The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1869-04-16

| what attitude 1t pieaSes afterward. So far
as the relations between society and himself
been tho wooer.s He is not unwilling tore
main within his present socinl circle; but,
if.oiroiIiIiis stances snonid induce him to leave
! it, he will go with equanimity, confident
that he carries with him the power Of being
company to himself wherever che may wan
der. This is generally the first challenge
that he throws down. If it is accepted, he
then says: "Good, prefer my .sife tony.
acquantances. Let them depart in peaca.
I shall not suffer- But it is very rarely,
indeed, that society takes the trouble to say
anything about mans choice of pros
pective wife; and the chances are that our
intellectual hero while fully determined to
please himself. has an inward conviction,
thatthe and his wife together will make it MI
right with society. ii she cannot meet his
friends on equal terms; if she cannot talk
about modern literature, or speak italian to
this or that celebrated refugee or give n
pronounced opinion upon the equality of
| the sexes, or venture to say word about
the pictures in the dining ng-room-cannot he
come to her rescue and rout her foes? Be
sides, he does not marry her that she should
do Intellectually what he can do we'll In
artistic and literary conversation he can do
enough for both; and society will, there
fore, have no right to say that Mr. and Mrs
ances.
Before turning to look at the manner in
which society comports itself toward clever
mems wives, one other reason may be ad-
vanced why clever men, as q rule, marry
stupid women. Two of a trade never agree,
says the proverb. The young painter who
dreams of securing to himself for mate
beautiful creature filed with the same ideal
isms as himself, with q divine passion for
md of
groups of form, would soon be driven out of
his senses if he were to be constantly beside
q woman who would criticise his unfinished
work, dabble among his color tubes, and
talk, al naoSeum, of pictures, and of nothing
but pictures. There is no man living proof
against the weakness of delighting to over
awe his wife with the esoteric mysteries of
his profession Whether he be a lawyer, or
IN artist, or an author, he loves to crush
her with results, of the methods of which
she knows nothing.
Every husband is more or less q mystery
man to his wife. He delights to astonish
her by his prowess; but how is that possible
if she know the process by which he has
arrived at his professional skill? 1t is true
that In some professions-notably in the
musical and theatrical professions-inter-
marriages are common; but there the object
of marriage may be said to be as much pro-
fessional as domestic. When the leading
tenor marries the chief contralto of nm ope,
ratio company, the chances are that the
match has not been suggested so much by
the possible spiritual communion of two
souls hungering after melody, as by the pos
slble advantages to be reaped in the matter
of engagement. Men do not like women to
know too much of their business or pro-
fession-that Is to say. they do not desire
that their wives should become acquaiated
with the technical details of their work.
So a man who .is o brillinnt talker does not
marry a:woman whose tongue goes perpetu-
ally; hesdomestic result would be hideous.
Nor does writer marry q woman who
writes, nor painter a woman who paints
And the exceptionally brilliant and pro-
nounced man. called upon to choose between
brilliantly intellectual woman, who will
contest the palm Nof ofNccnversational snperi-
ority with him in society, and quiet,
modest. Inassuming not I'd say dull woman,
will almost invariably choose the latter
And outsof wiffuhiess, sometimes, he goes
and n1aPfies a vulgar woman, who has
scarcely the prudence to be quiet.
Now, the clever man has very likely, as he
inwardly calculates, enough brains for two;
but unfortunately society rcf;iSes ito be at
the tronblssof, @pportioning his intellectual
graces. The man is held In tie aarie esti-
nation he possessed before marriage; the
woman is written down bore. He cannot
float her Even for his sake his friends
cannot tolerate the presence of dummy in
their drawing-rooms who make every one
uncomfortable by appearing i'll at ease; or
his friends wives will not consent to walk
about with a faunting creature dressed in
pink. orange and blue. BY insidious de-
grees they try to invite him without his
wife If he is a man of penetration and
selfrcspect, he detects the covert wish, and
fatty refuses. Indeed, the probability is
that he becomes terribly dsgusted, aud in
Il passion rctires altogether from the social
ci irnlnG IL, ,ullioll ln iaual a..