admission to the bar.  His efforts were redoubled, and, ere long, his eloquence obtained for him a connection with one of the most prominent members of the profession.  The world wondered at this complete revolution; many doubted its continuance; but, step by step, he climbed the ladder to eminence, and merited the applause which the public lavished upon him.  Success only inflamed his ambition, and it became evident he aimed at political renown.  Nature had fitted him for the political arena, had endowed him with oratorical powers of no ordinary stamp; and, though long dormant, they were not impaired by his inertia.  It was fortunate for him that an exciting Presidential canvass afforded numerous opportunities for the development of these, and at its close he found himself possessed of an enviable reputation.  To a certain extent, his wife was elated with his success; she was proud of his acknowledged talent; but her selfish nature was utterly incapable of the tenderness and sincere affection he demanded.  Their alienation was complete.  No bickerings disturbed the serene atmosphere of their home, because mutual indifference precluded the necessity.  Mrs. Graham gave parties and attended them; rode, danced, spent her summers at fashionable watering-places and her winters in a round of folly and dissipation, while her husband pursued his profession, careless of her movements and rarely in her company.  In the lady’s conduct the circle in which she moved saw nothing reprehensible.  She dressed superbly, gave elegant entertainments, and was, par excellence, the leader of bon-ton.  True, she was quite as much of a belle as any young lady in the city, and received the attentions and flattery of gentlemen as unreservedly, nay, delightedly, as though she had no neglected husband and child at home who had claims upon her; put this sort of conjugal indifference was in vogue, and, as she frowned down, or smiled up, some family laboriously toiling to reach her circle, her “clique” blindly followed her example and humored her whims.  As regarded her deportment toward her husband, one alteration was perceptible; she respected—­almost feared him; shrank from his presence, and generally contrived to fill the house with company when she was, for short intervals, at home.  He ceased to upbraid, or even remonstrate; his days were spent in the courtroom or his office, and his evenings in his library.  She dressed as extravagantly as she chose; he made no comments, paid her accounts, and grew more taciturn and abstracted day by day.

Oh, woman! woman! when will you sever the fetters which fashion, wealth, and worldliness have bound about you, and prove yourselves worthy the noble mission for which you were created?  How much longer will heartless, soulless wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters waltz, moth-like, round the consuming flame of fashion; and, by neglecting their duties and deserting their sphere, drive their husbands, sons, and brothers out into the world, reckless and depraved, with callous