The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1882-11-08
: Uciy Saints" vs.. Pretty SIN
ngrS'


"HafrpI at first sight i no llnpDNel
bility. | know that from persona! eN-
perience.' saws Charles Limb, 'and |
can believe the story OF two persons
meeting. who never saw one another
before. and instantly lighting" Mar
shat Nendome was 20 ugly that he
avoided golng near a looking-1lass.
But once. on entering i tent that nae
been furnished by proxy, he iound a
mirror over the wash-stand and could
| not resist the temptation TO have a good
look at himself. But. as he looked, his
hand stole to his belt. and with a NUT
tered curse aud ''QueUe FgHre!' he
broke the gla>, with a pi>tol-shot- La
Maintenon had seen him only once Il
her life. and ever atterWard prosecuted
him with the rancor OF a personal enc
my. and used 10 refer to his person a
-, co,hDH e deur bofteS.'
But there j. also such a thing As love
al first sight, and H. >chopenhauers
theory OF sexual selection many OF lts
4pparent caprices have been explained
with ultra aconian ingenuity. The
ultimate object Of all love-dramas :
SAYS he. lis really more important than
all other human Governments Whatev-
er. and fully worthy Of the deep earnest
OF the actors. For what they decide Is
nothing less than the ~cOmD0Stff0H OF the
next generation. The apparently triyo-
louS whims Of Amor determine tile ply
seal and moral peculiarities of the
3rumatis DerSoH9 who Shall mount the
stage after Sc are gone. The sexual
instinct. per 50. only guarantees the
perpctuity OF the species our erotlc
| caprIces determine the qualities OF its
rcpresentatiNcs.... In regard to the hui
man species the Importance OF this per-
petual selection i enhanced by the per-
pctual necessity OF C~ounteraCtlng the IN
influence Of degencratiye agencies. Ma
ture continually strives 10 correct all
d~eviation> from the standard of her nor
nal types. and thus assists the survival
Of the tittest by preventing the birth OF
the most unfit. The metaphysical RAJ
ttonaIe Of passionate love is, therefore,
the instructive perception of an oppor-
tunity to counteract individual abnor-
mites. to neutralize them i'll a being oil
the next generation. Unless clrcum-
stances limit the scope of selection, ey-
cry one chooses his or her physiological,
complement. 4 small man prefers a
large woman and rice ccgsU; the man
lest man the most feminine female,
while weaklings are apt to adn.ire a
Strong-minded woman. Pale blondes
dote on a dark complexion, blonde and
whitish hair being, properly speaking.
an aDuormity, analogous to the albinism
of certain rodents, or 1t least to the re-
cOgnized staminal interiority of a white
horse.....A child inherits its character
from the father. its intellect from the
mother. FirmneSS OF Will and ouraye.
rs well as the innate kindness and up
rlghtncSS OF Il man, are therefore more
potent elements OF popularity with the
other sex than intellectual tTilllancy.
Mental obtuSencss does not impair the
chances Of an OF trwiSc eligible sutton
Oh the contrary. genius Gas III abn0r-
mItE) may exercise an ~untayorable Ell
Iect. Hence the apparent paradox of a
gross and stupid fellow superseding a
refined and sensible man in the affection
even of sentimental ladies and the fire.
quency of glaringly heterogeneous
matches: he, practical, egotlst!cal, and
prosaic !; she, all moonshine and poetry:
he, metaphysical and learned she, a
30 pse.... Men, on the other hand, are
guided less by the character qualities OF
a Girl than by her intellectual attain
ments, though secondary to the impor-
lance of physical qualifications. In ac-
cordance with the perception of this
bias. mothers try to enhance the attrac-
tons OF their daughters by educational
devices, music. painting, foreign lam
guigeS, etc. Even a native sprightli-
ness of the female mind Is apt to out
weigh the rarer merits Of the heart.
whence so many S~OcrateseS have found
Their Aantlppes-e. e., Shakespeare,
Albrecht Durer, Goethe. Byron. and
others. Female beauty, though. will
eclipse both goodness and wit. while, in
the rivalry OF the males, strength in all
its forms is IN the whole the main con-
dltion Of success in the eyes Of the
normal woman even the extreme OF
turpitude (moral II physicaD being more
pardonable than Weakness
When Bishop Lee sat down on his
coffin and heard the sheritf's command
of Ready followed by the click ofsix
Springfield rifles, the attendant photo
grapher requested him to assume a
pleasing expression of countenance."
There have been individuals who pos
sessed The requisite control over their
facial ..!uscles, though they might have
lacked h inclination to crafty the en-
terprlslng artist. ~ prince Of the
church should know how to die with
dignity said Cardinal Frascati when
he had been treated to a dose OF poison
and felt his senses give way. In spite
OF all entreaties he persisted in dying
seated uprlght, with his hands folded
ana his face turned upward in an atti-
Il OF meditation. Savonarola kept
up a controversy 1T the very stake, and,
Wtile the flames scOrched his knees. his
eyes tWinkled, as he watched the effect
OF a caustlc repartee.
When the French garrison of Detroit
made a sally agai, st the besieging In
dams. Boeut-courant. al nTbWay chief
tain, had both his legs torn away BY IA
cannon-ball. Carried into the fort, he
refused medical attendance. and his
young son, who had never left his side,
at his bidding raked a pile of cold ashes
from the guard-room chimney, and on
this pile deposited his crippled father,
with the stumps downward. Thus en-
abled to sit upright, he calmly smoked
his pipe. till the commander OF the fort
suggested his removal to a p~risOn-cell.
They gave linn a quarter Of an hour to
finish his smoke, and he sat motionless
as a statue but. when one Of the sol
dierS went to remind him that his time
was up. they found that the fifteen
minutes and the old chief had expired
together. James Nisbet. in his An
mails of California" relates that in the
fall OF 1871. when L~.ynch-justice was the