The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-01-03
The "EicasaatRess" OF Men and Women.
From the London Spectator


The "Picasantness'' OF Men and Women.
From the London Spectator.
The pleasOntness which is easily Jared
by the unresponsiveness Of the outside
world rs often richer and ripper in its kind
than the pleasantness which is not Jared
by anything Of the sort, but which sustsins
its brightness till it dissipates the alien
elements. There is, probably, finer and
more delicate organization about the first
srecies OF pleasantness than there il about
the second. The mind, which shrinks sen
sitively from neutrality-suspicious. responds
equally sensitiVety 10 every sign Of sympa-
thy, while the mind whose peasantness
outshines all storms will not so often sur.
prise us with the curious beauty OF its var
iAble tinls. Genius is always vast ad.
dition to pleasantneSs. And it is rarely
indeed that genius is found without SEN
sitfvuncss that renders the pleasure it gives
US liable to sudden wreck.
And that is, perhaps, one reason why
plelsantness in its surest and less fragile
form is much Oommoner among women
than among men, for sunshiny women are
not unfrequently rs sunshiny, we were 20.
ing to say under the rack, which would be
q great deal too strong an expression, rs we
have notmuCh experience OF their behavior
under such an application as that, but Ger
tainly under toothache, and even under
suffering which arises from something
which jars their feelings, as they are when
tip external world is in harmony with
their own inner world. Pleasant men
rarely attain to such plCasantness as this,
and Il they do, their pleasantneSs Is apt to
be Of that ungraded kind to which we
hayc referred MS little less pleasant,
though. more Uniform, than the pleas
i.nntnCss which depends more wholly on
sympathetic companions. There are plenty
OF pleasant women whose pleasantness Is
as steady rs TINT OF soft lamp light when all
around is dark. And no doubt it springs
from u positive pleasure in shedding light
on that which Ia In want Of light, while the
| pIeasantncss OF men usually likes 10 sec
itself reflected, rs the sunlight is reflected,
from every part Of the surrounding atmos-
phere. This j. another way Of saying that
ono OF the steadiest Of tho constituents Of
pleasantnessispure selt,iorgetfulness, which
ia ceriSsnlv rarer in men than It is is NO
mon, On'the other hand, that buoyancy,
that spontaneous and Individuality which
kindles others most eiIectually, is certainly
more masculine than feminine. For tha;
YOU need an insight into others natures
not merely as fact enters, into them
so us to avoid instinCtively wha
lis false note, but rs positive
power discerning what there is special anC
original in them, enables you to enter int
them; and that, as yet at least, Is even
rarer with women than with men. Wesa,
even rarer, because it is so excessively rar
even in men. Pleasant men who can shoy
themselves off to great advantage are no
very few, and while tho process Of showin
| themselves off is quite fresh and new i
! you-aRd they often do II with the sim
plicity and naiyetie Of child-they arc dc
. Iiightful. But when that enjoyment pail
upon you, you And sometimes that yo
, have come 70 an end Of their pIeasantnes,