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WHAT MEN LOVE IN WOMEN.
1. FEMALE BEAUTY.--Men love beautiful women, for woman"s beauty is the highest type of all beauty. A handsome woman needs no diamonds, no silks or satins; her brilliant face outshines diamonds and her form is beautiful in calico.
2. FALSE BEAUTIFIERS.--Man"s love of female beauty surpa.s.ses all other love, and whatever artificial means are used to beautify, to a certain extent are falsehoods which lead to distrust or dislike. Artificial beauty is always an imitation, and never can come into compet.i.tion with the genuine. No art can successfully imitate nature.
3. TRUE KIND OF BEAUTY.--Facial beauty is only skin deep. A beautiful form, a graceful figure, graceful movements and a kind heart are the strongest charms in the perfection of female beauty. A brilliant face always outshines what may be called a pretty face, for intelligence is that queenly grace which crowns woman"s influence over men. Good looks and good and pure conduct awaken a man"s love for women. A girl must therefore be charming as well as beautiful, for a charming girl will never become a charmless wife.
4. A GOOD FEMALE BODY.--No weakly, poor-bodied woman can draw a man"s love like a strong, well developed body. A round, plump figure with an overflow of animal life is the woman most commonly sought, for nature in man craves for the strong qualities in women, as the health and life of offspring depend upon the physical qualities of wife and mother. A good body and vigorous health, therefore, become indispensable to female beauty.
5. BROAD HIPS.--A woman with a large pelvis gives her a superior and significant appearance, while a narrow pelvis always indicate weak s.e.xuality. The other portions of the body however must be in harmony with the size and breadth of the hips.
6. FULL BUSTS.--In the female beauty of physical development there is nothing that can equal full b.r.e.a.s.t.s. It is an indication of good health and good maternal qualities. As a face looks bad without a nose, so the female breast, when narrow and flat, produces a bad effect. The female b.r.e.a.s.t.s are the means on which a new-born child depends for its life and growth, hence it is an essential human instinct for men to admire those physical proportions in women which indicate perfect motherhood. Cotton and all other false forms simply show the value of natural ones. All false forms are easily detected, because large natural ones will generally quiver and move at every step, while the artificial ones will manifest no expression of life.
As woman looks so much better with artificial paddings and puffings than she does without, therefore modern society should waive all objections to their use. A full breast has been man"s admiration through all climes and ages, and whether this breast-loving instinct is right or wrong, sensible or sensual, it is a fact well known to all, that it is a great disappointment to a husband and father to see his child brought up on a bottle. Men love full b.r.e.a.s.t.s, because it promotes maternity. If, however, the b.r.e.a.s.t.s are abnormally large, it indicates maternal deficiency the same as any disproportion or extreme.
7. SMALL FEET.--Small feet and small ankles are very attractive, because they are in harmony with a perfect female form, and men admire perfection. Small feet and ankles indicate modesty and reserve, while large feet and ankles indicate coa.r.s.eness, physical power, authority, predominance. Feet and ankles however must be in harmony with the body, as small feet and small ankles on a large woman would be out of proportion and consequently not beautiful.
8. BEAUTIFUL ARMS.--As the arm is always in proportion with the other portions of the body, consequently a well-shaped arm, small hands and small wrists, with full muscular development, is a charm and beauty not inferior to the face itself, and those who have well-shaped arms may be proud of them, because they generally keep company with a fine bust and a fine figure.
9. INTELLIGENCE.--A mother must naturally possess intelligence, in order to rear her children intelligently, consequently it is natural for man to chiefly admire mental qualities in women, for utility and practicability depend upon intelligence. Therefore a man generally loves those charms in women which prepare her for the duties of companionship. If a woman desires to be loved, she must cultivate her intellectual gifts, be interesting and entertaining in society, and practical and helpful in the home, for these are some of the qualifications which make up the highest type of beauty.
10. PIETY AND RELIGION IN WOMEN.--Men who love home and the companionship of their wives, love truth, honor and honesty. It is this higher moral development that naturally leads them to admire women of moral and religious natures. It is therefore not strange that immoral men love moral and church-loving wives. Man naturally admires the qualities which tend to the correct government of the home. Men want good and pure children, and it is natural to select women who insure domestic contentment and happiness. A bad man, of course, does not deserve a good wife, yet he will do his utmost to get one.
11. FALSE APPEARANCE.--Men love reserved, coy and discreet women much more than blunt, shrewd and boisterous. Falsehood, false hair, false curls, false forms, false bosoms, false colors, false cheeks, and all that is false, men naturally dislike, for in themselves they are a poor foundation on which to form family ties, consequently duplicity and hypocrisy in women is very much disliked by men, but a frank, honest, conscientious soul is always lovable and lovely and will not become an old maid, except as a matter of choice and not of necessity.
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HISTORY OF MARRIAGE.
