The Irish standard., 1888-02-18


tage.
Another bridegroom was so repulsive
in aspect that one reyolted at the con-
trast With his fair, majestic bride. He
wore wig. and his senile grin would
have been less disagrseahle had he ena-
ployed dental skill also: he was squat
III figure, his scanty beard was Il griZ.
zled red, his face notified and freckled
into the complexion Of a gooseberry
roley policy, and he WAS thirty years his
Wife's senior.
'We feel very happy about o'ir darl-
ing said the tender mother, with
glstening eyes She has chosen more
iEdiccusly than do most girls Of her
age"
The father as we'll pleased, expressed
his satisfaction in different sort.
Not much to look at he admitted
10 & crony, ''but he has at least ten
thousand dollars for every frcckle,'
We all say: and we allmean one thing
b. such comments, and THAT is tt, swell
the applause due him or her-,vto does
good unto fim--or herself The salts
faction OF parents has basis Of slatnra!
and pEaiseworthy regard for their chiId's
well beng. 1t they are poor ana she
has had hard bringing up, they covet
ease and a smoother pathway fcs her.
In the maternal heart there is fierce
claim on these as her daughters right
in life, he!, Lawful share OF the sunshine
and ease and prosperity which are Chief
among the worlds good things. IF she
had been brought up in ai1i!ence, there
arises all outcry from home and society
against the cruelty OF altering her cil-
cunlstances, the seIishness of hina who
would drag her down to the level of the
working classes. The inconsiderate
swain, who, for loves sake, has pro-
posed the wrong, finds himself in the
position of Traddles. when. after Ia
cob's seven years of waiting, he offered
the humble home wrung from Fate's
tight fist to the dearest girl in ihs
world.'7
II give YOU my word, Copper1eld, I
felt a perfect bird of prey toward tfe
family!"
The parental instinct of providing for
the child ovarpssses the ignorant trans
ports OF the marriage day, and cakes
alarm at the menace OF privation~
''contrivance," pincning economies, and
unpleasant surprises in the shape Of
debts and duns: which are natural at
tendants upon the early welded life Of
two people whose fortune-if they ever
have one--is to be made agld saved by
themselves.
The folly Of marrying upon nothing
is SO easily denonstratable that the girl
Of the period, albeit % trifle romantic ia
some respects. does not need to have it
explained to her. Not evan Traddlcs
Of our generation dreams OF bringing
Sophy home as his wife on thousand
dollars q year, 10 capital except love aild
stout heart, and no stocks except chose
taken rashly in Faith and Hope, Con-
sequenJly, the number Of marriages ia
the solid middle classes decreases yearly;
people marry later in life; there are
more childIess coupes and fewer house
keepers. Our girls know this, and QUE
young men appreciate it to the full
The former look for husbands who can
support them we'll; the latter take their
choice between cynical bachelorhood
and a hunt for rich wives. Both sexes
''look to it chat they gae where sIler is.'
One of the patented-all rights secured
sayings of unworldly minded moralizers
is that the man whose riches have
bought his wife. and the woman whose
husband has sought her for her money,
are much to be pitied in their splendid
These unsophisticated essay
lists, laving to the warped outlines the
rule and plummet Of sensitive rec5itude
assume that suspicion Of the truth must
lurk in the bottom of Sevres coffee cups,
sit, bodkinwise, between The welded
pair on satin sofas and carriage cnsi,-
ions. They are represented as gazing
through gilded bars aJ the frank. inno-
cent joys Of those who are chosen and
beloved for themselves alone, as Adam
and Eve rni bit have sought unguarded g
crevices in Eden's wall, and made Of
5hem wailing places over what they had
forever forfeited. If the innermost
aeart lining of CrBsus and Baroness
Coutts were turned out to mi
examination, we might fnd
definite traces of the corroding suspicion
aforesaid. The average millionaire
1oes not dissociate in his most secret
thoughts his riches from his individual
Purse-pride runs through
,very vein, is assimilated by every or #
yan. Inconyenient as it were the con
sequences Of Midas touch to his daily
)read, he doubtless retained in his
prayer to be saved from starvation a &
Itrain Of pride iii his unique accom- I, 8
,lishment. Our Wall street Midas is ss
4ot cbagrined that the beautiful school e
CONTINUED on 9Th Page. sss35