Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1876-12-30

"HN OOhlplOJO Ou yOuI part, lb Is
more SO on the other and you
have not to fear 50 many contin-
gencies; it is not every wind that
can blow you from anchorage and
so long as death withholds lis
sickle, you will always have a friend
at home, People who share cell
in the Bastile, or are thrown to-
gether on an uninhabited isle, if
they do not Immediately fall to
fistlculs, will find some possible
ground Of compromise. They will
learn each others ways and humors,
so as to know where they must go
warily, and where they may lean
Their whole weight. The discretion
of the first year becomes the settled
habit Of the last; and SO, with wis
dom and patience, two lives may
grow indissolubly into one.
But marriage, if comfortable, is
not all heroic. 1t certainly mar
rows and damps the spirits of gem
erous men. In marriage, man be-
comes slack and selfish, and under
goes a fatty degeneration cf his
moral being. 1t is not only when
Lydgate misallies himself with
Rosamond Vincy, but when Ladis-
law marries above him With Doro-
thea, that this may be exemplified.
The air of the tireside withers out
all the fine wildings of the hus-
bands heart. He is 50 comfortable
and happy that he begins to pre-
fer comfort and happiness to every.
thing on earth, his wife included.
Yesterday, he would have shared
his last shilling; to-day "his first
duty is to his family" aud is full
filled in large measure by LAYING
down yintages and outstanding the
health Of an invaluable parent.
Twenty years ago this man was
equally capable Of crime or heroism:
now he is fit for neither. His soul
is asleep, and you may speak with
out constraint; you Will not wake
him. 1t was not for nothing that
Don Quixote was a bachelor, and
Marcus Aurelius married i'll. For
women there is less of this danger.
Marriage is Of so much use to a
woman, opens out to her so much
more Of life, and puts her in the
way Of so much more freedom and
usefulness, that, whether she marry
i'll or well, she can hardly miss
some benefit. 1t is true, however,
that some of the merriest and most
genuine of women are old maids,
and that those old maids, and wives
who are Unhapplly married, have
often most of the true mOtherly
touch. And this would seem to
show, even for women, some mar
rowing influence in comfortable
married life. Bat the rule is none
the less certain, if you wish the
pick Of men and women, take a
| good bachelor and good wife.
When you see a dish Of fruit at
dessert, you sometimes set your
affections upon one particular
peach or nectarine, watch it with
some anxiety as it comes round the
table, and feel quite sensible dis
appointment when it is taken by
some one else, | have used the
phrase "high passion" Well, ]
should say this was about as high
a passion as generally leads to mar
riage. One feIlow hears, after mar
riage, that some poor fellow is dying
Of his wife's love. What pityf'
he exclaims; "you know ! could
SO easily have got another" And
yet that is very happy union, Or
agalnl A young man was telling
me the story of his loves. 81 like
it we'll enough as long as her sisters
are here" said the amorous swain,
"but don't know what to do when
we're alone!" Once more, a mar
ried lady was debating the subject
with another lady. f" You know,
DEAR" said the 4rst, cater ten
years of marriage, if heis nothing
else, your husband is always an old !
friend.P 81 havemany old friends"
returned the other, "but / prefer
them to be nothing more" e0h, !
perhaps | might prefer that also" "
There is q common note in these
three illustrations Of the modern !
dyly and, it must be owned, the
god goes among us with a limping |
gait and blear eyes. You wonder
whether it was'so always ; whether
desire was always equally dull
and spiritless, and possession
equally cold. ! cannot help |
fancying most people make, ere
they marry, some such table Of rec
concentrations as Hannah Goodwin
wrote to her brother William, anent
her friend, Miss Gay. 1t is SO
charmingly comical, and so pat to
the occasion, that ! must quote
few phrases "The young lady is
in every sense formed q make one
Of your disposition really happy.
She has y pleasing voice with
which she accompanies her musi-
cal instrument with Judgment. She
has an easy politeness in her man
ners neither lreenor reserved She /