The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-11-16


matter how little til do to Justify
our affection; aud there are other pco.
pie whom we hate without rhyme or
reason, and whom we are ready to
contradict anl fight with on any provo
cation, or 10 provocation at all.
Everyone has had the experience Of
meeting men and women with whom
they w"rc instantly upon terms Of
irl'e lnti"lacy--to whom they told
the carefully guarded secret Of timid
! hopes, and silent sorrows, of aspira.
tons, and desires, that they had never
prcathed to any human being before.
1t IS the recognition Of spiritual kin
ship, far closer and more potent than
any kinship Of the body-a lcapnr Of
soul to meet soul, as if one found
their long lost listers or brothers, and
knew them by the strawberry mark
UPON their tastes and views.
This Is particularly true as between
men and women, and it is what leads
cougrnial people to imagine them.
selves in love at frat sight. This
mutual attraction from the very be-
ginning Of an acquaintance. auguss
well for the possibility Of loye,.h :.
isn't love itself. It. out it
the affection .'A Ill" may grow into
n ,.A ~ leg, that will .tand tbe voor
tear Of married life, and it may
pan out and leave those who trusted
in it stranded in the divorce court.
1t is nc. possible for any two people
on short acquaintance Of a few
hours or days to find out whether
they have enough tastes and habits
and thoughts in common to enable
them to get along pesceably together
through tho long years of married
life. Just as much friction can be
cngcndcrca by little things as big.
and just as many rows are precipitated
by difference in opinion about pie
as there are about politics.. Hence
the wisdom Of every couplc taking
plenty of time to study each other 3
pecuiarities before taking the fatal
step. Not to DO this is TO court dis
aster, and while it may be possible
that some love at-6rst-sight marriages
have turned out well, it is pushing
luck to risk it, Nobody can know in
advance who arc the darliucs of the
gods.
Dangerous, however, as the short
engagement is, it is not more dis
astrous to women than the long en-
gagement which stretches out inter
minably over the years, while youth
fades into middle age, impetuosity
cools off in the habit Of patience and
the fires Of love burn down into the
ashes Of regard. In no situation in
life is woman put into such false
position as in long engagement.
She is one who is neither fish, flesh
nor fowl, nor good red herring. She
has none Of the freedom of maiden,
yet she has no claim upon the man
who has bound her to him. She is cut
from the opportunities Of marriage,
yet she has no certainty Of getting q
husband. She has not even the social
liberty Of the widow, because she haa
still the prefix Miss before her name
that calls for chaperon. In word,
she has all the disadvantages of maid
wife and widow, without any OF their
perquisites. Sho is e girl without
, beaux, wife without husband tc
} support her and widow without any
oonsoling insurance money.
AS mater OF fact, in strict honor
no man has q right to ask woman te
marry him without he is in position
to name the wedding day. And this
is quite as much for his advantage 81
1t is for hers, for the engagement il
the moose in which many man stran
giles his own happiness as we'll as 8
: woman's s.CThere are few more ps
! thetic stories than the one with which
we are all go familiar Of the youne
man who is starting forth to aeek his
fortune, Rand who carries with hin
!, the plighted faith Of some girl. Per
! haps they have been sweethearts since
childhood, and neither one doubts
; their ability to be true, but in the city
4 70 which the vnuoo man oooc i.
makes new friends, he gets fresi
outlook on like, and unconsciously
and inperceptibly the old love dies
At first he wrote every day, long, pas
5 sionate letters, then they grew shorter
: and farther .and farther apart, i,nt
/, were filled with excuses of his beinl
$50 busy "s.until they almost eeaset
and came cn!J at rare and conscience