Year: 1864

MARGARET 1LAIIME ER.g


10 a-s5 H- aees tsrazsig


"AMoNG the many instances Of female
devotion and constancy which are reeor-
ded, the following simple and perhaps
too common story appears to me singu-
latly interesting. The person who. rela-
ted it to me was personally acquainted
with the parties" r


The above lines, traced in the fahail-
lar characters Of beloved handwriting,
form the introduction to the following
story, the manuscript of which was found
recently on turning over some old papers.
1t is, we fear, az ow'er true tale of real
life. The hand that traced it is at rest;
and the faded ink, and paper stained aud
yellow with age, give assurance that all
the family of the tale have passed through
their earthly troubles long ago.


! But human hearts remain unchanged.


The sorrow and the sin,


The loves, and hopes, and fears Of old,


Are to our own akin.


The simple story Of the long suffering
and fargiving wife and daughter, will
find listeners to-day, among those. who
believe in woman's love,


That hopes and endures and is patient


Margaret Latimer was the daughter Of
Wealthy and respectable parents, who
having no other child, lavisHed on her
with an unsparing hand, all that unbOun-
ded but mistaken affection prompted It
was perhaps owing in a great measure to
this unfortunate and habitual indulgence
that she was suffered to rely on her own
| judgment in the most important trausac-
ton Of her life. Her choice, unhappily
for her, fell upon one every way unwOr-
thy, and she too soon found that the
husband Of her affections, the one whom
she had selected from all the world, had
nothing but his pleasing exterior to rec
ommend him. Margaret naturally Of a
tinid and gentle disposition, was not,
however, deficient IN fortitude, when
called upon to act; she felt that alone
and without counsel she. had taken upon
herself the duties and difficulties of a
married life, and alone and uncounseled
she determined to support them. To
this determination she was urged by her
affection for her parents, as well as by
the love she still felt for her husband.
So that many years Of her married life
had elapsed before her parents knew OF
suspected the misery she endured from
his continued profigaey. Atlength the
Flarge estate which her father had given
her on her marriage was dissipated, and
her husband involved beyond the power
to pay. 1t then became necessary to ac-
quaint her father with her situation, but
she did it with so much delicacy to her
husbands feelings and character that he
was again induced to make them inde-
pendent. This fresh supply, however,
only served for fuel to his extravagance,
and on his second failure her parents as
we'll as friends advised a separation. This
she absolutely refused; he was, she said,
however faulty, the husband Of her choice
and the father Of her children, and no
earthly consideration would induce her
to leave him while in distress. Thus de-
or mined she prepared to enter the lists
with poverty, in addition to her other
evils, and she sustained the conflict thro'
many years, with the fortitude and eOur-
age which is possessed only by women.
She was now called upon to endure ano-
ther trial Of which she had not dreamed.
Her husband finding the source from
whence his extravaganza had been sup
piled dried up, he took the resolution of
abandoning his wife and family. It is
said that evils never come singly, and a
few months after her husbands desertion
Margaret had to sustain the loss Of her
father, with the additional misery Of
knowing that his life had been, rendered
miserable, and perhaps shortened, by her
misfortunes. The small remains Of his
property was divided between his daugh-
ter and her children. The part left to
his daughter was so secured that no part
of it could be claimed by her husband, if
he ever should return. 1t was found,
however, that with the strictest economy
the little property was insufficient to sup
port and educate her daughters; and too
proud to accept pocuniary favOrs from
her friends, she determined to supply the
deficiency by her own industry and ex-
ertIons.


She had now not heard of her husband
for eight years, and her daughters, for
whose welfare she had labored with un-
wearied patience, we're nearly grown
up, and promised fair to repay her for
her care and tenderness. Patience, the
eldest daughter, was in all respects the
counterpart of her mother, and might
f have been taken for a persoRi6oaion Of
| her namesake, her whole nature was SO
mild and enduring Phebe, the second