THE MATRIMONIAL “MY.”

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5184, 2 November 1877, Page 3

THE MATRIMONIAL “MY.”

(From the Philadelphia Ledger!) Of all the parts of speech the pronoun takes rank, and of all the pronouns the pronoun possessive. My wife, my store, my office, my pew, my house, my horse,, my money, my dog, my anything, are among the moat satisfactory round-mouthed and full-mouthed utterances of the human being. The personal pronoun is the autocrat among nouns substantive, and sets forth, as no other word can, supreme and undivided reign and possession. It is among the first thoughts of the babe, and the last thing the man or woman surrenders. But there are claims and counter-claims, and “ my” and “ mine” being in the singular, there arises sometimes an unpleasantness when two persons claim the same thing. Indeed, this mischevious little pronoun possessive is among the most pestilent peace disturbers. “ ’Twas mine—’tis his,” is a transformation against which everyone is on the defensive, and hence come private quarrels and public wars, neighborhood feuds, and suits at law. The theme opened—the protean properties of the mine and thine are endless. Just now we purpose briefly to consider the incidents and accidents of the personal pronoun only in their domestic relations. The wife says my husband, and the husband says my wife, when husband or wife are the subject of conversation, except, perhaps, in very dignified circles, and then it is Mrs. Smith or Mrs. Brown, the idea of proprietorship being politely waived. This sort of expression belongs to the diplomacy of matrimony, and there is no saying what diplomacy may not be designed to hide. When Mrs. Smith speaks of Mr. Smith, and Mr. Brown speaks of Mrs. Brown, one cannot help often suspecting that the speakers secretly wish that the pronoun possessive not expressed, were also not understood. This may be, however, mere suspicion. The main difficulty in the matrimonial “ my” is whore it is not only a pronoun possessive but a pronoun indefinite ; conveying not simply the idea of individual possession, but bearing the expression of ,a joint and several interest. There are articles convenient to possess, of which it might be supposed there could be no question of proprietorship. Yet even here confusion may occur. A gentleman has been able to detect his felt hat, after a fruitless search, perched on his wife's head, hidden under feathers or ; flowers, “ deformed, transformed or he may meet, somewhere outdoors, on her shoulders, ■ his diagonal coat, minus somewhat of the skirts, plus braid, lace, and bugles. And there are othfer teguments and continuations, of which, in many oases, it is difficult to state the precise ownership. “ My dear ” is common property to the husband and the wife. But it is a suspicious combination, It indicates warmth—not always of affection. There is warmth in the summer afternoon, when the distant thunder rumbles; and the flash in the matrimonial sky, the quick angry eye-glancC, not seldom accompanies “ my dear.” The wise heed the warn-

ing, and take precaution. Leaving smaller matters, the greatest interest hinges upon “ my house.” That phrase is comprehensive, and includes not only the brick and mortar under the roof-tree, but all that “house” means collectively and metaphorically. When the wife says “my house,” she asserts dominion, in some particulars absolute. The husband affects the same authority. But the wife “ holds the fort ” while the husband is absent at his business or work, wherever that may be. She can be all the time strengthening her position, replenishing her munitions, and so reinforcing her matrimonial “ my,” that all adverse approaches are futile and dangerous. She does not dispute the autocratic “my office,” and is, therefore, all the better able to defend “my house.” The sum of the matter is that, if a wife is worth the name, she should be left in unchallenged dominion ; and it she is not worth the name of wife, no opposition to her claims will raise her up to that dignity. Let the woman rule at home, then. Ladies will please pass over the concluding sentences, as they are intended for men only. The old maxim reads that it is well to learn even from an enemy. One of the pleasantest of modern novels (written, of course, by a woman) represents the husband as “ Her Dearest Foe.” It is a poor rule which, will not apply to both sexes, and, of course, the wife is His Dearest Poe. Let the husband borrow skill in fence from the wife’s tactics, and, in offering to her all she demands, ho will find that she will, of her own imperial and affectionate motion, make him much more at home in her house than he could be in claiming it as hie. It is pleasant to escape care ; and he is a lucky husband who can claim nothing at home but “ my wife,” and find all domestic belongings secured to him, by leaving her home rule undisputed.