The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-11-13

ASS general rule, clever men marry badly. I
one sense this b equivalent to saying that all me
mary bsdly, f.! there Z no ma man .ho does no
however, Of men Who ars acknowledged BY TIL
public, or even By their friends and acquaiutsncei
70 be men Of exceptional faculty, Of great attain
Inents, or Of distinguished social powers. Tn
possesing the same marked characteristics. unless
Indeed. they arc bound together by q common
link Of dullnese. We seldom 6nd . husband an,
wife who are both q them squally celebrated fol
their winning addreas. or their conversation
ability, er their acquaintance With uguste Comts
or their facility In writing private theatri
Gals. Stu more seldom do We Ind man who Il
possessed Of brilliant intellectual faculties ar
Iied TO . woman Who comes near his level. We
their marital misfortunes too often make up The
bulk Of thar biographies. The general expert
ence OF any man who mixes freely with various
grades Of people. and keeps his eyes open the
sdull wife. Further, II the man have exception.
ally fastidious tastes, the woman il frequently
marked ont BY the vulgarity OF her dress, or man
ners. or conversation. One ID apt to consider that
n any tcis.anis society = win b impossible g
manage the letter b; II that hallucination Is des.
troyed, II viii b BY clever mans wife.
The reason b obvious. = Clever men marry
badly became they think they can Goat e ssupid
They consider hey have enough brains for two.
OF course. no maa actually goes into marriage for
the purpose Of trying such IN experiment; but
the consciousness Of having such power is . pre-
disposiDg cause to1ards the result. Nor does 1t
necessarily argue vanity On The part Of . clever
man that he should DO aware Of his own intellec-
tusl value. The chances are that In Judicial fac.
nifty he ID no greater fool than his neighbour and
IL they caa Iecceuise The exceDtionsl power Of
his mind, b II likeiy that be himself will remain
ignorant Of i'll Nothing can be more absurd than
the popular notion that whom mans brilliant
qualities are the talk Of his social circle. or Of his
country, he himself should exhibit an idiotic L.
norsncs Of them, or else sham an ignorance Of
them and gain credit for his mockmodesty.
Doubtless, there a<e many men who are profoundly
conscious Of the Rossessiop Of all sorts OF brilliant
qualities and facilities which are quite invisible
to their friends ard neighbors; but ct present we
are not talking Of ninc0mpoops. d --s.--ss-f ~
The clever man docs not marry stupid woman
out Of an hlogesl preference for stupidity. But
In looking out for 3 wife he arrogates to him.
self certain liberty Of choice which men Of
smaller parts would scarcely dare to assume.
an upturned nosb, an irascible temper and no
brains 70 spesd Of, II generally blessed BY Pro.
violence with some dim desire Of marrying Q
wife who will letd to his household the charms
give H. He wishes TO stand well with his friends;
he wishes to be thought desirable addition to
their dinner tables, and doubtless Is anxious that
he should be able to ask them to his own house
without regarding their coming as too great Q
..n could oily get wife that would do ell
this for me.' he sishs. Naturally he takes every
precaution IN choosing his mate that she shall
possess those cempsnsating qualities. 1t would
De absurd 70 bay that this man 1sscridced
his freedom Of choice on the altar of SO.
cety. Society does not care rushs whom
he or anybody eise marries. But the attitude of
society towards yhe lady after she is married is
very important Y him, and it 10 for his own COM
likely TO admire and love-, Again and agsin'we
visit houses which would be undesirable but for
the mistress Of than and quite O. often we meet
with men whom Everybody would shun If they had
not dexterous Wives TO smooth down their often
sirable company. The men who thus marry
generally forget their dependence on their wives.
They get accustomed TO the good Rraces Of
society. and look upon them ~ tribute to their
individual worth. Some time ago there appeared
IN funcn witty picture-we think Il was Du
small gori!la-looking man who had
escorted his wife, very handsome woman, down
to the seaside. HE con6des to his friend, IL we
remember rightly, the embarrassing circumstance
his wife Beauty and the Beast" and adds that
be can't undersgand II, for poor Jemima is mot |
30 very bad looking, you know" The picture
and ~ legend.which i i quite probable We
have mangled IL translationi- give q happy |
notion Of the modest assumptions Of . good many
Nov, man d intellectual ability is apt to put
society altogether out Of the question. He VIII |
marry whatsoe!er woman seems good unto him,
and Let society strike what attitude 1t pleases az
lerwards. So PR ~ the relations between society
and himself sr9 concerned, society, not he, has |
hitherto been tie wooer. he Il not unwilling to |
remain within his present social circle but, II |
should induce him 70 Leave Il, he
with him the power Of being company to himself
wherever he may wander. This il generally the |
irst challenge that he throws down. If 1t Il ac-
'epted, be thessays: j" Good. prefer my wife
Q my acquainttncec: Let them depart In. peace, 4
hat society. tsIkes the trouble to say anything
bout mans thoice Of prospective wife and
be chances ARD that our. Intellectual hero, while
oy oss,mns 70 please himself has an inward
make Il ell n8ht with society. II She cannot
meet his friendb on equal terms; IL she cannot
ak about modern literature, or speak Italian to
bis or that Celebrated refugee, or give pro-.
ounced opinion upon The equality Of the sexes,
lining room, ctnnot he come to her rescue and
out her foes! Besides, he does not marry her
nat she should do Intellectually what he can do
'ell. In artistic and literary conversation he can
ave no right u say that Mr.. and Mrs. A., OFF,
Z r., are undesirable acquaintance. t.tl
Before turning TO look ct the manner in which
ociety composts itself towards clever men's
ives, one otner reason may be advanced why |
lever men, % o rule, marry stupid women.
wo OF rsdei never agree, says the proverb.
ne young painter who dreams of securing to |
mself for mate beautiful creature filed with
70 same idealifms as himself. with divine pas
on Tor color. 3nd keen enjoyment OF natural
roups OF formS would soon be driven out of his |
,nses II he wete TO be constantly beside woman
no would 3riucise bic unfinished work,
lbble among KS color.tubes, and talk, ad nau
am, Of pictufes. and Of nothing but pictures
here 10 DO man living proof against the weakness
delighting tosovsrswe his wife with the esoteric
ysteries Of Hs profession. Whether he bea
wyer, or an hrtist or an author, he loves to
ush her with results. Of the methods of which
Q knows nothing Every husband IL more or
IS o mystery imam to his wife. He delights to
tonish her bylhis prowess; but how is that pos b
Die If she know the process by which he has Il
rived at his professional skill? Il Is true that
some professions-notsbly in the musical and c
eatrical professions intermarrisges are CON-
on but there the object of marriage may be said
be as much professional as domestic. When
Q leading tenor marries the chief contralto nj
operate company, the chances are that the
itch has not been suggested SO much by the
ssible spiritual communion OF two souls hunger
/ after melody, % by the possible advantages
be resped in|the matter Of engsgements. Men
not like women TO know too much of their bust
30 or profesaion-that Is to say, they do not
sire that their wives should become acquainted
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