Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-04-01

french master and the German
master both combined on his leaving
school to impress upon her that his
xift was languages, and that she must
Set him into the Foreign Office, with a
view some day to diplomacy. But
g Alas no." she cried, che is so pain
fully shy that, though l fully appre-
ciate his marvellous talent, l am quite
sure he will never speak foreign lam
guages to any one but his masters, and
besides, afflicted with this terrible
diffidence, he will never get
on when he has no one to
push for him" But the boy did
get on, nevertheless, in his quiet way.
He began by the Foreign Office. The
Young men who were associated with
him dragged him by main force into
society. He became politician.
FOREIGNERS of distinction used to pick
him out at the dinner parties and
wrangle with him in French, German
and Italian, whilst, though appar-
emily sinking with confusion, he
hurled back his opinions in each
language in turn. At 25 he became
an attache; at 80 he married, and his
mother waa now more in despair than
ever. "The last woman in the world
he ought to have chosen. am sure
he never had courage to propose to
such a young woman as that. She
must have asked him herself"
Well, perhaps she went half way,
knowing who she had to deal with.
However, let that pass, and return
with me to that brilliant assembly
where we first found him, stealing in
and out of the lordly crowd. He is
now Minister at a foreign court, and
about to be appointed to a much more
important one. Several diplomats
are trying for it, but people say he Is
sure to get it; and why?
Look at that space in the middle OF
the room, where the elite of the party
are gathered around royal guest, to
whom they are all making themselves
agreeable. Look at the tall. ark
young woman, with the lively, in
telligent eyes and the quick, graceful
movements, gesticulating in whispers
to her surroundings, but prominent
amongst them all. She stands there
arrayed in her white satin and dia-
monds, dazzling, but by no means
beautiful, yet with nameless attrac-
ton about her which seemed irresls,.
tible. "She is asking favor, depend
upon it," said the ladies in her vicin-
lity; something good for that
wretched little husband of hers, l
dare say"
"And she will get it, too," was the
murmured reply.
| That was the woman he married
Fascinating, persevering, ambitious
to her hearts core, stately and gra-
cious in her manners, and a LADY
with q presence" as it is called, she
had taken her husbands destiny into
her own hands from the very first.
She had insensibly pushed him on
she had slaved for his advancement
she had gathered around her all the
best and most influential of the soci-
ETY. in which she was determined to
move, and il was whispered far and
wide that, however much Sir Court
ney was valued and respected, his
rapid advancement and his full ap-
probation in diplomatic circles were
mainly owing to the unwearied efforts
of the woman he married.
Is it not almost always so? Look al
the literary man, engrossed from
morning till night by his various occu
pations. He is an author, he is ar
editor, he is a contributor to two
learned magazines. He gets through
an amount of work which is simply
marvellous. How can one head and
one pair of hands do it? He has got
a cheerful little wife who sees a good
deal of society in an inexpensive way
for they are not rich, and who can
talk very well to the few guests they
have, chiefly men of letters and learn
ing; but what else does she do? She
corrects his proofs, she reads his man.
uscripts out aloud, she suggests
little additions, she copies the
whole of that dry article out
fair" she translates the German
bits, and puts other bits into proper
French; she reads all the new books
and gives her humble opinion upon
their merits with outspoken fearless
ness; and her husband, though he
often laughs, does not despise hel
opinions. On the contrary, he is very
often impressed by her "right judg-
ment," and it considerably influences
the review and the critique which it is
his duty to contribute to his various
papers and periodicals and magazines.
Will it be robbing him of any merit
to say that in all this heavy work he
fis powerfully, ably and continually as
sisted by the woman he married?
This is the bright side of the pic
ture; but, alas! there is a reverse
side, equally true and painfully we'll
known, where the misery and the
want, the dependency and the des-
pair, are all attributable to precisely
the same cause. Never mind the
grade of the mans life, be he cour-
tier or cottager. Hearts are broken
in every sphere, and homes in all di-
rections are made wretched by the
one bad influence. That artisan
would have got on capitally if he and
that poor workingman would not have
been dying in dread that the very
bed under him would be the next
thing to 60 if a thrifty wife had kept
his little home together and taught
his children to gather round him in
the dark day Of trouble. 1t was all
owing to the woman he married.
| London Queen.
The Man i'm the Moon.
Oh, the Man in the Noon has crick in his
| back.
Wheel
L WhimInI