February 24. 
THE COTTAGE GAKDENER. 
407 
“ I HAVE NO ONE TO TAKE CARE OF ME.” 
By the Authoress of ^^My Flowers," Ac. 
At the risk of being thought prosy and wearisome, I am 
going to speak again on the subject of thoughtless, ungodly 
marriages. Next to the choice of “whom ye will serve," 
comes that of whom ye will marry; and awful indeed it is 
to see the whys and the wherefores of these joinings toge¬ 
ther. It is a subject that can scarcely be too strongly 
enforced, or too roughly handled ; for not only does it afl'ect 
individual happiness, but it is injurious to the characters 
and minds of the childi’en that spring up in the midst of 
misery, and discord, and sin ; and it has powerful influence, 
too, upon the good of society at large. Even among the 
humble classes, what a perfume proceeds from a happy, 
well-ordered, religious family, where the parents are united 
in heart and faith, as well as in matrimony; where the daily 
labour is sanctified, and the hours of rest are blessed; where 
the Sabbath is called “ a delight, honourable,” and the 
evenings pass peacefully in each other’s compan}'—far from 
the beer-house and the “ way of sinners,” and close with 
prayer and praise! I believe that people of decided piety 
are but too apt to be w'eak in this momentous matter. 
Perhaps no other temptation on earth could move them but 
this. How needful, then, is close and anxious walking with 
God, that when such snares lie in our path we may he 
enabled to step over them; for the arm of the Lord only 
can do this. 
Jane Ford was a widow, with two sons. She was a supe¬ 
rior person for her rank in life—mild, and gentle, and 
pleasing in her manners, very trustworthy, and clever in her 
business. She lived in the family of a rich farmer, was 
greatly regarded by the family, and was a sort of cook and 
manager together. Any one would have thought that this 
was a comfortable place for a person in her situation; that 
she was settled there by the good Providence of God, and 
that if she dared to trust in his promise to the widow, all j 
would go well with her. One might reasonably have thought i 
this. But a snare fell in her way—one so plain and easy to j 
be understood, that it was wonderful she should have put ; 
her neck into the noose. “ Surely in vain is the net spread , 
in the sight of any bird.” i 
John Sims was a notoriously drunken carpenter. He was 
a good workman, hut there was no other good in him. He | 
was a by-word in the village; his very name made people ' 
shut then- doors, and his face declared that report did him 
no wrong. It Avas a matter of Avonder and admiration to ; 
the whole parish, that in the time of the riots John Sims i 
Avas the only man who did not join the mob. People spoke 
to one another about it: “Think of John Sims, he not being | 
in the mob ! hoAv came he not to be there, and the head 
and front of them all.” But so it Avas. 
Some years after that memorable time Sims became a 
married man. He chose a very clean, respectable wife, but 
she very soon faded and died. Every one Avoudered at her 
marriage, but no one was surprised at her death. Sims 
Avent hammering on one minute, and “drinking himself 
drunk ” the next; so that no reasonable expectation could 
be entertained of his making a Avoman happy, or of her 
living long upon the earth. 
John Sims remained for a time in singleness of estate, 
hut at length he took it into his head to fancy Jane Ford, and 
he advanced accordingly. In the face of all bygone facts, 
Jane did not at once dismiss him. She put before him his 
habit of drinking, and his general character; but he pro¬ 
mised to give up ilia beer for her sake, and took to go to 
church. This Avas a convincing proof, to her, that he loved 
her, and AA'oiild make her happy; and so she became his 
Avife. Every one lamented the folly and madness of this 
step ; there was no one Avho could give her a cheering Avord; 
she left a respectable and comfortable situation to shut 
herself up in a dark, dismal cottage with John Sims ! The 
only excuse she attempted to offer Avas, “ I have no one to 
take care of me.” 
It Avas not long before Jane Sims awoke to the full con¬ 
sciousness of Avhat she had done when she gave up God's 
promise for that of man. Her cheerful smile and untrou¬ 
bled countenance were gone. She Avas not like the same 
person. It Avas impossible not to see that her married hfe 
was a bitter one; the tearful eyes, and melancholy face. 
spoke the truth too plamly. Sims gave up going to church , 
very soon after his second marriage; his red, SAvelled, ill- 
looldng face was again seen, day after day, in the beer-house; 
and he Avent staggering home at night, just as he had done 
before he promised to leave off drink. 
