Rensselaer Republican, Volume 13, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1881 — A Hint to Wives. [ARTICLE]

A Hint to Wives.

New York Post. * Almost every one has had occasion some tune to wonder how certain married people of their acquaintance ever concluded to go througn life together, so little do they appear to have in common in middle age.lt is pathetic and yet at the same time there is something ludicrous about it. It is truly a curious spectacle to see a husband and wife who have positively nothing to sav to each other, who communicate, to be sure, in regard to the commonplaces of every day life, but who are dumb so far as any real interchange of thought is concerned; \*ho sit through an evening’s entertainment or nde a hundred miles side by side, with nothing to indicate »>eyond the fact of their proximity that here are two people who have chosen eaeh other out of all the world Xaccording to the common superstition) to be companions. If they drift apaH the husband is almost always blamed, while in many cases the wife is in fault. While her husband in his work comes in contact with men of ideas, and becomes a part of the life that is pushing on into a different plane, and so is brightened and broadened even while he is wearied by it, she allows herself to be absorbed in the little details Of her work, and at length her thoughts do not rise above them, and while she rehearses her little vexations, andrdweils upon them, she fancies that he is free from annoyances, unless indeed it is some great trouble worthy of women who know ho more of the real life of their husbaiids than they do of a perfect stranger. That there is no need of this is showh by countless examples. Picture Mrs. Carlisle, as Mrs. Oliphant describes her,incessantly occupied with the little cares of a household, when she was not only obliged to arrange thiDgs for her husband’s comfort, but also to invent eontriVances to save him little troubleß,and yet at the same time was possessed of a mind capable of appreciating his greatest work and of correctly estimating his character, and was withal- so interested in all that concerned him that tbe half hours spent in quiet talk with her, her husband declares to have been.the most delightful moments of his lile! There need be no greater disproportion between a husband and wife whose circle is smaller and whose ability is far leas. Some of the most beautiful examples of devoted affection and complete companionship are not told of in magazine articles, they are going on before our very eyes in humble homes, and tbe truth is there appreciated that in order to be all that one ought to be there needs to be that “renewing of the mind’, of which Hamertoii speaks in the “Intellectual Life.,’ No man or woman who gives thought to this,matter can conclude that it is wise to draw continually upon the capital with which they started, but will try to increase it; by fresh thoughts, and" by making themselves constantly interesting and helpful to eafch other.