Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1843-12-22
THE MAsTY MARRIAGE.

We educate our daughters superfcay-for
display rather than uselulness--to catch the
eye rather than win the heart Our girls
are taught in early life, either directly or in
directly, that marriage is the great object
OF womans ambition, and endeavornC TO
secure that object, and to surpass in the
race OF conquest their companions and RI
walls, they sometimes wed rashy and TO the
sacrifice of happiness. Difficult, we are
aware, is the task of discrimination with
the young and inexperienced. Pure and
artless themselves, they are apt TO imagine
the possession of like virtues by all others,
and to conceive it impossible for fine form
and a handsome face to be associated with
false heart. Alas how often are they
disappointed How frequently do the sud-
den attachments of early life prove hollow
and unsubstantial How often is it dscov-
cred that the first dream of love, which has
been so extravagantly eulogized by poets
and romancers, was mere delusion that
would not bear the test of time and reason
With what bitterness OF disappointment
have many started from this dream Strip
ped of the rainbow coloring with which the
fancy is apt to paint an object of idolatrv,
how prominent appear the darkness and de-
the Just view of truth and the rapid and
prejndced survey of passion How often
do we see beings standing before the altar,
pledging themselves to each other for veal
and for wo, who comparatively speaking,
were strangers but yesterday Knowing
little of each others lives and dispositions,
merits or dement's, they are willing to risk
peace of mind for long years, and to iden-
tily des,nies for time, perhaps for eternity
Can we wonder that strife sometimes mars
the domestic circle-that wives are left lone
ly and deserted-that the agency Of man
should SO often be invoked TO part beings
who have been joined together by an ordi-
nance of God
happy union is indeed a scene upon
which without lrreverence, we may suppose
angels in Heaven gaze from their bright
places Of abode with delight and approval
An unnatural or discordant marriage, on
the other hand, must form source of de-
light to the arch enemy of mankind, for in
it he recognizes the soul of evil That the
young should seek for and cling to a kim
dred spirit is natural The undivided pos
session of pure heart is perhaps the very
acme of human felicity "Onc home. one
wife, and one God" is the sentiment of one
of the wisest of his race, and it is only when
man is on the shady side of fifty that he be-
gins 10 appreciate the truth of this philoso-
ply in all its solemnity and force. Then his
pleasures of life are derived as much from
the past as the future, and the associations
Of that past, if mingled with virtue, fidelity,
patriotism and religion, are indeed blissful
We pity the lonely and the desolate-the
loveless and the unloved-the being without
wife or frend-without one trusting aud
confding spirit to whom the heart may turn
in its hour of sorrow and pour out its in
most and saddest thought. The cold and
selfish mortal who passes year after year
without experiencing the delightful concord
of sentiment TO be found in kindred soul, is
indeed the most miserable of his speces-
Even his Joys are robbed of half their de-
light, because unshared with another, by
one TO whom he is allied by love and friend
ship. Wretched indeed is the isolated in
dividual who, mingling with the multitude,
can single out no destiny identified with his
no faithful and devoted heart the breath
of whose existence seems bound up with his
Nature has denied to such a being the ho-
lest impulses that warm and agitate the hui
man breast Even the birds are mated, and
without mnistering angel ga sweet COM
panion," the first created was lonely and
desolate in the garden of Eden. So il must
ever be with the frail and feeble things off
mortal existence. If Paradise could not be
appreciated and enjoyed alone, how can
man reconcile loneliness to his fallen condi-
toni The desire of the heart is for sweet
companiohship- inward craving Of the
spirit is for being to love- Can we won
der then that in this country, where early
marriage is taught to be desirable, so many
should choose rashly?
We remember ANNETTE DELIsLE as
being of yesterday. She sang well--she |
danced well, and in many respects she was
beauty. Not one of our beauties at this |
time, for her form was too sylph-like-her
Joy was too gushing-her spirits too redun-
dant. She dressed from early childhood
with taste and elegance, and wore her dark
hair in ringets over her shoulders. She
had many friends, and even at sixteen her
admirers were liberal in number and pro-
fuse in 1attery Her mother, weak and
vain woman, was proud of her daughter
proud of the attention that her daughter re-
occasion. Thus she not only frequently
accompanied her to public balls, which
were then more fashionable and somewhat
more select than at present, but she permit
ted her to accept of numerous invitations to
parties and to mngle almost nightly during
the winter season in the gay scenes of our
metropolis. The father, good natured man,
was manufacturer, and was so welded to
business, that he could not spare time even
for the proper care of his favorite child.