"The Distaff." (Home Paper.)

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2200, 14 August 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

"The Distaff." (Home Paper.)

The Republicans of France, whose equanimity has been so terribly disturbed by the recent distinguished alliances formed by the Princesses of the House of Orleans, will be in a worse panic than ever it they hear the rumours that have been floating about respecting Prince George of Wales and the Princess Hellene of Orleans. The second son of the Heir Apparent is one of the most popular members of a popular family. His gay, genial manners render him a universal la yon rite. He has been present at the recent festivities in Lisbon in honour of the marriage of the Crown Prince of Portugal with the eldest daughter of the Gomte de Paris, and was often the companion of the brides charming sister, Princess HeMene, with whom he danced more than one* 1 at the State ball. Princes* Helene is called after her jrrand mother, the admirable Duchess of Orleans, who w^ts a personal friend of Her Majesty, and sifter whom our Princes* Helena (Pnuoesh Christian) was nlao named. This 1-idy had :i life of yreat vicivu'tudes. When she in i mod th« Duo d' Orleans, the eldest .»on of | Louis Philippe, she naturally expected to be some, day <^ueen of France : but her husband was thrown from bis carriage and killed on the spot a few yr.irs later. Subsequently c.nne \\v- Revolution of IS 18, during which the widowed duchess displayed great. cour;t<r<3 and presence of mind. mak 4 np a gallant strujrtfle on behalf of her little son, the present Comte de Pari*. It v:a> iuoffuctual, but she did her be*t. Speaking of French dyn;iBtio changes remind* me to mention that the represent itive of another er.i has ju«t been keeping si mournful anniversary. The ex-Kmpres« Eugen.e was not able to attend the service held last week in St. Mary's Catholic chapel, Chiselhurst, in commemoration of the seventh anniversary of the death of her only son in Zululand, but .she paid a special visit on another day, and placed a splendid wreath of roses and heartsease on his tomb. Society is determined to marry off our young Princes arid Princesses. It has a'lied Prince George of Wale» with Pnucess Helene, and Princess Louise with Prince Oscar of Sweden, but both these alliances are ns yet mere rumour. Presidents, like Royalists, are not married every day, and it is not, therefore, surprising that the wedding oi President Cleveland at the White House, in Washington, should have attracted a good deal of attention. It was a very quiet affair so far as the actual ceremony was concerned. It was celebrated like most American weddings, in the house and not in the church. It took place in the evening, about seven o'clock, in the President's mansion, in a room known as the Ulue Room, which was adorned with flowers, brought, we are told, from all parts of the world. President Cleveland attends a Presbyterian church, and its minister (Dr. Sunderland)performed the marriage ceremony. One little incident in it has excited some comment on this side of the water. The minister substituted the word '* comfort " for " obey "in the well-known formula, but I think the fact of its being a Presbyterian ceremony explains this. I remember that when Mrs. Elizabeth Garrett, the celebrated lady doctor, married Dr. Anderson, shcaranged that the wedding should take place at the Scotch church, so as to avoid the use of that obnoxious little word " obey " in the marriage vow. This was straining a point, I think. A reasonable and righttnindel woman will always admit that the husband should be the head of the household, and a man who cannot govern his own family does not deserve a woman's respect.. If there is to be domestic peace und happiness the wife must acknowledge that her husband is her head, and has the controlling voice. This does not imply that her influence may not be very potent, nor that she has not, as people say, ♦* a mind of her own." There if ample scope for the exerrise of as much authority as any reasonable mistress of a household can desire without claiming the pre-eminence. There can be no real happiness if there is too much ,self-asser< tion on either side. The old story of the Well of St. Keyne tells how the bridegroom, immediately after the ceremony, ran oft' to the ma^ic well, the first draught of whose waters gave the power to rule ; but he found, after all, that he was outwitted by his bride, who had taken the precaution of carrying a bottle of the precious fluid in her pocket to church- 1 do not think there would have been much chance of peace or "comfort" in that establishment under any circumstances 1 hope the President and hn bnde may be more fortunate, and that Mi.ss Folsorr may indeed prove a "comfort" to her husband, besides obeying him on all reasonable occasions. She was his ward, and is celebrated for her beauty und charming manner. She knows, however, how to keep iutrudeis at a distance, and has contrived to evade the somewhat officious attentions which were pressed upon her in her own country by a few months' tour in Europe, from which she only just returned in time for her marriage.