Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1856-07-16
WHO MAKES THE BEST WIVES /?


WHO MAKES THE BEST WIVES?
Not few of our readers, we are persua.
ded, will be arrested by the caption Of this
article. The subject Of which it treats has
been one Of universally acknowledged in.
terest and Importance ever since the day
when it was avered by the wise man that
Z" whos6ever obtaineth a wife, obtaineth
good thing" Bachelors as we are, our own
views on such theme, could amount only
to speculation. The following. however,
from the Philadelphia Ledger, must com.
mend itself to general appreciation from the
tone Of practical wisdom which pervades it:
."By' all means marry a woman with
money!, says careful fathers to their sons j;
"youlr find it as easy as not to get suita.
bic wife, who has little fortune" "Give
me beauty, grace and accomplishment" is
the mental answer of enthusiastic youth,
"'and leave mercenary considerations to
baser souls"
:. We submit that neither is right. 1t is in.
finitely more Important that young man
should choose healthy, amiable, and intel
ligent partner, than that he should select
either beauty or an heiress The latter
has usually expensive habits, and, by the
time she has been married twenty years, has
cost her husband the amount of her fortune
in superauities. Besides, heiresses are gen.
orally brought up in idleness, spending their
stime:inz reading novels, ]ounging about on
the'sofa, or acquiring ataste for fashionable
dissipation; &c. that they are either absurdy
romantic OF, out Of health from want of ex.
sercise or from late hours, and, therefore, en-.
tirely unfit to make good wives. Beauties,
s.on the other hand, mostly are vain or giddy,
if not both. If wives were designed for
playthings, or had no purpose beyond being
parlor ornaments, a beauty might be desira.
BILE, just as pictures are on fine furniture.
T he man who marries an heiress sacrifices
his independence and ends by finding he is
out of pocket also. The lover who weds
merely for beauty ties himself to a doll,
which has not even the merit of being sure
to keep its painted cheeks.
Those women make the best wives who
combine common sense with good temper,
who have been brought up 10 help them
; selves, and who bring sound constitutions,
equable spirits, and sincere affection as
dowry to their lovers. A wife should be her
husbands best friend-she should be com,
petent to counsel him in difficulties, 10 cheer
him in sorrow, to render his everyday hearth
= the pleasantest spot to him TO be found any.
where. If she has confirmed ill.bealtb
she'cannot be all this to him; neither can
she if she has crooked temper, or habit;
of Incidence, or is deficient in practical
sense: The woman whose whole heart is
devoted to show, to company, or to idle nc.
complishments, may possibly make amin.
teresting belle, but she is sure to prove a
very Indifferent wife. We would not have
young girls neglect the beautiful entirely
but that which adorns should be made sub.
servient to some more solid superstructure.
To know how TO play the last new air, yet
be ignorant how to compound the last new
pudding, is surely objectionable. A man
might as well neglect TO learn a business as
woman refuse to acquire knowledge of
housekeeping.
1t is useless to disguise the fact that girls
are too often directed to attract lovers rather
than to retain the affections of husbands.
This is especially true of the daughters of
families above the necessities OF daily labor.
Mrs. F. the successful mechanics wife,
makes virtual slave of herself by drudging,
late and early, in order that Anna Maria
may be "brought up" as she phrases it,
"like lady" The young Miss accordingly,
is crammed with music, dancing, French,
and other fiddle.faddles, is told always to
carry her shoulders back, and never to romp,
and is taught to consider work as degrading
What sort of wife can such creature