The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-09-26
HE1REssEs AND FORTUNE HUNTERS.

1t is not altogether agreeable to learn
from Attorney General w. II. II. Hart, who
is the guardian of Mrs. Hinckley, better
known as Florence Blythe. that that young
lady was driven into precipitate matrimony
to escape the persecution of fortune hunters.
He says: "She was pestered out of her life
by adventures whose sole object was to get
possession of her property. In the last two
weeks before her marriage she lost fifteen
poun DIS. She was sick and tired Of it all l
do not think that there is woman living
who has received the number of written
proposals Florence Blythe received. She
has had offers of marriage from sixty titled
Eur0peans-lords. counts, dukes, barOns,
yiseounts. marQuiseS and one prince. Some
of the letters making the proposals are long
ali are genuine beyond doubt"
1t has been suggested that Mrs. Hinckley
should publish in book the letters of the
"titled jackanapes," as Mr.. Hart calls
them, to serve as o guide to American girls
who are hungering for a European title.
Such work would undoubtedly be instruc-
tive. and would prove useful addition 60 the
baggage of an American girl starting on a
European trip. But ii seems that all the
suitors, whose rejected addresses are in Mrs.
,
foreigners. good many Americans fig
ured in the list. Not a few well-known
fortune hunters of American birth entered
themselves for the race though her title to
the Blythe property is still subject to re-
view by the Supreme Court. The letters
Of these native soupirants would also be
good reading; Mrs. Hinckley would furnish
an interesting contribution to contemporary
literature if she gave them all TO pub
Usher.
The business Of marrying for money has
not been brought 20 such perfection in this
country as it has in Europe. There, money
is generally the first consideration; beauty.
wit, worth and even virtue come afterward.
Here, except in our richest society. lady S
fortune has not been so much a sine qua
non as other merits. But we are being edu-
Gated fast Boys, that is TO say. young men
Of twenty-five or under. are still liable to
take the contagion of love, and to marry
under the irresistible impulse of passion,
but when man passes thirty, he is learn
ing. in all American cities, TO bestow good
deal OF thought on the tangible property of
a lady before he offers her his heart and
hand Nor is he wholly blameworthy for
so doing. II is the part of common pru-
denee to take into account the vicissitudes
of the future and TO consider, before mar
rying. how family is to be supported if the
bread winner is crippled By failure, i'll
health or death. This is a very different
thing from marrying for money, regardless
OF love, or admiration, or respect.
Alliances 10 which the man contributes
his viriity and the woman her wealth can
only result in happiness when both parties
are endowed with remarkable forbearance
and common sense. The normal tendency
of such couples is to drift apart. After the
honeymoon both parties begin 10 reflect.
The wife cannot dismiss from her mind the
thought that the man married her for her
money; the husband says to himself that
be would never have married that
woman but for her money. 1t becomes diff
cult for the man TO persuade the wife that
be really loves her; the husband thinks that
the wife pTesumes upon the fact that she
contributed tho money to carry on the
household. Nothing bnt extreme forbear-
ancs and mutual consideration can avert q
chronic friction whichis apt TO lead to a part
Ing and TO divorce.
When a woman possesses as much money
as Mrs Hinckley viii have If the Supreme
Court recognizes her as old Blythe's heir, she
must have an angelic disposition to get
along with any husband. and the husband
must be equally gifted TO live on harmoni-
Gus terms with her. The millions lie
between them like the naked sword which
was the symbol of divorce in the old days
of chivalry. They constitute a perennial
source Of discussion. Some men are so
tactful that they foresee a coming storm,
e0niura il and disDel a cloud which threat
ened their domestic peace. Some women
are so sweet and affectiOnate that the love
of their husband is the one source Of their
happiness. Such couples may live in peace.
though the order of nature is reversed and
the woman notithe man is the bread-winner
of the household. But 1t is to be feared
that these are exceptional cases, and that
the successful fortune hunter often lives to
envy the fate of his rival, whose love PLANT
figures in a collection of rejected addresses.