Disraeli And His Wife

If anybody desires to know wbat a wife may be to her huaband. with what pure unselfishness and devotion she can give up everything that she has to his service, and find a noble happiness ín doingit; what a support and comfort she eau be to him under the inevitable sorrows and niisfortunes ot' life ; how magniflcently she can inspire him to fresh exertions, and stand as a bulwark between the adverse world and himself, - any who wishes to comprehend all this need only read the story of Mr. Disraeli's married life. It will be found that in such caaes the devotion is not all on one side. The affection of a good woman kindies the nobler qualities of a man, and he will repay her devotion with lofty fidelity. If Mr. Disraeli had, as he once said, the " best of wives," he, on his part, proved the best of husbands. ïill the last day of her life he paid to his wife those attentions which are too often assooiated rather with the romance of youthful intercourse than with the routine of married life. When he roso to the highest point of his ambition, the only favor he would accept of the (úeen was a cornet for his wifo. He was scarcely ever absent from her side until the dark day when the f ast friends were to be parted. She knew that she was dying, but refrained from telling him so, in order that he might be spared the pain of bidding her farewell. He also knew that her last hour was at hand, but kept silence lest he should distress her. Thus they parted, each anxious to avoid striking a blow at the other's heart. The domestic lives of public men are properly held to be beyond the range cf public comment ; but in an age when marriage is the thenie ot ridicule from " leaders of progress " it may be that this passage in Mr. Disraeli's career may be pondered with some profit by the young.- From Atlantic Monthly for December.