The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1880-08-12
MARRYING TITLES.

MARRYING TITLES.
1t is not the intention of the writer to
be understood as saying that moral de-
hciencies are the traits of noblemen as
q class, for theEe are probably as many
good men among them in proportion to
their number as in any other class, but
these the young American woman
seldom meets, for they are not the kind
to haunt legations and the houses Of
Americans in quest of marriage settle
ments, making Of it the business OF
their lives.
Thus it is that the young stranger
from the other side of the Atlantic is
apt to meet only the worst of the titled
people. 1t is a rule in France that
those who are easiest of access in social
life are the least desirable as friends or
acquaintances. Among these, the titled
who are bankrupt in character and
money press forward, at the possible
chance of filing their purse by mar
riage with some stranger who knows
nothing of them and their past. s.s
All this before the wedding; for the
American father aud mother and sisters
OF the bride expect, after that event,
that the doors of the noble groom's s
family will be thrown open to them,
and that they will enjoy intimacies
before denied. This hope is dwelt and
built upon BY the expectant republicans
with an alacrity and joyousness sad to
contemplate Their future entry into
the noble world is made known to
friends on both sides of the Atlantic.
Copies OF the coat-of-arms of the hus-
band that is to be are contained in most
OF their letters. A slight damper may
be thrown over this expectant glad
someness in the rigid persistency of the
noble groom in drawing up each clause
OF the marriage contract, and in his in
sisting that the exact sum shall be paid
down previous to the ceremony. They,
however, soon recover from this pass
ing chill, in view of the great results
which are to follow the marriage.
This ante-marriage draft on the for
tune OF the American family is not so
much minded by the women as by the
father. who probably himself has made
every cent he possesses, and knows, in
consequence, the value of money.
Generally, it then occurs to him, if it
has not before, that he is paving heavy
sum for an unknown, unsubstantial
thing which cannot be estimated in dol
lars and cents. And yet he is obliged
to recognize that it has a market value
among his own fellow-countrymen. The
women-members of the household are
in such a state of beatific hope, usually,
that they would as soon think of hao.
Cling with st. Peter about the price Of
admission within the celestial gates as
to challenge that demanded by the no.
BILE groom for opening unto them the
portals of the new world to which it i;
his privilege to belong.
After the marriage consummation.
the American family are prepared to be.
come the friends of the noble husband s
family. Calls are exchanged, and DO.
likeness is shown to the transatlantic
people-a politeness that is unexcep.
tionable. The Americans wait for that
expansion which usually precedes init.
macy, and, as they wait, discover that
the newly-made Countess is being grad
ually withdrawn from them, that She is
surrounded, and that barriers are being
erected between her and them. In a
word, the parents learn that they have
served as a ladder to what they consid-
cred higher social life. The relatives
of the new husband have virtually said
to him: Your wife is now one of us,
and we receive her, but we have moi
married her relatives. and we draw the
line there"
The young American woman, with
the natural affection which belongs to
her sex, may protest against this virtual
separation from her parents, but is
trained and amused in such a way that
she, as rule, gradually becomes &c.
customed to it.
The separation does not take place al
once, but the visits between mother and
daughter become fewer, and then al
longer intervals. until finally the mother
ceases to enter into the daily life of the
daughter. And yet neither the father
nor mother can find an act or word in
their brief intercourse with their daugh-
ter's new relatives which they can term
positively unfriendly or impolite.
Everything, in appearance, is smooth
and conventional, and an objection is
difficult to find.
The American father chafes under
this. He would rather receive some act
of provocation, give them a piece of his
mind and be done with it; but the prov
ocation never comes, and at last he
finds it inconsistent with his dignity to
hold any intercourse with people who
keep him at such distance, and he will
have nothing more to do with them.
The mother may still yearn for her
daughter, but the aroused father will
permit her to make no further visits to
the daughters house; then, only once
in long while, the Countess comes to
them. Thus is brought about what the
husband and his family have desired.
The following case, which will throw
light On another side of this subject,
came within the personal knowledge
of the writer. The Count, good
looking fellow with a fair family name
and no money, sought to remedy this
deficiency by wooing young American
woman, and in a short time he won her
affections he had ascertained
that her father was rich. The titular
ornament on sleeve-buttons, handker-
chiefs and note-paper, Joined to an
agreeable person, did their work speed
lily and effectively. l.
The Count whispered in her ear, be-
tween loves murmurings, that he
would be moderate in his demands on
the paternal purse-enough in hand to
repair the house of his ancestors, and
ten thousand dollars year. The infat-
uated young woman was not affrighted
ut the language of tenderness thus
sandwiched with financial demands.
But when he proposed to put on his
black coat and white cravat, in accord
ance with the custom of his country, to