The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1891-10-02
Literary Men at Home.

The moral for ladies is, Don't mar
ny literary men," says Andrew Lang
in Longn.dn's Magazine. The mar
riages of author have been wretched
out of all proportion to the common
lot. The reason is not only that
authors are vain and irritable and
Tightly and absorbed, like artists, in
their work. The true or chief cause
OF married misery among writers is
probably this:-They do their work
at home. Now, bricklayers, soldiers,
doctors, barristers, clerks and most
men do their work away from home.
Domestic troubles about servants,
children, butchers. and dressmakers
cannot be launched on them while
they are occupied with their bush
ness.
Nor do they, in turn, bring preoccu-
patton with briefs, or bricks, or
clients, or what not, into their do,nes-
tic circle. But Mrs. Literary Man is
apt to rush in upon the solitude OF
Genius with some terrible tale from
the BAKERS" while Genius, when sum-
moned to his meals, has his head full
of rhymes, or of the persons in his
novel; or, to take Mr., Carlyle's case,
of Frederick the Great OF of Oliver
Cromwell. His mind is absent when
he should be lending the pleased ear
to feminine prattle, and later, when
examined therein, he is m~iserably
pinched. He is convicted of not hav-
ing attended to what was saba
crime of insult. / dare say Mrs. Car
lyle often found MIR. Carlyle an neon
cerned aid impatient nearer OF her
witty conversation, whereas he did lis
ten when away from home in a coun-
try house to Lady Ashburton. Hence
these tears of Mrs. Carlyle's, and the
condolences she inflicted on MaZzini
and others. The unlucky pair, as
Mrs. Carlyle said, had thinner skins
than other people, and were p%rofusely
profane. to begin with. But, If Mr..
CARLYLE had been wise enough to keep
his books and papers in a remote
studio, and to walk thither every
morning, he and his wife would have
given less handle to the gossip and the
b~iographer.
Young ladies about to marry liter
airy men, young men engaged to liter
airy ladies, should ponder on these
things and arrange to do their work
away from home, unless they have
much better teinpers and digestions
than the Carlyles enjoyed. Home
industries" may be salutary when
they are mechanical, but not when
they are mental, especially if the
laborer has the irritability of some
luckily not of all geniuses.
A Queer Wedding Fee.
A Fall River clergyman tells an in
teresting story of a wedding fee, says
the Neaos Of that city. He vas settled
in New York City and n day had d
church wedding. After the ceremony
the groom handed him from his peck
| etbook a wad which the pastor subse-
| uuently found to be wrappers to the
number of about a dozen, inside OF
which was a bright cent. He didn't
know how to regard the token.
whether as a joke or in some other
light. Time passed, however, the min
| lister wondering what had become of
| the pair, of whom he only knew that
they were intending to live
in New York One day, the
first anniversary of the marriage,
q letter came from the man inclosinp
a check for $50, which he wished the
pastor to accept as his proper wed
! ding fee. No explanation was glver
OF the original compensation, and the
clergyman was lett to construe 1T as
best he could. He was, however, in
clined to believe, after the receipt o.
the $50, that the man must have beer
poor at the time of the ceremony, and
(though M cent was chosen remains
q mystery folded the sum SO effectu'
ally that others, seeing the paper
might have no idea what was in it
and particularly that the bride might
not know the amount. 1t is evident
that the man had prospered during
the rear and that he considered he got
his monav,s worth