H. B. Marriott Watson,
Diogenes of London (collection…
(1893)
“ And yet in a manner it is not hard to understand why it should be so popular. In itself the world has a pleasant soothing cadence—caress—and there is besides the full tide of song from the most ancient days, a tradition nigh irresistible. ”
H. B. Marriott Watson,
Diogenes of London (collection…
(1893)
“ While we have woman with us it would seem indispensable. And woman herself, it is obvious, serves a necessary use, though that be little outside the indefinite prolongation of the race. In the common concerns of daily living she is of no very clear advantage, has no very secure position. There is no one, I may conjecture, who would go the length of insisting that he took any genuine pleasure in her conversation or her manner of conduct. It is so plainly the possibility of the caress that keeps him in her neighbourhood, the undeniable usufruct of her sex. ”
H. B. Marriott Watson,
Diogenes of London (collection…
(1893)
“ The caress and its congeners may often stand for a buckler against evil days, upon which Time may fling his shafts in vain. This is a most superlative estimate of its value, but from my knowledge I can believe it is precise. In the memory of a kiss, I am informed, men may live out their troubles. Some have pleaded, they assure me, that their lips held the fragrance of another's for a se'nnight, inspiring them upon their rounds to breast the utmost misfortune. If the testimony be true, woman has veritably a meritorious use ”
