The Louisiana cotton-boll. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], Attakapas, La.) 1872-1883, 1873-05-07

sUehu'I1S Dg HIu11 dIu "CA6 W P1OPOSs
to give him q lecture Oh the constituent
elements OF his passion, we fear, though
we mean no disrespect to Mr.. Spencer
that he would consider the philosopher
to be bore. But perhaps a few years
afterward, or possibly on the next day
if his suit should have come to an IN
timely catastrophe, he might be incIin,
ed to take his passion to pieces, and he
would recognize the justice of most OF
the remarks which we have summarized.
In that case he would perhaps find the
explanation of some phenomena which
are a little puzzling to by-standers,
though the lover himself has not the
leisure to attend to them.
Thus, for example, everybody is puz-
zled by the extraordinary caprices of
love-making The ladies who say in
novels that they cannot understand
"what he could see in her" are general
| ly held up to ridicule as obviously
blinded by jealously; and yet their
want Of perception is not only sincere,
but is shard by perfectly impartial
| spectators. When we see the way in
which marriages are brought about in
the world, We wonder that the pursuit
of matchmaking should be found so in
| teresting by amiable persons. Of course,
matchmaking as variety Of fortune
hunting is only teo intelligible but
there is matchmaking Of much less
sordid variety. All amiable women take
the keenest delight in attempting to
pair off their friends and relations ac-
cording to their own views of the fitness
Of things and yet they always meeting
with the strangest and, at first sight,
themostunaccountable disappOintments.
The man of intellect has an extraordin-
ary taste for stupid women the hand
some man of fashion is carried off by a
poor, ugly, and commonplace women,
ten years older than himself the POM
pous prig secures the brightest and live
liest of her sex ; fortune-hunters attract
poetesses, and poets marry wives who
can do nothing but mend their shirts
Such strange contrasts have led to the
development of the plausible theory
that people are attracted rather by
qualities complementary than by quail
| ties similar to their own This doctrine,
however, fails by being too comprehen-
sive. We must admit that like often
attracts like and if we add that like
also attracts unlike, we have theory
which explains nothing, because it ex-
plains every thing. Every match that
ever was or ever will be made may be
brought under one category or the other ;
but, until we can give some reason for
| telling beforehand which set of causes
is likely to be operative in given case,
| we are no nearer an explanation than we
were before. The only general rule at
| which we have been enabled to arrive
by experience is the rather discourag-
ing one that people whom we like al
ways marry people whom we dislike.
Friends seem to have perverse deli9 ht
in forming new combinations which may
be discordant as possible with their
ancient ties. We do not, however, see
our way to erecting any philosophical
theory upon this experience, unless as it
goes to illustrate Artemus Wards dee
trine of the cussedness" of things in
general.
Mr.. Herbert Spencer's analysis may
perhaps help US to understand some OF
the conditions of the problem, though
the philosopher has yet to arise who
will be able to tell us, from the inspee-
tion of a young lady or gentleman, what
will be the character of his or her future
partner. In the first place, it is to be
remarked that some of the elements
4 which he describes do not enter into the
passion in many cases, or at least (C
not enter into its earlier stages. Self,
esteem, for example, is the reward Of
successful love-making, and strengthens
the passion when it has once been form
ed; but it cannot be the primary cause
Mere contiguity is very often sufficient
explanation of the phenomenon. Amar
=, and woman, brought together in Robin
son Crusoe's island, would almost in
J evitably fall in love, however unpromis
ing their characters might be; and
, though London is very unlike desert
island, there are frequently situations
| even in the most crowded societies
where conditions substantially similH
are reproduced There are circuln
stances under which it would be almos
| breach of good manners not to indulg
in q little Irritation. A human beinl
has such variety of strong feelings il
| a state of solution that any object vii
be sufficient to determine their crystal
lization. This is, indeed, the primar.
> axiom on the subject. We have all
vast amount of disposable emotion; "
I all long to admire and to be admired
3 we are grateful for compliments; W
4 wish to have something to call our own
D we want oar sentiments to be eonfrme
: by sympathy and therefore, when ono
. any accident has, SO to speak, drawn th
4 sluices, q whole torrent of emotio
!, rushes into the channel provided for i
= and we attribute to the one external an
e assignable cause what really result
/ from our own states of feeling. becaus
l D particular match has exploded th
{ magazine, we absurdly argue that L
other match would have done equal
b well. We set up the first idol tEi
d comes to hand, and suppose that i
+ perfections are. the sole cause of OF
!, worship, when, in fact, the desire