Let Avoman lay this to her heart: if a man Avill not “turn 
from the Avickedness that he hath committed, and do that 
Avhich is laAvful and right,” for the sake of a crucified Saviour, 
he Avill never do it for the sake of a Avife. On a sick-bed wo ' 
promise in our terror to lead a boav life, if the Lord will once 
more raise us up ; but Avhat a promise is this! It is like the 
morning cloud, and the early deAv! When we rise up we | 
forget our fear; and we go forth again to the mire. Just 
like this is the promise of a man Avlio has a Avorldly point to 
gain—a wife! When he has Avon her, and seated her by the 
fireside, he too, Avill go forth again to the mire, and leave her I 
to bewail her folly. No change cun take place in an unre- j 
newed heart. Unless Ave are “born again,” Ave caa/ioi do the ! 
thing that is “ lawful and right.” Let us all remember this. 
The violence and madness of John Sims, Avhen he is 
under the influence of drink, is fearful. He enters his 
cottage like a roaring lion. His wife trembles and Aveeps, 
but she dares not “ upset” him ; nor, indeed, should a wife 
at any time do so. Her tAvo hoys see the condition of their 
mother’s husband; they see her degraded situation; they 
hear his oaths and violence ; but they can do nothing Oh! 
what an example for the sons Avhom God has given her! 
AVhat a bitterness, to feel that she has set it before their 
eyes ; that her own folly has done tliis! “ I have no one to j 
take care of me,” must rise up like an adder in her path 
now. 
Sims drinks sometimes for two days together ; and when 
he has come to his senses he goes off to work Avith his 
step-son behind him. One sabbath morning we met him in 
his dirty dress, Avith such a face of woeful intoxication, that 
it made us shudder. He had been drinking, “ off and on,” 
for nearly the week before, and had strolled out, he hardly 
kneAv where, to cool his burning head. 
Poor Jane goes out very often to cook and assist in a 
neighbouring family. She is obliged to get her oavii bread, 
for she has but little of her husband’s. She is not often, there¬ 
fore, in her OAvn home ; and Avhen she is, it is in fear and 
trembling. She speaks with great meekness and submission 
of the trials she has to bear. She Avent out to seek it, and 
must noAV support it as best she may. She lays religious 
books in her husband’s Avay, and talks to him in his sober 
minutes. He Avill read and hear; but he lives next door to 
a beer-house, and he rises up from the Bible and the tract, 
to go to the haunt where Satan loves to dwell. 
“ I have no one to take care of me.” This may be the 
feehng of many a single Avoman. Let her beAvare ! Let her j 
remember the care that John Sims takes of his miserable ! 
AA'ife! Let her remember the home Avhich poor Jane escapes j 
from as often as she can! Let her remember that the i 
“ arm of flesh ” is a broken staff to lean on, and Avill surely j 
run into our hand. Let her remember that there is a God 1 
“ of the fatherless and of the AvidoAv,” who is the only One to | 
tahe care of us, the only One on Avhom to cast our bru'den, ! 
and to look confidently for protection and care. Do not let ; 
us deceive ourselves in this matter; we are quite ready to , 
shut our eyes, and stupify our senses, but we do it with a , 
curse and not a blessing. Even if Ave choose a worthy oh- j 
ject, Avhat kind of a reason is it to give, that Ave want to be 
taken care of? Let me solemnly and earnestly repeat to all 
my readers, male and female, high and low, for it concerns ■ 
us all, the aAvful words of the Lord God of Hosts himself: 
“ Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, and taketh man. 
fur his defence, and in his heart goeth from the Lord.” When 
we marry to be taken care of, we do depart from the Lord. 
ALLOTMENT FARMING— March. 
One of the greatest faults in allotment or cottage garden¬ 
ing is the injudicious way in Avhich mixed cropping is carried 
out. This arises principally from ignorance in the culti¬ 
vator of tlie importance of light to the vegetable world. 
How often have I received for an answer, Avhen urging the 
impropriety of certain combinations on the score of impeded 
light, “ Oh, they will yet light enough.” 
