The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1891-07-03
Joaquin Miller's Secret of Happy Mar

Joaquin Miller's Secret of Happy Mar
riage.
VIII | tell you how to get married
Aye, that l will, with pleasure. And
what is far more important in this age OF
rapid transportation, will tell you how
to stay married. Now, then, in the first
place, to begin at the beginning, read this
from the second chapter of the Book OF
Books:
"And the Lord took the man and put
him into the Garden of Eden, to dress il
and to keep it,"
SO, you see, man was put to work. He
was put to work, and put to work at
once, even before woman was made. He
was put in the "Garden of Eden, to dress
it and to keep it,
But what is he doing to-day? He is not
dressing or keeping the Garden of Eden
or any other garden, if he can help it.
If he can only manage ''to dress him
self and ''to keep" himself, by hook or
by crook, by the practice of the law or
the preaching of the Gospel, by marry
ing almost any woman in the world ex-
cept his grandmother, only so that she
has money "to dress" and ''to keep" him,
why, "Barkis is willin'."
And now do you know that this aspi-
ration for or rather this affectation of
idleness is confined, so far as the Christ
ian world is concerned, to America? The
English are steadily and stubbornly in
dustrious. When Bret Harte and | were
spending a season at Newstead Abbey, a
few years since, we were surprised one
morning, On passing through the great
hall on our way to a specially early
breakfast for some excursion, to see the
master of the place in the midst of about
80 farmers, giving his orders for the day.
He wore flannel shirt, big 'hob-nail"
shoes, and had been on his feet, as was
his daily custom, [ learned from his wife,
the whole year through, with the ex
ception of short season in London, from
the first peep of dawn.
I have been often at the home of Prin-
cess Louise, and | found her the hardest
of workers. And have it from good au-
thority that not one of the royal family
has ever been permitted by the mother to
waste an hour of time in idle pleasure. [
tell you, from the throne down to the
bottom of the empire, the English are
toilers and persistent toilers.
And what has all this got to do with
getting married?
Why, first want to put you right. [
first want to prove to you that it is right
and in accordance with the laws of God
and man and good manners to toll and
toll and toll. Having once put your feet
solidly on the right track, all the rest is
nonsense to last us a century. Let US
now copy this one divine virtue-indus-
try-and all the rest will follow.
I have, or rather l had, two friends
over in San Francisco-one sweet young
girl, who kept house for her invalid
brother, clerk in. bank; the other
friend was son of the president of this
same bank. OF course, nearly every girl
wanted to marry this young man-not
for himself, not for anything he had done
or won in the battle of life, but for his
fathers money. And he, for wonder,
had sense enough to know it. say for
a wonder; for all men-and women, too,
as to that-are ready to ascribe all ad-
miration to their own merit.
And yet this one sweet San Francisco
girl Of whom I spoke did not fatter or
futter around the young man with the
big fortune at all. She avoided him when
her brother brought him to the hotel
where they lived, when her work requir-
ed her attention. And when required to
speak, she was careful to put as much
truth in as few words as possible.
.Ah, me alb, me If women only would,
if women only could be honest and truth
full with men, what marriages, what hap
by marriages we might have right along
But women take men for geese and men
take women for fools, and so the whole
thing is a sham and a lie even up to the
very altar that stands in the center of
Gods house.
OuC CNGuiuS3s UlO y oNiS, OsAAAASA -
tered the open parlor of the pretty girl,
he saw a tent through thehalf closed cur
tains of the rear room. She was leaning
over map and some drawings on the
table.
s.Ah! This is our little secret; but per-
haps brother has told you? He is not
strong, you know, and now, at last, ne
has saved money enough, together with
what | have saved by type writing and
teaching, to buy five acres OF orange land
and we are off for the country to plough
and to plant all through his vacation Tor
Christmas. Yes, that's the tent. And
here, you see, is the map Of the grounds
where we will pitch it. ! will stay there
and run the ranch, while he makes few
more dollars here to get II well started. 8
The young man came to ne with the
whole story, next day and wanted me &c