Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1841-12-30

with his business, as TO have forg golien il !"
Many a misunderstanding in married life
has arisen out Of circumstances as tri-
fling as the one just recorded (; for when
woman has been made 10 believe that
she is the sole object Of her lovers
thoughts, il is difficult for hsrto realize
that the act which transfers Ia him the
future guardianship of her happiness,
exoneTaies him from those minute aiten-
tions, which have hitherto contributed
SO much to her enjoyment. Do not mis-
take me gentle reader 90 not mean
10 say as some have ventured 10 assert,
that "Couriship is woman's Paradise,
and Marriage her Purgatory," for my
own blessed experience would quickly
give The lie To any such false theory ;
but would merely suggest whether this
exal,aiion Of IA mistress into soncthlng
more than roman, before marriage, does
not tend Ia produce n reaction Of feeling
which is apt 10 degrade her into
something less than the rest Of her sex
a(ierward aud whether be who saw no
faults in hi, "ladye love" will 10, be
likely to see more than she ever possess.
ed, in his rife,
Charles Wharton had certainly com
mittcd this common error. Loving his
mother nhd sisters with the most dc vote j
affection, he had Learned To regard them
As models Of feminine virtue and grace,
yet there was something sonbre and
grave in their characters, which did not
exactly aarec with his be au ideal of wo.
man,
"shilled alike to dozrlo as you please"
lie was therefore peculiarly suscepti
BILE TO her charms of playful wit and
gaieiy in bis beloved Mary, and finding
her thus in possession q! the only giit
which was wanting in his circle, he by
a very natural error, attributed to her all
the olhor qualities which he found there
in such perfection. lie had created an
imaginary being, who should unite the
lighter graces with the noble virtues,
and, fascinated by the beauty, and the
sunny temper of aliss Lee, he found no
difficulty in embodying in her form his
ideal mistress. For time he was per-
fecily enchanted, but the familiar inter
course Of married life al length discover
ed some defects in the character of the
young and light-hearled wife, and Whar-
ton, feeling as men are apt 10 do,
as charm by charm unwinds,
That robed their idol"
was almost tempted to believe that he
had utterly deceived himself. But in
this opinnn he was as far wrong as when
he had fancied her all perfection. Mary
possessed all the material for forming an
esilmablc woman, but she was young,
thonghilcss, and untaught. She was one
Of n family who lived but for society, and
whose department to each other was an
exemplification of the old copy-book
apoihegm: "Famiiarity breeds con-
tempt" The seli-respect which incul-
cafes personal neatness as a duty-,he
respect towards each other which should
be as carefully cherished between broth
ers aud sisters. as the affection which,
in truth, will not long exist without it
were entirely unknown among them
ln society, they were models of proprie,y
bat, in The domestic circle, there was n
want OF method, and neglect of neat
ness which could not fail TO be injurious
10 every member Of the family. may
be mistaken, but II seems TO me, that
habItual slovenliness cannot fail TO have
lis effect upon the mental as well as the
bodily habits. To a well balanced mind,
external order seems as essential as in.
teIlcctnal purity, and however grent may
be the genius, there is surely something
wanting to perfect equilibrium of the
faculties when the body-throuSh the
medium of which ideas must necessarily
be conveyed TO the minds habitunIly
neglected, and consequently exposed to
disgustlu rather than agreeable images
But whatever may be the effect Of a
want of neaness on ones individual
character, there is no doubt as TO Its in
tluencc on others. No man can have
proper respect for female purity aud
delicacy, when he has been accustomed,
from childhood, To witness slcycnly hab-
lis in his mother and sisters for that
chivalric feeling toward the gentle sex,
which has preserved many man from
the early attacks of vice, never exists
in the heat 0f him who has had the
barriers of refinement broken down, ere
he left his childhood's home.
Mrs. Wharton was not deficient in
personal cleanliness few women are
found guilty of SO revolving fault but
she wanted personal neatness and order
She had learned to treat her husband as
she was accustomed to do her brothers,
and while she never appeared before
company in an undress, scarcely ever
honored him with anything else. Her
break fast dress has already been desert
bed, and ilthe day happened TO be rainy,
or any thing else occurred 10 induce her
to deny herself to visitors, she generally
greeted her husbands eye in the same
loose and flowing robes at dinner, as well
Us tea. Her total ignorance Of every
thing like method, was visible throug ghout
nil her domestic arrangements. Instead
Of directing her servants she only repro
red them, Tor she found it much easier to
scold when a thing was III done, than TO
attend to having it ,oeH done. Her do
mesiics soon became familiar with her
ignorance Of the details Of housek eeping,
and availed themselves Of it, to neglect