Year: 1871

|


\ An exchange forcibly and ia th
main truthfully, says:


! A woman, no doubt, feels th
ennui of domestic life more keenl


than a man. He is occupied wit


his business, and the home, at th


end of the day, even when he ha


to experience a moderate amoun


of nagging. is felt to be an agree


able change. But to the wife tht


utter sameness of existence, after


the few bright months of domesti,


bliss have passed, must be very


trying.


Perhaps her solitude inspires hel


with a vague feeling Of jealousy


and she makes herself wretcheG


over imaginary wrongs. Why, 70,


example, is he frequently late al


businessman it be business which


keeps a man in town so long past
the dinner-hour? Why does he
occasionally dress himself with un-
usual care before leaving home in
the morning, and what possible ex-
cuse can he have for doing so? Is
it possible that he can dare to
imagine. he married man, that
any woman would care to look at
him? \


We never yet heard really good
and sensible woman complain of
the restraints of married life, but
we have heard much repining from
ladies who had not the smallest
idea Of performing their own share
Of duty. Their idea of submission
is that it should all be on the side
of the husband, and that the chief
duty of the wife is to rule in queen
ly state at home. Fortunately most
women are wise enough to abstain
in time from playing the dangerous
game of queen of the castle. They
find it will not do, or that beyond o
certain line their rule is quietly
ignored or laughed at. The vis
inertie of a wearied man Of business
has often done more to disarm a
nagging wife than volumes of argu-
ment and expostulation. The stohd
husband absorbed in his evening
paper allows the querulous COM
plants of the wife to pass UNDECIDED,
and only hears them in disjointed
fragments. He gains a quiet VIC
tory, and few such contests con
vince the lady that she is playing a
losing game, and might prudently
keep her little troubles to herself.


A war of words with woman is
an unwise and dangerous game to
play, and when it is persisted in
the results are always most lament
able. After a struggle continued
for months, or perhaps years, a
separation takes place on the
ground of fincompatibiIty of temper,
and the foolish pair part only to
court fresh misery. In the cases
which have come under our notice
little mutual forbearance might
have made domestic life smooth
and pleasant, but each party pos
sessed large share of false pride
and would not yield jot. OF
course there are nagging women
who cannot be silenced, no matter
how willing husbands may be to
meet their wishes halfway, and
there are men naturally brutal and
ill-tempered who cannot be 'sman-
aged" and upon whom the tact and
foresight Of q prudent woman is
wholly wasted.


In such cases as these there is no
possibility of domestic peace; SUBJ
mission does not bring happiness,
everything goes wrong, and the
whole family are continually in hot |
water. These, however, are rare |
cases, and we do not pretend tol
ieal with them; we are merely con-
the ordinary husband and |
wife OF the period, whose faults are |
IN the surface, and who in the main |
ire kindly and considerate to each
'ther. Eccentricities of temper
generally wear off in course of time.
" become less disagreeable, and
he pair who have patience to en-
lure each other generally and by
king or loving in earnest.


AN INGENIOUS PRAYER.