The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-09-14
,estors. so they think we inherit ou


ideals also.
I think I am stating it about as the
Buddhist peoples believe. They are sub
tie reasoners, going far into realms of
thought which We would regard as too
1nusty for any practical conclusions.
Ihey, however, regard these distractions
concerning the soul and life and death
as the true realities in the world The
facts that some Orientals have contempt
Tor love. as we understand it Chat is,
anything higher than the mere instinc-
tive attachment between pairs for race
perpetuation), does not mean that there
are not Orientals whose souls are capa-
pie OF the perceptions which we recog-
nize The poles are not further apart
than the high-class japanese and the
Chinese cooiie
II l remember Alright. in India they be-
lieve. as in Japan and elsewhere In the
East, that as each individual Is the phys
zeal composite of all its ancestors, so the
love of our hearts is composite of the
ideals of all Of our forefathers- Probably
few of them ever married their first love,
or real ideal; so love might be the sur
vival in US of the lost loves of our
mother and father of long ago; or it
may be that another idea in the same
line has a basis Of truth; that our love
it is the disembodied spirits of future
ScltetdCiOItS SSchllS SlltDpuIillGtl. w Z
know that the past influences the pres
ent May it not be that the future, too.
may grope into the past? But these spec
ulations are in vain. There are plenty
OF facts to so on in the present.
For instance, in the anonymity of this
Signature, I may say that I am only
one of several who would have been only
too glad to marry long ago if the girls
OF to-day were not so frivolous and SUI
perficial, if they were willing to start
humbly,' like most of our srandmothers,
instead of exacting the Franklin Street
residence, the Victoria and pair. the
gowns. the winter gayeties, the long sum
mer outings and all those sort of things
their fathers accustomed them to- They
ballx at a man, however much of a gen
tleman he may be, and with prospects,
which an encouraging wife could make
into certainties, if he las only $1,000 or
S1.S00. or a couple of thousan a year
which means a very small establishment
and sacrifices she is too selfish to meet
There is a lot of cant and rot turned
out about women. I see in book called
Dorothy South this specimen:
mo woman is sacrificed when she IS
permitted to share the work. the pur-
poses, the aspirations of the man she
loves. How men do misjudSe women ana
misunderstood them: It is not ease. or
wealth, or luxury that makes woman
happy-for many woman is wretched
with all these-it is love, and love never
does its work SO perfectly in woman's
soul as when it demands sacrifice at her
hands.
I am willing to bet ten to one that the
man who wrote those lines had his eye
on the feminine purchaser of books rather
than upon sincerity Women have an
astounding capacity for swallowing the
most extravagant flattery. and "canny'
novel-wrters stuff them on this sort OF
thing from morn till dewy eve. From
my experience I should say that 1t is
not the truth, SO far as this generation
is concerned. Men are more conserva-
tive, and cling to the old-fashioned ideals
much more fondly and firmly than ire
sponsible, unreasoning women, and rather
than ask a woman they love to share
comparative penury with them. or be
dragged by her into debt and destruction,
they join the clubs and live in unhappy
comfort. I wish you would investigate
and see If the birth rate of the United
States, except from the foreign element,
is not on the decline as it is IN france,
and lately in England.
I am, sir. with regrets for It.
A BACHELOR.