Iowa news. [volume] (Dubuque, Upper Mississippi Lead Mines, Wisconsin Territory) 1837-1841, 1837-11-15
rHE MARRIED STATE.

age must necessarily produce in their
situation, how much more cautious
would it make them Of their choice of
a companion for life. Alas! what avail
the graces Of the finest figure, the most
captivating address, or the assemblage
of all that is ensnaring, if the heart is
Idepraved, or the conduct imprudent.
The gayest associate Of the convivial
hour may be the dullest, the most un-
fit companion for the domestic circle;
and he who is never satisfied but in a
crowd or when engaged in continu
al round of pleasure, is very unlikely
to become tender and prudent hus-
band. Should sickness or distress draw
near, depend upon it, he would fly from
their approach. If beauty alone excl
ted this passion, it would cease to ex-
list when you are deprived Of those at
fractions on which it was founded. If
fortune was his inducement, that will
likewise soon lose its value in his sor-i
did mind, and the very person who
brought him the wealth for which he
|sighed, will be considered the grand
obstacle to his enjoyment. Too often
lis the unpleasant picture to be seen in
many disconted families which little
serious reflection might have prevent
ed from being so unfortunately reali-
sed. Never be prevailed upon toyield
your heart to any one, however he may
shine in the gay circles Of the world,
liz you are convinced that he has no re-
lish for the enjoyments Of retired life.
The man who likes every house better
than his own, will scarcely take the
trouble Of making home agreeable to
others, while it is disgusting to him
self. 1t will be the only place in
which he will give way TO his discon-
tented i'll humor. Some people are
forever strangers to the dear delights
of the social state, and all the real COM
forts of well-regulated family. He
that is Indifferent to home, is never at
home; and he feels himself stranger
or a visitor, amidst his closet connex-
ions.
OLD LIE world Of
thoughts and feelings arise in perusing
old letters! What lessons do we read
in the silliest Of them, and in others
what beauty, what charms, what ma
gical allusion wraps the senses in brief
enchantment! But it is brief indeed.
Absence, estrangement and death, the
three great enemies of mortal ties, start
up to break the spell. The letters of
those who are dead, how wonderful
We seem to live and breathe in their
society. The writer's once, perhaps,
lived with us in the communion of
friendship, in the flames of passion, in
the whirl Of pleasure; in the same ca
reer, in short, Of earthly joys, earthly
follies, and earthly infrmities. We
seem again to retrace these paths toge-
Their; but are suddenly arrested by the
knowledge that there lies vast gulph
between us and them. The hands that
traced those characters are Wondering
in the tombs, eaten bv worms, or al
ready turned to dust.
Letters from those we once loved,
who perhaps are still living, but no
longer living for us. It may be they
grew tired Of US; it may be we grew
t red of them; or the separation may
have arisen from mutual imperfections
in character. Still the letters recall
times and seasons when it was other
wise, and we look upon ourselves out
of ourselves, as it were with much
melancholy interest. That identity of
the person, and the arrangement of
the spirit, who can paint it?
There is still third class Of old let
tiers on which the heart delights to ex-
patiate; those Of the still living, but the
absent. Oh! what do they not afford
of delight? They have the whole
witchery Of beauty, love and truth in
them, without one speck or flaw to
lower the tone Of that enchantment
they contain.
The wall which separates China from
Tartary, has been built full two thou
sand years, and is supposed to be full
twelve hundred miles in length; its
height varies according to the circum-
stances Of the surface. It is upwards
Of thirty feet high, and twenty-four
broad. The foundation is laid upon
large square stones, the superstructure
is brick; the center is kind Of mortar,
covered with flag stones. A parapet
of no ordinary strength runs on each
side of an embattled wall. If we con-