Smyrna times., 1874-08-26
mise eLIU2I e OWS .
Real and Ideal Wives.

ture, or a wisely-mposed delusion in men,
| ideal wives are much more common than ideal
husbands. They are not found in every house,
nor, indeed, in every street but there are q
| few OF them in country and town, and we
all know some of them. They are not our
wives, but, unfortunately, the wives of others.
Our wives may have extended catalogues of
charms and virtues, but ideal honOrs do not
sit upon them. Men are more enthusiastic
and given to dreaming than women, and hence
the excess of female over male perfection. If
the power of idealizing were equal in both
sexes, the chances are they would hate one
another. As it is, women are not in the least
ashamed of being called angles and enchan-
| tresses. If men will go astray in this way, it
IS no business of women to set them right.
They are little given to extravagant estimates
themselves, but they are hungry for hyperbOli-
cal praise. They sit demurely and smile the
last shred of a man S reason away while he as
sures them that they combine all the charms
of Pagan goddesses aud all the virtues of
Christian saints. If men with their warm and
caprlclOus Imagination, choose to place them
on thrones while the real sovereigns are out
for stroll, they don't care. They do the
honors as though they were at least heirs-ap.
parent, and they suffer no more quams Of
conscience than if they had but just established
their claim to privilege from which they had
been long unfairly alienated.
Ideal wives are of low stature and extremely
fair. They are soft and gentle in manner and
slow OF motion. TLey have blue eyes, golden
hair. rich meZzO soprano voices, and wear
moderate dIcss-improvcrs. Their hair and its
color are their own, and they fear strong men,
but like to look at them from windows, balco-
MES, carriages, and other places of security
They are trlfe unhappy, and have not been
, married to their first love. They canrot sew
over well, but they have positively madden
ing way of leaning over the backs of chairs
; while they are asking their husbands if they
shall wear blue or pink ribbons. They have
no mothers living. They care little for going
. into society. They never desire to obtain the
good wishes of other men, save when their
: husband interest is to that effect. They are
t not painfully clever musicians, but they know
i some sweet, simple airs and sing those at even
ing by the open window. They are liable tC
= be defrauded by the servants, and are imposed
r upon by trades people. They regard theil
n husbands as supreme arbiters in all matters
: They would stay as they are or fly to New
I Zealand with him, as he desired.
. Between the ideal and the real there is
. class which NAV be called pOygotically the
I, mezzn ideal. We see them much oitener thai
e the ideal, but unfortunately not so often as thc
!. real They are tall and slender, and sOmewha
y yellow. They have mild, gray eyes, and nose
e tip tilted like a flower They have scnsi
II tive, sympathetic mouths and sincere hearts
i They arc not utterly amahe, but are easil.
# wOOed to peace. Their knowledge Of house
re hold affairs is accurate, but not Obtrusive.
a is never visible, except in exigences and unde
ie excitement. They are ready to go out when
70 is desirable, and they are ready to remain a
!" home. They do not abuse the servants in tn
OF parOr, or despise all other women. They hav
: placid affection for finery, but are not pas
OF siOnatcy extravagant. They accept present
OF from their hus' ands as when they were lovers
III They answer in all things that they are subjeC
by to their lords, but they rebel sOmetimes-ius
IL enough to make the suhjugation matter {
,n 1n interest, and the reconciliation delicious re
Of petition of old love-scencs.
-e. Real wives are much the most easily foun
he of all. They are ninetynine out of every hunC
by red married women. They are such as you
5k wife, dear sir, though you would not care to te
h, her so, for you have previously quoted her t
ali herself as one in thousand. They are shOl
by Of temper, and have morning quarrels wit
er servants about eggs, or table linen, or the ca
nI tor of the arm chair. They are dictionaries
chitchat and press into your ears while yoJ
eyes are trying to obtain consolation from
:. newspaper. They are continually predctir
of your ruin ii you don't abandon your dearc
fe- friend. They wonder aloud at their endurir
res your being ten minutes late fOrdinner. Ii yO
iia5 isb 20 out only for half an hour of an evening
Tor the club or to see some bachelor irlend-th(
sea ask you what kept you out the whole evenn
and whether you knew they wished to talk
er; you about the kitchen range. They wond
where you order your COAL and if you kno
you only get half your proper weight IF yC
,ue fall asleep at the fire, you wake to find them
I1s tears over your neglect and if you try to rea
they revie you for your rudeness and want
3 of consideration. They do not know how MON
:. a goes, and they wonder you are content to Ii
t, "a in so mean a house. II it is summer, tn
hate your countryseat, and won't go there f
oat a few months, because all their friends are
the watering places. If it is winter, you mig
be able to afford more than three parties in Il
oa. season, or if not, you should 90 to the south
os ost Europe, where you may have good socie
without much expense They get millinery
t: a three different houses, that no one bill m
da 6Is: seem excessive and they never can dscov
l. how you are not speechlessly grateful for the
life economy.
life %~----
BURNING THE CANDLE OF LIFE AT Boz
$. ENDS deadiest foe to man g longevity
on an unnatural and an unreasonable excitemel
Every man is born with certain stock of
d.a tality, which cannot be increased, but viii
.R lnR NAV he exnended ranidlv or hushanded "a