Democratic banner., 1845-02-15
From Meals Saturday Gazette.
EARLY Marriages.
By MRS. cATHARINE ENFIELD.

that OF marriage. By il she deter
mines her destiny for this lie, and Of
ten for The one to cOue. I1eI ease
OF mind depends on its hapr,ness IN
finitely more than does that Of The
man. If he finds himself i1compaii-
bly, matched, The husband may seek
relief in husmts ambition or other
sources Of pleasure abroad; but her
home once made unhappy, the vile
has no refuge Tor her sorrowing heart.
Her griels must be buried in hef own
bosom. She must weep alone.
1t is consequently OF great mpor-
lance thai a woman should seriously
consider the step she is about to take
before entering the married state
She may be united to a very worthy
man, and yet be unhappy, loi there
is everything in the fitness of the
mutual dispositions OF the married
pair; or she may pledge her faith to
one, who, though IL outward appear
ance everything that could be wish
ed, has 4 CHARACTER unworthy OF her
love. To guard against such an E.
vii, requires Il serious and careful! scru-
tiny in the selection OF a partner Tor
lie.
To learn the character and disp0.
sition Of a gentleman, We admit Ia 10
easy task. A woma may have been
acquainted with her lover tor months,
and vet, really know very little u
bout his temper and general conduct.
The stronger sex possesses a great
advantage over ours, as society 10
now constituted; for while u sultor
may Gull upon the lady whenever he
is IN the mood TO Re agreeable, she is
forced 10 receive him, unless actually
engaged in some household occupa-
ton, no matter how unit she feels 10
entertain him. A gentleman thus
has The chance Of Railways showing 10
the best advantage; & this increases
the difficulty 90 the part OF the lady,
at learning his ,rue disposition.-
Nevertheless, hard as the task 49,,
there is no impos.lbilly IN 1t. There
are continually occurring IN social
intercourse, hundreds OF little things,
WITCH. Ike st.ws that show irom
w'nt pom 1.-THE wind blows, reveal
Ia Il careful observer the temper and
principles Of the acquaintance. a
hasty word, a sudden irown, a peev-
ish look, a scornlul toss OF the head.
uliteral remarks on persons absent.
4 tendency 10 decry every body bu.
themselves, disregard Of the comfort
ofothers in trivial affairs, and numer-
Gus such Indications will he seized on
by persons conversant with charac-
ter as unerr!ng signs OF the DISPOSE
ton ol The object Of their scrutiny;
and 1t IS because parents are better
Judges Of the force Of these little
things, that they 81 often form a dill
~tereui, and generally more accurate
estimat OF the real character OF their
visitors ,hrn their children do. On
the other hand, because women are
generally keener observers than men,
our sex possesses considerable advan-
tlge over the olher-suficient, IN
deed, 10 counterbalance the priv
eye which gentlemen have Of visit
ling al their pleasure. 10 which We
have before alluded. Thus much
for temper. The character Of a sui
tor may be left TO be decided on by
n father, bother or other male rela-
tive, who have always superior
means of obt'ining in formation on
this point. We think il undeniable,
that very few marry unhappiIy, who
may not lay the blame Of i, 10 them
Sc YES. But how it, the rea-
der will ask, that SO many unions
are unhappy We answer, because
they are contracted before a sufi-
cient knowledge Of each other has
been obtained by the parties. And
a fruitful cause of this Ignorance is
the early age at which our sex gen.
orally, in this country, enters into the
married siate-an age So early that
the character is scarcely formed, and
the judgment too immature TO decide
oil the compatibility Of the sutton, E.
ven II the observation i, practised e.
nouah to discover his disposition
and character. Probably the aver
age age at which females marry in
the United States. is eighteen years.
II is certainly not beyond that.
There are many causes for this,
some Of which, it is true, are IRENE.
diable. The beauty Of American
women is greatest at lhatage. Com
paratively very few remain beautiful
at twenty-five and it is rare, indeed,