The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-05-15
How to Talk TO women.

There ia good sense in the following,
which we copy from a Washington let
ter to the New York Independent, the
correspondent being lady:
Alta small select party the other even
ing, learned Senator made me wonder
how old the world would be when great
men would speak to women as If they
were sensible beingsi This gentleman
had been conversing with brother
Senator on subjects of public moment,
which interest US all, touching as near
ly the women who love their country
us the men. Anybody with a tolerable
knowledge of the English language
could have understood that conYersa-
sation. AT least the wife OF the Sena-
tor stood listening with keen interest.
But when the gentleman turned to ad-
dress her, he altered his voice, he
changed his manner, as with one vast
effort he dropped to the level of small
talk. And, ohI what do you think was
the first thing he told her2A fib, ,ofcourse.
He told her she "looked charming
the poor thing, standing there faded
and iaded,s in the pitiless gas light.
Then he asked her how many receptions
Then he remarked on the weather.
Then he hadn't anything more to say.
Then he looked awfnlly bored. Then
he wondered when supper would be
ready. The lady felt instinctively that
the learned nun supposed, as a matter
of course, that she had neither knowl-
edge nor interest in any subject which
could possibly interest him. Timid and
sensitive, she did not dare to destroy
that suppOsition by broaching subject,
or expressing an opinion, lest this very
masculine man should suddenly change
his mind, and think her strong minded
and uufeminine. Then this lady had
read much, and thought more, and felt
most keenly on every subject of public
and private veal. And this wise man,
in showing what he supposed to be his
superiority, showed only how very stu
pid even a wise man may be. Thus am
afraid that the world will be very old be-
fore men will realize that they can talk
aught but the smallest of talk to wo-
men whom they meet in society. But,
Monseigneurs, pray do not make too
great an effort to decend to the level of
our comprehension. a woman need
not be formidably strong minded, nor
frightfully literary, nor painfully
scientific, to have common sense, and
to be able to talk sensibly on rail- general
subjects. Women reud newspapers
with as much aVidity as men; and who
can read newspapers and remain igno-
rant of the great questions OF the dayH
With all our schools, the press is an
ever-present educator. Thus, my dear
yourself ridiculous for the special bene-
lit OF lady, she is silently gauging
your comprehension, and touching bot
tom all the while.
1t is lamentable that our fashionable
soirees and receptions, in their social
and mental tone, are thin, himsy and
frivolous. Bad dressing, bad air and
bad hours make them almost damna-
BILE. Wherefore is it that, with all the
gifted aud cultivated men and women
who gather here every year. we do not
renew, i'll our republican capital, with
purer morality and tiner enthusiasm,
the 6ureditr a. esprit of the eighteenth
century, Those polished and elegant
assemblies which did so much in the
highest sense to make Paris the capital
of the world, how they would soften
away tho crudeness and coarseness of
Washington am not talking OF set
literary and art gatherings, where peo-
Pile talk nothing but books and "high
art" in phrases which neither them
selves nor any body else can under
stand; but of those assemblages of the
gifted and the good, where, in genial
Intercourse and free exchange of opin-
ion, the intellect is aroused, thought
quickened, talent encouraged and
genius won from its solitudes; where
politics, philosophy nnd poetry, religion
and beauty, may meet and conmingle.