laid. Oh +!
it is theme upon which l could forever
write, and yet know that were my words
to reach the acme Of eloquence, they would
still go unheeded.
The first QUARREL In those three words
lie hidden the desolation and sorrow of a
world. They carry the history of many
tale Of crime, of many an unknown grave,
of bitter pain and buried hopes and broken
VOWS And the morning of hope, so beau
tiful in its prophetic crimson and purple
and gold is clouded, and in the background
must forever lie the shadow
We often read of those who live in per
feet harmony, and truly such marriages
are made in heaven, but how few of us can
look back and see no first quarrel that
shook from its exalted pedestal our image
of bliss. Beware of it; crowd back its
eager entrance; crush it; strangle it, and
the victory is yours! Once let it enter
the sacred portals of your home and with
merciless tread will it trample upon ALL
1t will take from your midst and hang
upon the walls Of a room we call memory,
all your treasured pictures of hope, home
and happiness, and close upon them with
relentless hand the door, of which you
have lost the key.
Much has been said of the ecstacy of
lovers quarrels;" and to those who
have tasted its bitter-sweet | would
say, let it end there. Let there be
no quarrels after marriage, for wife
cannot look with the same adoring
eyes upon the husband who has wounded
her fresh young love, nor can he take to his
heart again with the same tender feeling
the wife who has uttered reproaches. The
unkind word may be readily forgiven, the
pain of it kissed away the remembrance
give US no pain, perhaps, for a time, but
again, when we are fretful, we will find il
easier to say the angry words, to utter
charges we would fain recall, and so OF
till each must be written in words of fire
upon the tablets of our hearts and the
words stare us in the face till we are
clothed in Immortality.
All, then, that no first quarrel had come
no first reproach had snapped single
silken thread in the cord that bound oul
hearts together. Like the shattered vase
which, with all our care to match design
and hue, cement and place where no keen
sunlight glance upon its injured beauty
it scarce pays Us for our pains-it may holc
a mimic, waxen bud, but never water fo
a rose again. And so l would wish fo
these words to fall deep into the heart O
some young wife who has Just Launched
her all with such faith and trust hopin:
for the perfect marriage that falls to S,
few. Words! Words We strive to grasl
the visions of our brain and send then
forth as doves upon the troubled waters O
humanity, that they may reach some hear
and quicken his life to brighter glow o
calm the tempest of his passion, or sooth
the trouble of his soul, and return to u
perhaps with some little olive branch o
peace.
Guard close the fragile darlings of your heart
Oh, ye, in life's pure treasures proud and rich;
The fruits and first blossoms are light to part.
! Dread one rough touch; no time again can give
| Once gone, the perfect form or fearless faith.
| In prayer and patience mourn it while you live
And hope to win it back in heaven througl
death.
@. NJ. B.
| Sacramento December e 1893