The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-08-03


feminine charms, writes me letter IN
which he asks me this question
What should man seek for most
in wife-beauty, intelligence, a1i.
ability or heart.
This is hard question to answer,
since each of these qualities is head
liner attraction in itself, while mix
I ure Of any two Of them would make
wife whose price would be above
rubies, and the combination of all OF
them would set her apart as the para
gon Of her sex. A man could hardly
60 wrong in choosing wife who had
either one Of the four graces my cor
respondent names, nevertheless each
of these ,narms has o distinct value
that q man does wei to weigh before
investing his all in wife.
But should man marry for beauty?
Nobody will dispute that woman's
most potent charm for man is beauty,
and that so long as she Las rose-
leaf complexion, golden hair or jetty
tresses, sparkling eyes and q sylph-
like figure, man is her abject slave,
and he will adore her and serve her,
though her head be as empty as a
gourd, her temper as sour as the
vinegar cruet and her heart as cold
as an ioicle. The first question man
ever asks Of strange woman ia not:
Is she intelligent? Is she good? lie
she affeotionate, but is she good look.
ing?
Now as matter Of fact tho beauty
is seldom intelligent, amiable and
lowing. Nature strikes juster aver
age than we give her credit for, and
when she bestows beauty on woman
she generally evens things up by
giving her Q scent supply Of brains.
Nor is the beauty often long on ami
ability, because amiability is virtue
shat is born Of the necessity Of having
TO please people by cultivated
charm. The beauty never has to do
this. From her birth she is petteh.
and Aattered and spoiled with the in
evitable result Of making her selfish
and oapTicious, and hard to please.
AS for loving, the beauty is capable
OF but one passion in life, and that
is for herself. From the cradle to
the grave she is true to this one sim
cere affection, and she values other
people just in proportion as they min
lister to it.
A man, then, who marries for beau
ty marries amply to crafty his aes'
thetio taste, and at the best he can
only enjoy this pleasulo for o very
limited length Of time. A beautiful
wife may be living picture, but she
lie also Q dissolvipg view. A few
years at most dims the brightest eyes
and dulls the faisest complexion.
Time will plow wrinkles in the round
est cheek and streak the hair with
silver, and then all that is left of the
beatty are the airs and poses and self
lsh demands OF the woman VINO never
realizes that after she has lost her
crown che has no right TO the homage
OF o queen. The man who msrries
for beauty 10 bound to lose out, and
it is for him to decide whether q
brief period OF pulohritude in wo.
man 10 worth life time of homely
virtues.
Most men think that they marry
for beauty, but this 10 o mistake, as
.he number of plain-featured ladies
who have good husbands abundantly
proves. Somewhere, before he reaches
the altar, q mans guardian angel gen.
orally steps IN and saves him from
the folly Of marrying woman for her
skin.
Should man marry for intelli-
genoe?
This is an entirely suppositious
case, for no man ever yet married o
woman for her intelligence. He
might, however, 80 farther and do
worse; but in marrying an intelligent
woman q man should take care not to
marry one who is too intelligent. A
wife whoA knows more than her hus-
band does is domestic blunder. Be-
sides, woman who il all intellect is
too pale an abstraction to add zest
and thrill and cheer to daily life. 1t
is the warm hearthstone and not the
refrigerator that is the centre of q
family life, and SO in woman if the
head and the heart do not equally
balance each other, the preponder.
anoe of weight should go to the heart.
Still there is hope for everybody in