Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1874-12-03

] ana the one who turns the cheek"-the
active and the passive; and though there
may be a great deal of that counterfeit
coin in circulation, though there may be
| those who are content to demand every
thing and return little or nothing, who
| find il so pleasant to be loved that they
are aware of no need of loving, yet who
| for moment dreams that this was the
| sort of kiss exchanged by Abelard and
Heloise, by Romeo and Juliet? for since
| philosophers have decided that we
can have no conceptions outside
our experience, it cannot be de-
MED that the kiss of fiction is
as good combination of the onesided
theory as any other. Yet must it not be
a cherries office, that of always turning
the cheek, compared to the infinite
charm and confidence of the one who
kisses, hoping to inspire the statue
into warmth and life? Nevertheless, it
must be said that in some respects the
lover has the keenest enjoyment, since
there is more ecstatic pleasure in loving
than in being loved. Lady Mary Wort
ley Montagu believed single life the
safer, but the person who could wish for
greater security than the unselfshness of
love offers must be incapable of appre-
ciating the sentiment or of deserving it.
One might as we'll affirm that the life of
hermit, by means of which one avoids
collision with the tempers and wills
others, and is only subject to ones own
1nfirmities, would be more conducive to
well-being and selfish ease than another;
but the world at large has thought differ
emily, or at least has been bold enough
to take the bitter with the sweet; nor
has it failed to touch with ridicule the
old maid stroking her cat beside her
lonely hearth, and the old bachelor darn
ing his own stockings and brewing his
solitary dish of tea, with a relish which
shows how highly the dignity and com.
partnership of the married state are
esteemed. To woman there is always
an immense fascination in being
Preferred before all the world-not
that man is above the pretty fattery-
but with her active sympathies there is
always necessary hero, and her great
danger is in responding too readily to
any call upon her affections, and mistak-
ing passing interest for a permanent
regard; while "many men," as Lander
tells US, marry from mere indulgence of
thought, captivated by the playfulness
of youth" without rejecting that sport
iveness will not become the middle-aged
matron, and that some more stable
charms are needful as a reserve when
youth and coquetry fail. However,
though nothing can really make amends
for an unfortunate marriage, men have
thousand distractions that tend to allevi-
alton, while a woman sits and broods
over her desolated empire, tasting the
full bitterness of the situation, and
would deem herself recreant if she were
to try to forget that she was miserable
1t almost seems as if nature or custom
had put a premium on marriage by &C
cording the respect and consideration to
the matron that is so dear and so often
denied to the spinster, be she ever so
wise and virtuous and well-bred; the
grabbed and fussy old maid has no paral-
lei in the wife, who is usually the imper-
sonatiOn of all comfortable and respecta-
BILE virtues; she is a sort of genteel vaga-
bond, crowding other peoples tables, ell
bowling them at their own freside, and
has no compeer inside the wedding-ring.
-Harper's Bazdr.