1. "It is not good for man to be alone," was the Divine judgment, and so G.o.d created for him an helpmate; therefore s.e.x is as Divine as the soul.
2. POLYGAMY.--Polygamy has existed in all ages. It is and always has been the result of moral degradation and wantonness.
3. THE GARDEN OF EDEN.--The Garden of Eden was no harem. Primeval nature knew no community of love; there was only the union of two souls, and the twain were made one flesh. If G.o.d had intended man to be a polygamist he would have created for him two or more wives; but he only created one wife for the first man. He also directed Noah to take into the ark two of each sort--a male and female--another evidence that G.o.d believed in pairs only.
4. ABRAHAM no doubt was a polygamist, and the general history of patriarchal life shows that the plurality of wives and concubinage were national customs, and not the inst.i.tutions authorized by G.o.d.
5. EGYPTIAN HISTORY.--Egyptian history, in the first ostensible form we have, shows that concubinage and polygamy were in common practice.
6. SOLOMON.--It is not strange that Solomon, with his thousand wives, exclaimed: "All is vanity and vexation of spirit." Polygamy is not the natural state of man.
7. CONCUBINAGE AND POLYGAMY continued till the fifth century, when the degraded condition of woman became to some extent matters of some concern and recognition. Before this woman was regarded simply as an instrument of procreation, or a mistress of the household, to gratify the pa.s.sions of man.
8. THE CHINESE marriage system was, and is, practically polygamous, for from their earliest traditions we learn, although a man could have but one wife, he was permitted to have as many concubines as he desired.
9. MOHAMMEDANISM.--Of the 150,000,000 Mohammedans all are polygamists.
Their religion appeals to the luxury of animal propensities, and the voluptuous character of the Orientals has penetrated western Europe and Africa.
10. MORMONISM.--The Mormon Church, founded by Joseph Smith, practiced polygamy until the beginning of 1893, when the church formally declared and resigned polygamy as a part or present doctrine of their religious inst.i.tution. Yet all Mormons are polygamists at heart. It is a part of their religion; national law alone restrains them.
11. FREE LOVERS.--There is located at Lenox, Madison County, New York, an organization popularly known as Free Lovers. The members advocate a system of complex marriage, a sort of promiscuity, with a freedom of love for any and all. Man offers woman support and love; woman enjoying freedom, self-respect, health, personal and mental competency, gives herself to man in the boundless sincerity of an unselfish union. In their system, love is made synonymous with s.e.xuality, and there is no doubt, but what woman is only a plaything to gratify animal caprice.
12. MONOGAMY (SINGLE WIFE), is a law of nature evident from the fact that it fulfills the three essential conditions of man, viz.: the development of the individual, the welfare of society and reproduction. In no nation with a system of polygamy do we find a code of political and moral rights, and the condition of woman is that of a slave. In polygamous countries nothing is added to the education and civilization. The natural tendency is sensualism, and sensualism tends to mental starvation.
18. CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION has lifted woman from slavery to liberty.
Wherever Christian civilization prevails there are legal marriages, pure homes and education. May G.o.d bless the purity of the home.
MARRIAGE.
"Thus grief still treads upon the heel of pleasure, Married in haste we may repent at leisure."
--SHAKESPEARE
The parties are wedded. The priest or clergyman has p.r.o.nounced as one those hearts that before beat in unison with each other. The a.s.sembled guests congratulate the happy pair. The fair bride has left her dear mother bedewed with tears and sobbing just as if her heart would break, and as if the happy bridegroom was leading her away captive against her will. They enter the carriage. It drives off on the wedding tour, and his arms encircles the yielding waist of her now all his own, while her head reclines on the breast of the man of her choice. If she be young and has married an old man, she will be sad.
If she has married for a home, or position, or wealth, a pang will shoot across her fair bosom. If she has married without due consideration or on too light an acquaintance, it will be her sorrow before long. But, if loving and beloved, she has united her destiny with a worthy man, she will rejoice, and on her journey feel a glow of satisfaction and delight unfelt before and which will be often renewed, and daily prove as the living waters from some perennial spring.
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THE ADVANTAGES OF WEDLOCK.
"Tis sweet to hear the watch-dog"s honest bark, Bay deep-mouthed welcome as we draw near home "Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark Our coming, and look brighter when we come.
BYRON, DON JUAN
1. Marriage is the natural state of man and woman. Matrimony greatly contributes to the wealth and health of man.
2. Circ.u.mstances may compel a man not to select a companion until late in life. Many may have parents or relatives, dependent brothers and sisters to care for, yet family ties are cultivated; notwithstanding the home is without a wife.
3. In Christian countries the laws of marriage have greatly added to the health of man. Marriage in barbarous countries, where little or no marriage ceremonies are required, benefits man but little. There can be no true domestic blessedness without loyalty and love for the select and married companion. All the licentiousness and l.u.s.t of a libertine, whether civilized or uncivilized, bring him only unrest and premature decay.