The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-05-10

Tue. But Americans forest 70 oua1ify
tne etaseDent BY saying that IL "a that
111Ppy country the young bride ee4s no
ooNa nom her ami1y, the young mans
70 fork out's any money Also. s. that e
- Just shout nix Of one and half dozen
o. the other. In France, If The bride re-
ceiyeS dover, 30 does the bride3room
which places both parties on an equal foot
inns, however, most American ladies
affect to ignore.
Then there i another Legend which the
that American girls follow no other than
the dictates Of their own hearts IN the
choice Of . husband. and that marriages in
the United States are al love matches,
never prudent ones
For my part must say that In no other
country have seen 20 many young girls
marty OLD men: NOR do these unseemiy
matches ever elicit . protest from any one.
Why? Because the person elect il always
provided With good big purse Every
thing in the United States gives way be-
fore this somewhat unpoetic, though prac-
teal consideration, and it Is mot Romeo
but Cr1sus whom the American Juliet Is
ambitious to get for . husband.
MOST American mothers bring mp their
daughters In the notion that they are little
goddesees, before whom . husband should
bend tie knee, and who should consider
himself only too happy In toiline to get
money for his wife 70 squander, her only
duty In return being to remain faithful
and allow herseif to Be pampered.
~, therefore, to marry one American
girl ehould Be accounted IN act Of courage.
- e IL under the circumstances, what
shall We think Of the man Who espouses
several Of them ct the same fimef You
VIII agree with me when say that the
Mormons should be regarded Is SO many
heroes
As for equality, I have Travelled in almost
none where distinctions and titles Of
nobility are 20 highly appreciated Is in the
United States.
While travelling IN the South. should
your sister or daughter take it into her
head to marry blackamoor. and the fact
be made public, your daughter or sister
VIII be arrested, prosecuted and sentenced
TO be hanged. This, IN spite of the Law
voted by congress at Washington giving
the same rights to every American citizen.
whatever the color Of his or her skin.
throughout the length and breadth of the
Union. But, you see, those foreigners
can't understand that the legislature of
each state has also the right 70 make laws
and that the South is only continuing the
ernment in disguised form when il goes
the length TO pronounce the penalty of
death" against any citizen, male or female.
convicted of such intermarriaee
An American may dispose Of his entire
property just as he thinks fit. A father,
for instance. may disinherit his own chill
dren in favor of a stranger, or he may
benefit one child to the exclusion of the
rest, and no one has anything to say.
Thus Mr.. Vanderbilt, when he died, be-
Queathed level dollar with his curse to
one OF his sons, young scapegrace who
had been wicked enough to discount
drafts payable at papa's demise; the boy
was so staggered at this unexpected turn
In his affairs that he blew his brains ont.
This right, which Frenchman regards
as monstrous and the suppression of which
he includes among the s'conQuests of the
revolution. !" is not only tolerated by the
s"sister republic, !" but looked upon a. sa-
cred. Nor is it rare to see widower re-
marry girl Of the age Of his daughter and
leave the whole of his fortune to his last
wife-who only took him in that hope
thus ruthlessly depriving al his children
Of the portion which was their due
A parents affection in the United States
Is spread over 30 large . number of off
spring (often twelve or fifteen) that il is
much less deeply-seated than It can pos
sibly be in France, where families mostly
have but one child, or two children at best.
A father who is Obliged to inscribe his
heirs with number in order to remember
them, may readily omit one or two with
out giving rise to much comment; the
more SO as son often sets mp q business
in opposition to that Of his father. and
ruins him. while the neighbors ind moth
ing in such course deserving Of blame or
censure.
A French proverb says 'sDeep griefs are
mute" they must be very deep in the
United States, for one of the things that
most struck me in that s4free country" was
the discreet manner in which people wore
mourning for the relations and friends
they had lost. Meeting at ball one day
young miss who had on dress of an ex-
cruciatingiy green tint, inquired of by
stander If il we're the custom in that part
Of the country TO don green by way of go-
ing into mourning and TO patronize the
ball room two weeks after a burial
Ny informant cooIly replied: "Oh, here,
you know, families are so large that il
they went into mourning each time they
lost one of their members, they would al
ways be in black; and if such an event
was to prevent them going to the ball,
why, they would never be able TO go at
In many American cities the cemetery
replaces our AHce des Acaesas, where people
take their afternoon drive as In the Bots
de Boulogne; this shows the respect they
have for the dead.
Whenever you address an American, call
him colonel or doctor" Einety-nine
times in . hundred you viii hit the nail on
the head; al any rate you are sure TO
please him. This free-born citizen OF q
leveling republic Is seldom . mere
mister"
You cannot get black maid-servant to
say Of another black maid-servant: Mrs.
So-and-so's help is below" she must needs
make the fact known in this way: "A lady
waits for you below"
With as in France all landed property.
rs also our national unity, has been slowly
welded and fashioned by an uninterrupted
series of cultivators of the soil; il has
gradually prospered by the increasing
thrift displayed nrst by the seigneur and
more recently by the peasant, who has be-
come a landlord in his turn. The revoiu-
ton Of l7s9. by granting TO each man ac-
cording to bis deserts his proper place IN
der the sun. has replaced the feudatory land
holders by smaller tenures- The result has
been faiherland with its rights and asso-
Citations, and the rural family with the
authority of its chief. the whole Of which.
In spite of what certain realisis choose 10
scribble, conduces 10 sociability and
strength Under this double influence.
the condition of woman has improved; the
female peasant has gradually grown into a
good housewife, who knows how best TO
turn everything to account. She Is now
the providence the life and the dignity
of every domestic hearth in our country
places
Can we say as much for the American
rnrai farnilys think not. In she flrst place
all landed property throughout the United
States with its improyised farms and
tenures, SINKS under the weight OF mort
gagged debt. its original vice. and which to-
fssA 40 The as,fpA.,,s