Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1877-11-30


thus:
"rvo concluded, old fellow, that II
you don't marry you'll dry up and turn
to parchment I'm going TO bring
home with me the smartest girl know.
She reads Carlyle, and quotes Goethe,
and understands Emerson. OF course
she don't know what am up to, but
you must prepare TO capitulate."
John did not like Amanda's assum-
ing to pick wife for him, but he did
like the prospect of meeting n smart
girl, and he opened the letter again TO
make sure that he had not misunder-
stood. He read again" understands
Emerson John was pleased. Whyp
! think can divine. John was vain of
his own abilities and wanted a woman
that could appreciate him. He would
have told you that he wanted congenial
society But congenal female society
to an ambitious man whose heart is yet
untouched is only society that, in some
sense, understands his own greatness
and admires his wisdom.
In the old home they were looking
for the son. The family proper CON
sisted of the father, good Deacon Har-
low, Johns two brothers, ten and
twelve years old, and Huldah, the
"help.n This last was the daughter of
a neighboring farmer, who was poor
and hopelessly rheumatic, and most of
the daughters hard earnings went to
exc out the scanty subsistence at home.
Aunt Judith, the sister of Johns
mother, looked after" the household
affairs of her brother-ih-law by coming
over once week and helping Huldah
darn, and mend, and make, and by Civ
| ing Huldah such advice as her mex
pericnce was supposed to require. But
now Deacon Harlow's daughter had
left her husband to eat his turkey alone
in Boston, and had brought her two
! children home to receive the patcrnal
! blessing. Not that Mrs. Amanda
| Holmes had the paternal blessing
chiefly in view in her trip. She had
brought with her a very dear friend,
Miss Janet DuntOn, the accomplished
teacher in the Mt. Parnassus Female
| Seminary. Why Miss Janet Dunton
came to the country with her friend she
could hardly have told. Not word
! had Mrs. Holmes spoken to her on the
subject of the matrimonial scheme. She
would have resented any allusion to
such u project. She would have re-
PEELED any insinuation that she had ever
dreamed that marriage was desirable
under any conceivable circumstances.
1t is way we have of teaching girls to
| lie. We educate them to catch hus-
bands. Every superadded accomplish
mcnt is put on with the distinct under
standing that its sole use is to make the
goods more marketable. We get up
| parties, we go to watering-places, we
buy dresses, we refurnish houses, to
help our girls to u good match. And
| then we teach them to abhor the awful
wickedness of ever confessing the great
desire that nature and education have
combined to make the chief longing of
| their hearts. We train them to lie to
us, our trainers; we train them to lie to
| themselves; to be false with everybody
on this subject; to say "no' when they
mean eyes; to deny an engagement
when they are dying to boast of it. 1t
is one of the reiinements of civilization
which we pray the WOman's Missionary
| Society not to communicate to poor,
! ignorant heathens who know no better
than to tell the truth about these things
But before | digressed into that line
of remark | was saying that Miss Janet
| DuntOn would have resented the most
remote suggestion of marriage. She
often declared sentimentally, that she
was welded to her books, and loved her
leisure, and was determined to be an
old maid. And all the time this sincere
Christian girl was dying to confer her.
self upon some worthy man of congenial
tastes; which meant in her case Just
what it did in ohm Harlow s-some one
who could admire her attainments But
sensitive as she was to any imputation
of a desire to marry, she and Mrs.
Holmes understood one another dis
tinctly. There is free-masonry of
women, and these two had made signs
They had talked about in this wise:
Mrs. Holmes-My dear Janet, you'll
find my brother a bear in manners, |
fear; | wish he would marry. | hope
you won't break your heart, for know
you wouldn't have him.
Miss Dunton-You know my views on
that subject, my dear. | love books
andssha marry nobody. Besides, your
brothers great legal and literary at
tainments would frighten such Il poor
little mouse as | am.
And in saying those words they had
managed to say that John Harlow was
an unsophisticated student, and that
they would run him down between
them.
Mrs. Holmes and her friend had ar
rived twenty-four hours ahead of John,
and the daughter of the house had al
ready installed herself rs temporary
mistress by thoughtlessly upsetting, re-
versing and turning inside out all the
good Huldah's most cherished arrange
ments, till the plans for the annual fes-
tival that wise and practical Huldah had
entertained were vetoed without
thodght that this young girl had been
for "A year and half in actual authority
in the house and might have some feel
ing of wrong in having guest of II
week overturn her plans for the next
month. But Mrs. Holmes was not one
of the kind to think of that. Huldah
was hired and paid, and she never
dreamed that hired people could have
any interest in their work or their home
other than their pay or their food. But
Huldah was patient, though she con-
fessed that she had feeling that she
had been rudely trampled all over |
suspect she had good cry at the end
of the first day. / cannot affirm it, eX-
cept from Il general knowledge of
women.
When John drove up in the buggy
that the boys had taken to the depot for
him his first care was to shake hands
with the deacon, who was glad to see
him, but could not forbear expressing u
nope that he would "shave the hair off
his upper lip" Then John greeted his
sister cordially, and was presented to
Miss Dunton. Instead of sitting down
he pushed right on into the Kitchen,
where Huldah, in a calico frock and
clean white apron, was baking biscuit
for tea. She had been "a schoolmate of
his, and he took her hand cordially as
she stood there, with the bright western
sun half-glorifying her head and face
"Why, Huldah, how you've grownr'
were his first words of greeting. He