Year: 1873

puzzle which is constantly recurring


and a solution Of it would be of immense


value to all match-makers, whether of


the loftier or the baser variety. What


is the most promising method Of attack ?


Which Of all the causes that may pre-
cipitate the passion is the most general
ly available? Ifphilosophors could tell


us that, they would have taken the first


step toward placing an occupation, now
pursued on purely empirical principles,


upon true scientific grounds.


To such question we can, of course,


give no satisfactory answer. It may be
observed, however, that it has been very
much obscured by the labors of novel


lists. Novels are supposed to be the
embodiment of the authors knowledge
ofhuman nature-a supposition to which
there is the trifing objection that very
few novelties know anything of human
nature, and that, at most, they are
familiar with particular instances and not
with general principle TheY, of
course, go upon the general assumption
that their hero and heroine are to be as
attractive as possible; and they lay
particular stress upon the merit most
easily described--that of personal
beauty. "Jane Eyre" for time set the
fashion of ugly heroines, but we have
long since reverted to the old system
Accordingly, an exaggerated estimate is
placed upon the charms of beauty, and
upon the amiable qualities OF mind and
person which form part of the ordinary
ideal of feminine merit. The error in
volved in this doctrine is that it laws
far too much stress on the objective
as distinguished from the subjective
causes of falling in love. 1t assumes
that the passion is determined by the
external rather than by the internal i'm
pulses--that a person falls in love be.
cause an attractive object is presented
to him or her, and not because he or
she is prepared for passion of some
kind. When the true principle is firm
ly grasped, it is obvious thai the most
successful match-makers must be those
who adopt different line Of attack.
Among the passions, for example, which
go to form the aggregate is the desire
for sympathy. Suppose, then, that a
gentleman has taste for political econo.
my or pigeon-shooting. He may be as
sailed more effectively by plain young
woman who will submit to hear him
lecturing on the theory of rent and the
incidence of taxation, or who will ap.
plaud his successful slaughter of birds,
than by the most beautiful girl who
will not condescend to take AN interest
in his pursuits. The great art of fat !
terry provides the most efficient instru-
ments for bringing down game of this
kind. A clever man often prefers a fool
to clever woman, because the fool has
the one talent of listening, and the clever
woman may have the vanity to keep
opinions of her own. The brilliant man
Of fashion is attracted by the apparently
uninteresting old maid, because rothine |
is more fattering than that humble
alteration which other women are too
proud to bestow. Almost all cases of
perverse matches may be explained after !
the event by the skill or the accidental
felicity with which n commerce of re.
ciprocal fattery has been established. |
Once put two people in that relation.
and all the associated emotions may
easily be INTRODUCED. 1t is as easy to
produce an aesthetic admiration by |
working upon the desire for sympathy |
as to proceed in the inverse method
and the assumption that we should al |
ways begin with what is supposed ato
be the natural beginning is the cause OF
half our perplexities, But, though |
these seem to be the first principles OF
the science, we admit that its complex
ty battles all attempts at n systematic
deduction of its remoter doctrines.
Luckily or otherwise, some people have
developed SO much practical skill in ap.
plying the most efficient methods that
philosophy of the art seems to be super
fuous as well as chimerical. al.--London
saturday ReUie,U