Daily Los Angeles herald., 1883-05-10
4 Di.tre-.Ins phase = g|ca'ifornia
Life.

The old world A oil allowing man
- .ow his ,.,.ts in his youth is q
good Es.d Mirable, in the play
1ands< Ddispauirablo money for his
had canses and money for his
rs not correctisian is shocked, and there
.h rorI Apsene sps ider. at the first glance. It
~. as 40 licensed immortality. A
men Of Election, however, shows that there
politicin good sense and good feeling in this
never erly programme. The flesh is des.
,,or, atsly wicked, and II Is just as well
!, rscognize that fact ab initio. The
wild oats once sown are supposed
% DO done with forever. Many his.
tories which embody tragedies as great
as those detailed in the Scarlet Letter of
Hawthorne, have grown out Of the sup
preston Of human nature. In families
whore tho gay old fathers meet their
offspring after tho Mirable style, there
may sometimes be little naughtiness,
but there is never anything liks down
right crime. We have been led to
these reflections by the frequency with
which middle-aged, and, indeed, aged
men, by the levity Of their conduct,
afford plenty Of work for the divorce
courts. Take, for instance, the
Fair eclaircissement, which is Just
now figuring in the kilograms. 1t
Is simply one of legion. The story
Is as familiar as it is pitiable. Some
alert and at that time respectable young
fellow, without dollar to his
name, marries worthy young
woman, who shares his fortunes with
loyalty and affection, and realizes the
beautiful simile Of Solomon, by proving
crown unto her husband In the case
Of many Of these freshly made million.
aires the wife has been for years, in
times of agony and struggle. veritable
help.moet TO her spouse. She has borne
him children and nursed and struggled
for them and him, and has prematurely
worn out her bloom and attractions in
an unequal fight. Just as her strength
is failing and the moment of exhaustion
has come, the husband perhaps strikes
It "rich." BY this time he is old and
ought to be virtuous and self-contained.
But the notion seizes the old reprobate
that he must at once begin to SOW his
wild oats" and at time OF life when
peccadilloes of this description have lost
all the adventitious grace lent to them
by youth and levity, and retain only
their essential grcssness. Suddenly he
is awakened to the consciousness that
the worn, loyal aud faithful wife of his
youth has not the vivacity and rouge.
born freshness of the coryphees of the
ballet. An estrangement, accompanied
by unutterable heart -burnings to the
poor wife, is soon chronicled; and legal
proceedings, embodying many elements
OF genuine tragedy, are instituted.
Most old-time Californians can recall
an incident which illustrates very forci.
bly, the fickleness of certain
order Of the male heart. A Cali.
fornian almost universally known
on this coast became enormously
wealthy through lucky speculations in
mines. He was past the middle age and
had lived for the greater part of his life
with devoted wife, who had been his
jealous friend and companion in all
kinds of fortune, most of it adverse. He
began, in his days of prosperity, to wan
der off after younger and, in some re-
spects, more attractive women. The
loyal ally Of his days of struggle and adj
versity became distasteful to him and,
with the usual brutality of his genus, he
soon invoked the machinery of the di.
yorce courts. The wife, panied, prob
ably almost heart broken, but resigned,
interposed no obstacle. Shame and grief
debarred her from resistance. The re.
creant husband obtained his divorce, the
law most equitably compelling him to
allot reasonable share of his great op-
ulence to his consort.
Time passed and the career of the hus-
band exempliiied, for the millionth
time. the scriptural aphorism that riches
take unto themselves wings. His mil.
lions were soon dissipated and he short
ly found himself as poor rs Jobs tur-
key. 1t was at this juncture that the
amiable generosity nt woman made ii.
self manifest The wrongcd wife of his
youth, instead of looking upon the al
tered fortunes of her old companion with
disdain, extended to him the hand of
amity. They were remarked, and to-
day they occupy one of the most ele-
giant homes in the most aristocratic re.
gions of California.
These melancholy spectacles, like
that of Fair, add new significance
to the wisdom OF that tolerant spirit
which allowed the young man to
SOW his wild oats in his youth. There
is little probability of man who has
learned early the hollowness and evan
escence of so-called fast life ever making
himself the pivot upon which later and
disgusting scandals revolve. He is in
no danger OF mistaking the blandish-
ments OF the syren for the serious busi
ness OF life, or OF exemplifying the ven