Telegram-herald., 1889-11-08

A good man, yet not a saint; a cheer
fuL conVivial host and companion, yet
UnQusstloG-d monarch OF his own
aDpetites; loving and faithful and
sentle, and get very tower
OF strength and defense. A char
scuer that, beginning With wonderful
promise 0f courageous Independence,
rtye ned and brOadened and sweetened
IN Us maturity, until ere age had
dimmed It's strength. Or adversity
crushed its endurance, 10 passed out
Of our sight leaving only the memory
Of Best Man
Observe, II you please. l do not say
The Best Man, FOR he might not have
seemed TO you the best, and just as
every pair Of physical eyes sees the
rainbow in a diternt place, so every
pair OF mental oyes focuses little diff
ferently upon every character submit
ted ~ IL
Your Best Man, my dear Birdie, must
BE- handsome, or you won't look at him,
or consider him; he must be glib OF
tongue and nimble Of Wit, and abound
IN pretty little speeches, and have an
air OF devotion 70 you. especially in pub
lie. He must be admired by all your
female friends, and you dearly love TO
hear OF this or that society girl all
gone 70 pieces" for his sake, while be
remains Indifferent 10 all but you. He
Is a conquest, captive glittering in
golden chains az your chariot wheels, a
living proof Of your own power OF con-
quest Why, OF course he is the best
parti OF the year. the prize for which all
the Rosebuds have entered, beside a
mixed field OF older and famous COM
petitOrs.
Very well, Birdie. very we'll for to-
day, but neither you nor he will always
be Sweet andTwenty, and, unless all
this is but the avowed caprice Of a mo-
ment-and 20 my mind that so-t OF
thing Is exceedingly bad form-where
in your Adonis IS the promise Of the
future.
VIII he. such as we see him, develop
into the tower OF strength, the manfui
protector, thu tender comforter. the
wise adviser and guide of later years?
viii he still find you dearer, il not
fairer, than all other women when
there are silver threads among the
golden" and many tears have faded the
blue OF those lovely eyes?
At sixty. should nature keep you
alive" until that day, win he really be
still The Best Man?
OR you, Hvpata, who love TO talk
metaphysics and science and politics
and political economy with that young
professor and savant. and who Will, as
IL is whispered, tempt him from his
study long enough 70 be married by
civil contract. both Of you having freed
yourselves from all old-world supersti-
tions will logic and hard facts and
lofty theories, and perhaps a scholars 3
irritable and peeyish words, AL all the
needs OF your woman-nature in the
years TO come? The Best Man, looking
at him from the ewes of the brain, no
doubt, but how does he appear to the
eyes Of the heart?
How many, many women have made
their mistake early in life, and either
stOically or petulantly review 1t today.
How many, in reading their lives,
will sadly or scornfullv cast a glance
aside at the man on the other side OF
the table. ani whisper in the bitterness
Of their hearts The Best Man"
And, yet, let Us hope, let Us believe,
that "a many men may 0chO the words
cOntentedly. proudly. lovingly. and that
perhaps the Brides. the Aspasias, the
whole fair army Of the future, may find
some new meaning IN the familiar
phrase, and he Just a thought moro
careful. more cons;derate OF the years
20 come in choosing their own Best
Man. MRs. FRANK LESLIE.