The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1873-09-06

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Secession and RecOhsITuctiOn.
lFr0m soslAl Studies In tho n. Y, World
In the year 1865, thrifty and much
respected citizen Of Madison Wis, who
had deliberately avoided marriage until
his income should justify taste ~ well a.
utility 10 tue selection Of vile, decided
that his worldly situation was at last com.
patablc with the aesthetic reilnementB OF
matrimony, and began survey OF choice
local society for a lady suited thereto.
Nearly forty years old, and apparently
even more mature by the gravity OF his
manners, his desire was for bride once
young and experienced, at once poor and
accustomed TO luxury. He wished her to
possess youths charms without It's light
mIndcducss, and have the accomplish
ments Of one born 70 wealth, while, at
the same time, wholly dependent upon
him Tor future advantages Of fortune.
Contrary 10 what might be hastily
inferred from such nicely eXscting bill
Of requirements, he had little difficulty in
finding the person oil his choice. Its worth
nothing that the excessively practical
man, who goes to this extreme In calculA
lion about matrimony, Is usually mated
with about as much celebrity as the Who'll
" uucalculaling bOyish lover, who sur
renders incOntinently to the first pretty
lace; the reason being that both are alike
50 devoted to an abstract id0ali2tiion that
my purely external approximation there
TO Is likely TO DO mistaken for It's utter
most practical realization. The extremes
meet In a common iatuons belief that the
ideal in the case, sentimental or practical,
Is so different from what an ordinary man
would conceive that no ordinary woman
can possibly bear any essential likeness to
il; and, consequently, that il can lead To
no seriously insufficient affinity. Our
practical wife seeker OF Madison had
been in the market but a few weeks when
he became acquainted with young
southern widow on visit from Georgia,
where, dursug the war &C the rebellion,
she had lost her husband, patrlmOny,
and all but the mcTCst thalCh al home. In
her twenty fourth year, sO6crcd by the re-
cent yiCissitudcs OF her lot, reared In wealth
and brought suddenly to pitiablc poverty,
this lady seemed the very person Tor the
critical man Of business, and he lost no
time in improving the acquaintance and
prosecuting his suit. Whether she, on
her own side, was as practical in the mat
ter need not be discussed a stately
Cuuttship ended In u formal proposal, and
that In marriage. Thus the husband had
,riumphantly secured the hClp,malG ap,
partnIly exactly suiling his Ideas of what
! &. 4. an spl N.N NNrTfN ~ 1ltFRn
years the union seemed 10 justify the de
libcralC niCctics Of its establishment.
There was, however, something more in
the individuality OF the wife than had
been taken into account by the theory OF
social fitness, and by the time their child
was old enough TO be no novelty there
arose between the parents an inCompati-
bility Of which neither could designate
the exact beginning Some slight differ
snce decpcned and spread until it had run
Ton Iar for adjustment without material
mutual concession, and finally took
the form Of taCit hOstilities. Like
Mr.. Dombey in the novel, the husband
thought the injury his, and, like that
wonderfully true type OF this class, again
WAS irritalcd into the idea OF COcrCinG his
iusuhoriinate lady. To punish madame
into submission, II not pcniiCncc, was his
Man. and this he sought to do by severely
contracting her supply Of money. Alas
for the wisdom Of the wise how ollen II
reaches the same end as the FOLLY OF the
foolish Not the less an impetuousIy
prouI woman bee Iusc she had as good rs
sold herself in marriage, the vile tiercely
resented tue very practical means adopted
Ia teach her anew that she was depend
Ont and resolved to teach her lord u les
son in his turn. One evening in lSG9 he
returned from business 10 find his home
occupicd by the servants only, and bricl
note informing him that wife md chilu
had LETT him forever. In his utmost wra'h
at the event he could not accuse the ma.
terual lugilivCs Of that which should
assure IL him the sympathy OF
mankind; and where such synpa-
thy cannot at all be counted upon
by mind not thoroughly disincennous, u
sense OF injury very soon sottens into a
bCntiiccni reprOaCh Of conscience. y lew
days Of bordering over his troubles
brought the deserted husband to the con.
vicuon that tender heart as well as hard
head should have some office in domestic
government; and this wholesome retlgc
lion resulted in the discovery that his
heart was taking the supremacy at last,
ana mat he must regain his wife Al any
cost Months Of inquiry amongst her
Southern Kindred elapsed before he had
Nsccrtained that she and the child had
taken refuge with old family friends in a
remote part OF Texas, and then his conciI.
iatory letters TO her did not evoke gracious
replies, Having tried secession and iounJ
certain luxury of independence
In il, the fair rebel responded
| TO all overtures with disdain, and
would not be placated. Angered again
d the husband wrote, more slernly, that /
she persisted longer in such a disposition
he should visit Texas himself, Il only t.
! reclaim his child. Indignantly Showing
' this threat, as she chose TO deem It, to he
harborlng friends, Tor their alliance in he
!. continued defiance, she was dismayed AM
{ still more irritaied By their suggestion
that il would indeed be the wiscst for he
!. TO return 10 u husband who evinced
o spirit TO make amends by future indul
! 20 V,aef