The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-06-04
Men as WOmen's Idols.

|
flock to Plymouth church and help to
fill the court room where the great de-
fendant sits watching the trial of his
reputation, their worldly sisters on this
side of the ferry are equally devoted to
the two shapely Englishmen who form
the leading attractions at Booths aud
Wallack's theatres. Specifically con-
sidered, nothing couid be further apart
than the pulpit and the stage, the pew5
and the pit, the clergyman aud the &C
tor, or the sentiment which reigns in
the breast of a church-goin damsel
and that which futters the frequenter
OF tho playhouse as she watches her
favorlte hero disport himself behind
| the toot-Dghts. But when the phenomO-
ena are aualyze5, it is found that the
law which governs them is In both cases
the same. Women are naturally idoIa-,
| ters, and whether their idol be Mr..
Beecher, or Mr.. Montague, or lIr. Rig
mold, or some other conspicuous person,
depends upon circumstances which 90
not affect the springs of their conduct.
The whole fabric of society rests, in
fact, upon this fundamental trait of
their character, and men who ridicule
it, ridicule the very thing to which they
owe much if not all that makes life en-
jovable.
In genesal women idOlize men simply
because women are women and men are
men. The latest results of scientific
inquiry have only confirmed the ancient
belief that souls are male and female
as well as bodies, and that physical sex
is the result and not the cause of spirit
ual sex. Women love men by an in
81 1lcn nd rub 10
they cunningly inspire love in men for
themselves so that men are unaware of
it, and fancy that it is they who kindle
the flame in the first instance. Every
woman, to be sure, denies that this is
true of herself, but she readily admits
and asserts it to be true of other wo-
men. She will point out to her selected
victim, at the very moment that she is
weaving the net about him, the arts and
devices by which Miss So andsO is seek |
ing to entrap Mr.. Such-a-one, or Mrs. |
Blank is fascinating old Brown, and she |
will make him think, nevertheless, that |
he is the irresistible charmer to whom |
she is reluctantly yielding her heart. 1t
is as if a puppet should be made to |
fancy that he pulled the wires by which |
in truth he is compelled to dance. |
Cynics and satirists impute this talent |
to women as fault, but without reason. |
They might as we'll blame them for |
being comely, rounded and graceful. |
Women seek to win love, because, as |
DR.. Watts says OF the barking and bit |
ing of dogs, it is their nature to and |
men ought to be thankful that they |
have such nature, and not the nature |
of dogs.
The legitimate object of woman's |
lovingness is husband, and this is the |
reason why marriage occupies so large |
a part of her thoughts. The hackneyed |
figure of the vine and the elm is SYM |
bOlic verify. A hOmelier illustration |
is the potato, the sprouts Of which feel |
their way in the darkest cellar toward |
the light. Women need, and therefore |
seek, an object and a resting place for |
their affections, and unless exceedingly |
deprayed. they cling to it faithfully |
when they find it. If they do not find !
it, as many do not, or if having fancied |
that they have found it they discover |
that they have been mistaken, they
still continue the search. No amount |
of disappointment or ridicule, or oppO- |
sition, can Obliterate this their master |
passion; and if it cannot expend its
force on a reality, it will create an
imaginary object for the purpose.
Here we find the key to women's |
alteration of men like Beecher and |
Montague and Rignold. They do not |
worship their idols for what they are |
in themselves, but for what they repre-
sent. The clergyman stands in the |
pulpit precisely as the actor does on
the stage, personating an ideal charac-
ter and surrounded by accessories which
heighten the effect of his performance.
1t is not surprising that the unsatisfied
yearnings of the women of his flock
should fix upon him as the support and
stay which they have sought iu vain
any more than that the hand
some actor, decorated not only with
the trappings of the outer man, but
shining with the wit aud accomplish
ments which the playwright lends
him for the moment, should seem
the long waited for hero of the
woman of the world. Both profit
in a large degree by a fact which
every man profits by more or less, and
is jealous of their success
should take lesson from their example.
Lovers and husbands need only to be
what clergymen and actors seem, in
order to win the same admiration, and
enjoy the same devoted attachment. -
N Y SUn.