The Washington herald., 1912-11-03
Court Gossip Bearing on
Matters of General Interest

j MUEESJS U
Strange a. II may sound thsrs probably
~ no country In Europe whore cupid
fnnds less employment for N arts thar
chivalrouA impulavs. sentimental France
Ana yet. a any one familiar With Fre4cl
domestic life win have to admit ther(
are Few. II any. countries where matri'
mony 70 success more ginerally, Of
Wners the ties that bind husband Il
INlfe. or parents 10 children. are stronger
Inis. Of course. would suggest the start.
Inng and indiscreet question whether the
little God Amour In reality - gscessssy
and whether he 10 not more Q source oi
danger than Of help In bringing about
matrimonial alliances?
To the Angio-Saxon and Teuton mar
Rage ID almost entirely . matter Of zen.
timent. Heartwhole they would: not for
moment consider the step to the altar.
But II they fall victim Of . grit
charms and fascinations they are deter
mined to put their Tate to the test. and
II luck favors them to make the one
woman q partner for life. In most
cases sentiment has the field all to her.
eelf No considerations. be they social.
financial or personal. are allowed to ham,
per Cupid. and two persona. who. In the
end may prove altogether unsuited to
each other. embark upon the sea Of
matrimony with Q sublime. naive. child
like trust in Providence for happiness to
the end.
To the unbiased-unsmitten-ob It
must seem an incredible piece Of folly that
any man should enter into the most vital
undertaking Of his life. one that may
mako or mar him. with less precaution
that he exercises in buying O suit Of cloth
Ing. And yet SO strong Is custom. or. II
You will, 20 weak II human nature, that
the Identical man who sneers at the
folly OF another. will do exactly the
same '.idiotic" thing when his turn
comes The marvel IL not that many Of
these marriages, in which the most ele-
mentary common sense has no part prove
disastrous: but. on the contrary. that SO
many Of them are even half ways sue
cessful.
This method OF marrying Is unintelligi-
BILE in France. The sentimental. amorous
Frenchman SCOTS at the idea Of losing
the head" when marrying. And now-so-
berly speaking-is he so very wrong? In
France marriage. as II ought to be. Is
taken much more seriously. 1t is the CAL
culated Uhe very word IL noxious to
Anslo-saa ons and Teutons alike in this to
Us sacred connection) result Of prudence
and foresight.
The Frenchman realizes-has he learned
from experience? THAT quite often love is
as evanescent as the rays Of the sun in
midwinter, and as for being a guide. a
regular will-o'-the-wisp. He looks for
something durable to anchor his happi-
ness to. The qualities he seeks in a wife
are good health. amiability, suitable age.
social position, capability and. in short,
all those qualities that are important to a
successful union.
The Frenchman shows himself ex-
tremely prudent as to the question OF
ways and means. He realizes. for he
is shrewd. that what will suffice for
one in reasonable comfort may be in
adequate for two or more. For this
reason he expects the parents OF the
girl he proposes to wed to contribute a
share toward the joint housekeeping
they are TO begin. This Is not, OF ne
cessity. mercenary. but II Is eminently
practical. and how much misery might
be spared. especially in America, II seri-
Gus. practical thoughts were to go
hand in hand with sentiment
But. Of course. in the United States
q scarcity of women in the DAYS of
sparse settlements Of coIonists begot the
practice OF going to any length Just to
secure q helpmeet and to populate the |
virgin land. And this custom for the |
most part has survived, though now |
there is a surfeit Of female. In the East
and Middle West
Marriage in France Is rega. .ded as the
natural thing for every girl who is not !
destined for convent life. From her
very birth her parents begin to save for
her dowry. upon the amount OF which.
to large degree at least. depends the
social and financial. of the
man she may expect to wed.
But this is not all. The French youth
who seeks a wife often realizes that
he may not be the best person to make
the choice. Therefore. he is content to
eave the matter to the older and wiser
heads. who bring to bear upon this high
" important subject a matured judg-
nent and ripe experience.
1t is his parents who look around
among the daughters of their friends
Tor desirable helpmate for their SON
They have known them all from their
infancy. are familiar with their training
and characters. health and social stand
ng and of course the amount Of the
lowry. They have. in fact, all the
equipment for making wise choice.
And having made the selection after
nature deliberation. they approach the
girfs parents and arrange the match to
heir mutual satisfaction. thus avoiding
hat bugbear Of so many of our mar
disapproval.
When the match is happily settled a
,arty Is arranged at which the twol
'oung people. who have probably known
ach other from childhood, meet formal
Y under the eye of their parents, and
,egin the more intimate acquaintance
which is to lead to the altar But
probably long before this stage has been
cached they have been attracted asl ,
'laymates and know each other inti- {
nately. and under the glamor of theirt :
lew relations become genuinely attach {