Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-02-05

d ,Se IOFtune--I they ever H4Ne oES-LS
to be made and saved by themselves.
The fJllY Of marrying upon nothing is
so easily demonstrable that the girl OF the
period, albeit trife romantic In some re-
stects, ID oes not need TO have 1t explained 10
her. Not even Traddles of our genera
ton dreams of bringing S1phy home as
his wife on a thousand dollars year, no
capital except love and stout heart, ana
no stocks except those taken rashIy III
Faith and Hope. Consequently, the num-
Der of marriages in the solid middle classes
decreases yearly; people marry later IN
life; there are mere childless couples ana
fewer housekeepers. Our girls know this,
and our young men appreciate II TO the
full. The former look for husbands VINO
can support them we'll; the latter taKe
their choice between cynical bachelorhood
and bunt for rich wives. Both sexes
'Iook to it that they gaze where siller is,'
One of the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
sayings Of unworldly-minded moraHZsrs
Is thst 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 misery
These unsophisticated essayists, laying
to the warped outlines the rule ana
p.ummet of sensitive rectitude, assume
that suspicion of the truth must
Iurk in the bottom Of SeVres
ccff9e-cups, sit, bodkiu-Wise, between the
welded pair on satin sofas and carriage
cushions. They are represented as gaz-
ing through gilded bars at the frank,
| innocent Joys Of those who are chosen
aud beloved for Themselves alone, IS
Adam and Eve might have sought IN
guarded creVices in Eien's wall, and
made of them Wailing places over what
they had forever forfeited. If the inner
most heart lining OF CI9 yus and Baroness
Burdett- Coutts were turned out to micro
scopic examination, we might find defnite
traces of the corrodiDg suspicion sfore-
| said. The average millionaire does
not associate in his most secret
| thoughts his riches from his individual
personality. Purse-pride runs through
every vein, is assimilsted py every
organ. Iuconvenient IS were the conse-
quences of Midas touch to mis- daily
bread, he doubtless retained in his prayer
to be saved from starvation d strsin OF
pride in his unique accomplishment. Our
Wall Street Midas is not chagrined that
| the beautiful school-mistress elected to
grace his table, carriage, and mansion
should be won py his millions. He loves
her the more intelligentlY for her appre-
citation of what is himself.
Who ever saw In heiress to whom the
dread of being married for her money was
! the freStiDg pes under her fourteen feeth-
erbeds? The yellow reflection OF virgin
gold becomes her rs ornaments the bride.
Sac values her possessions as Inherent,
not ex.rinsic charms. she knows as well
IS you and that rich girl never lacks
! for suitors, and she is grsteful to be-
nignant Providence for masking her fu-
ture sure sndsbIight.
| One of the vainest women l ever knew
portioned of her handsome, oosequious
lord, month by mouth-sO muca for
cigars, Sc much for horses, so much tor
tailors' bills, so much for sundries-and
so far from being ashamed of the one
sided CO partnership, reminded him Of il
in playful threatening when others were
by in such terms as:
"Don't be ssucy, my love, or will
stop your allowance" Or, "Dearl desr
what expensive Injuries husbands are
Here's payday again!"
She had her fXttereTs snd court, for
she was pretty, hippant, lavish and rich
and In society! Her money WAS but one
element of her pswer, as essentially 0
part OF the WomRu who had attracted and
won her impecunious Adonis as were her
conversational gifts and fine eyes. The
conscious possession Of wealth imparts q
sense of mastery that intoXicates steadier
brains than hers.
Admitting al this, as the candid OBJ.
server of society's ways Of reasoning and
action must, there is an ugly substratum
of truth, realistic and stubborn, that
thrusts up granite shoulder through
sophistcal froth and sparkle. Let the
woman who has 8 prospect Of marrying
well, according to the defuition already
given, denude her betrothed of the golden
fleece draping his moral and mental be-
ing; put behind her the visions of "Aouses
and vineyards, gardens and orchards,
and pools of water" Represented by
Saratoga and Baden-Baden), silver and
gold, men singers and women singers"
q. e , the German and French opers) i,
great possessions of great and small
cattle" Thoroughbred horses and pood-
les) "alI the peculiar treasures OF Kings
ana Of the Provinces" and ask herself,
as in the honest hour of death, "Would
become this mans wife, 'for better and ior
worse, for richer and for poorer, in sick
uSSs hHu III uCdlsus bulOuSu SOOu 1SpOl
and evil report, until death us do psrt,
if he hsd none OF these things? H. in
their place, he could c fer me only heart
full Of love, pair of hands able and
ready TO do battle with fortune for my
sake, what would be tho answer of my
heart at the altsl?n
Il she answers mo-" with or against
her will, she sins in marrying him. When
sne takes the irrevocsble VOWS upon hel
she peIjures herself in the sight of s holy
God and pure sngeIs; is sold, body snd
soul, to life as degrading, as surely sub
yefsiye of modesty and morality as il
that of the beautiful slave in = Turkish
market. How the mother can sanction
by her blessing the unholy ceremony
passes the comprehension OF clear-eyed
righl-miE1ed women, whatever may be
said of mems duller perceptions. Il
makes less difference with them, we art
told, this closest union of lives possible
in this world, when the bond Is merely
oae of commercial gain and convenience
Let them settle with the m sculine con-
, science the ethical question of wooine
with phrases borrowed from Love, the
women TO whom they would never give
q second thought were they PORTIONS IS
the pretense of disinter, ssed devotion
maintained throughout the betrothsl; the
oath OF allegiance to tie women they hold
by the hand when these Sre really 0d
dressed to bonds and securities, to stocks
and real estate-lhe horrible wrong done
TO the creatures who believe in them aE