St. Mary's beacon., 1853-04-28

vol. S.-NO. sSS
enough to wish TO have their superiors
for their waves.
Great wealth in woman tends to keen
at a distance both the proud and the
humble. leaving the unhappy liye-bait
tD te snapped at BY the hardy and
the greedy. If the wealthy father OF an
oaly daughter could be gifted with a
knowledge of what parental care and
kndness really is, il is my assured belief
that he would disinherit her. If he
leaves her his wealth, the best thing for
her 10 DO Is TO marry the most respecta-
ble person she can fad of the class Of
men who marry for money. An heiress
remaining unmarried is 4 prev to all
manner Of cXtortion and imposition, and
with the best intentions becomes. through
iil~ad.nlnlstered expenditure and misdi-
rected bounty, Q corruption to her neigh.
hoFhoo1 and curse TO the poor; or il
experience shall put her on her guard
She will lead a life of resistance ond
suspicion, to the injury of her own mind
and nature.
II the case, therefore. OF either high
cnd0Wment' or great wealth in 4
daughter, the care Of a parent is pecu-
ilariy needed to multiply her opportuni-
ties OF making good choice in marriage
and in no case can such care be properly
prctermittcd.
DIE MATURITY FOR MARRIAGE.
When the mother takes no pains, the
marriage Of the daughter, even if not !,
itself ineligible, is likely 10 be unduly
deferred. For the age at which mari.
ages are to be contracted. is a very
ia1-erlai consideration. Aristotle was
OF opinion that the bridegroom should
should be thIrty-seven years of age and
he bride eighteen; alleging physical
'easons, which / venture to 81 -
,eedingly inconclusiye. Eighteen .i2SF-
:flmaTe: 4 girl Of that age may be not
unprepared for marriage; but
he has hardly had time for that sincere
md ycarning aife ection which is to be her
,est security after. But whether or not
he girl be to be considered marri-
lgcablc at eighteen, ! know no good
,cason. moral or physical, why the man
should withhold himself till sevcn-and.
thirty, and many excellent reasons against
It. Some few years of seniority on the
part of the man | do conceive to be de-
siIable and on this as we'll as on other
grounds, the woman should marry young;
for If the woman were 20 be past her first
youth and the man 10 be some years
older, it follows that the man would
remain longer unmarried than ii is good
Tor him TO be alone.
The woman should marry, therefore,
rather before than after that eliminating
period Of personal charm, which varying
in different individuals, is but a shcrt
period in any, and occurs in early youth
in almost all. She should marry between
twenty and thirty years of age, but
nearer the former than the latter period.
Now the man at such an age would
probably lack those graver traits CT c! ar
acter which are not only becoming but
neccsfary in the married life; and the moe
so when marrying wife equally young.
For, when two very young people are
joined together in matrimony, it is as il
one sweet pea should be put as prop to
another. The man, therefore, may be con-
sidered most manageable when he Is
nearer thirty than twenty, or perhaps
when he Is a little beyond thirty. II
his marriage be deferred much lcnger
there is some danger Of his becoming
hardened in celibacy. In the case Of
serious and thoughtful man, it need not bs
deferred 80 long; for, in such case,
remark made in letter Of Lord Bacon's
will probably be venfed-that man
finds himself seven years older the day
after his marriage.
There are other motives and circum-
stances besides those connected with
prudence, which, in the case of men.
initiate against early marriages. ftheis
first passion (as it happens with most