The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-08-23

but some Of them must Il would almost
see-n. be possible os Appreciation enly
through an acquired taste such 80 ta1s
fer Olives. rnargoes or clsret The chief
difficulty in arriving ~ very general dsfi-
rls.on OF q perfect wife Is that men Do not
learn early enough n their experience
what chey would demand In . perfect wife
Consentmert with what ere has viii 90
as much as any one thing IN providing &
substitute Cor theorstic perfection But It
must &c that kind OF contentment which
seeks 10 make no comparisons. II Is re-
lated OF q nan that be was constantly
removing his home "whyr" he was
asked ST am hunting for contsntment."
he replied A man who snceavcrs TO find
a perfect wife On that principle is not
likely 90 succeed
The Scriptures are strangely silent On
the essentials q . perfect woman or q
perfect wtfe. Several men are mentioned
as being perfect" but not one woman
Modesty and chastity are ex.olIsd. but
these excellent qualities. sweet - the
favor Of the ponegranete and fragrant as
rhe perfume Of myrrh. no more rouad out
the perfect wife than handsome features
and elegant manners constitute q perfect
husband
Charming ~ many % ehaksspsare's
women are. none is given honor as q per-
feet wife except only Hermione-the wise.
faithful. dIgnifed but forgiving victim OF
q husbands wrong. In his remorse. and
after years Of separation which had served
TO mellow rns faiIings and TO illuminate
the virtues OF the lost wife. the king pro-
claims her a perfect woman: but the de-
tails Of her character. habits and CONVEX
sation are lacking. 30 that we are little
Better able TO Judge Of Hermione's claim
TO such pre-eminent distinction than that
OF Lady Elizabeth Donkin-
st. Paul and Pliny the Younger. trained
in very different schools. each had his idea
OF a perfect wife. but II viii not be ac-
cepted by all as entirsry satisfactory.
Each was "tust like . man." however. In
his estimate.
Henry Clews. of New York. paraphras-
Ing an older authority. once boosted that
he had the handsomest house. the hand
soonest horses and the handsomest wife
in the city. Many women probably would
consider perfect wife to be one who was
fairly amiable, dressed exceedingly well,
sang acceptsbly. danced exquisltely, sell
dom forgot her husbands birthday, and
uavar xttfEas uhen admap{shad FOR ax-
travagance. Some men are brutes enough
to ask even more than this; and perhaps
after all the scarcity Of perfect wives Is
due less to the paucity OF material than TO
the unreasonable standard set up BY Man.
Probably every husband had at one time
In his life an Ideal wife photographed
very shadowy it must be-in composite,
derived from vague recollections. inju-
dicious reading and hazy anttctpations In
later life he is very apt to gine that
Ii is the other fellows wiz. who il the
perfect wife. and the other fellow has
usually pride enough and shrewdness
enough not to disturb the Authorization.
There Is no relation on earth In which
it is more desirable that the wish Of Rob-
ert Burns should be reversed; and that
the wife should be given by the gods the
gift TO see her husband as he sees himself.
The more nearly she is blind az he Is to
his faults. the more melodiously she
echoes his call to her. the moro perfect
wife he is prone to think her. This mega
ton of individuality will not make her q
perfect woman; nor will 1t inspire admi-
ration on the part of other men, who will
pity her obtuseness to their merits and de-
plore her taste. But no man can hope TO
make a perfect wife who models her on
the lines laid down by another man.
81. Paul may not have had very ex-
allied idea of woman as separate sex;
but he had peculiarly keen insight into
the character OF man when he In his al
dress to the Ephesians and Colossians, in
the presence OF both sexes, adjured wives
TO submit, themselves TO and reverence
their husbands.
The wish of the husband for the SYM
pathy and event. may be admitted with
little touch OF shamefacedness-th
praise OF his wife could hardly be better
typefied than by Pliny the Younger IN a
letter about her. He sets the lines by
which most men adjust their ideal Of SYM
metry when he says his wife is "a perfect
wife" and within few sentences betrays
the secret when he tells exultingly how
eager she Is 70 read all he writes and how
very judicious she is since she has, h. is
gratifed 10 say. found very much TO praise
IN HIS work.
But all this brings us no nearer to de-
aning the qualities which furnish, or the
means by which may be supplied. a per-
feet wife No man can do &; the charm
which invests any woman with that char
scier lies In her own keeping; the veil Of
glamour by which a woman pleasantly
deludes her husband into the belief that
she IS superior 10 all others OF her sex IL
fabric Of her own tsctfal weaving.
She IS g perfect wife who makes her
husband believe her a perfect wife.
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Mr. Bryan recently said that the great
avs OF finance are as certain In their op-
Grafton and as irresistible In their force
as the law OF gravitation. This n true.
and among those great laws is the one
that under free coinage two metals will
not circulate side by side unless coined in