Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1857-02-11
From the Southern Christian Advocate
TIE Matrimonial MARKET.

Fnauoh attention is not given in thi- country
;, The statistics of mairimony. Nothing more
surely marks the real prosperity OF people. man
the rair # marriages Ia the population In
Austria this rntip il small. hrcau-e marriage IS
| forbidden by law to those who cannot show
reasonable prospect of maintaining family and
ihpy are many who cannot meet Ills condition.
Tho rniio i small in Paris, for such l. the de-
mand far luxurious living among all classes, TINT
marriage becomes an llnpassibiiIiy Ia those OF
slender income In orr own country the matii-
monial market I'm. heretofore been very gene
rally Of the best. both n to supply and demand.
! in quantity and qnaity Of It's wares; but we ste
! /, .tnted that il il rather heavy at this time in
some Of our larger cities. It's said that IN Dos
ION. there was last year FILLING off OF twenty
Der cent on the marriages of previous years.
| The men nre as handsome aud the women as
willing a. they ever were. but marriage has oe-
come n luxury that few can nfF,rd. The rise in
bonnefs and talmas, laces and tnrs, silks anu
grenadines has depressed the marriage market.
We saw the other day an inventory of lady's
:" tnrn OUT in San Francisco. The jewelry cost
81 8I5-tha entire outfit S3i6i the dress
alone being put at S22J To be sure these were
California prices, hut let Us reduce her SOD
worth of dress by 100 per cent to meet our
prices and you still have n woman too fine tor u
poor mans wife. Who cnn afford TO have three
hundred dollars oil his income paradinI tho
streets every time his wife turns QUITO say no
thing of the watch. bracelets aud other apppn-
dagcs1 Ifit were n suit Of steel armOr, or come
everlasting material, il mig be tolerated, but 1t
will never do IN these days when fashions change
So rapidly that December forgets what last .lanu-
ary wore. And yet "gentcel society" Is ineNo'
rabe. Poor people in this country often manage
somehow to belong to that very respectable
caste, bnt they must pay for 1t. 1t does not al
ways matter about their grammar or rhetoric;
/. H.. Il. ii e.
niturc and cquipage all important. a stain
on tho character is easily forpotten. while the
bonnet of last winter is remembered aud the for
mer NAV be tolerated the hitter not second
second season, Genteel society has certain
stvle, and its subjects must be versed in its rules
and abide by them, or be baCished. 80, ut
least foolish people suppose and they practice
accordingly Hence the extravaganza that eve
ry where abounds, and hence the decline IN the
matrimonial market.
There i multitude of young mechanics whose
wages are moderate. clerks whose salaries
small, lawyers whose briefs are too brief.and ply.
scians who do not feel pulses enough to hi
purse, any Of whom by strict economy could up
port "A wife, but who will if there i, not speedy
change, be wholly unable to enter tie market
They are doomed to oehbacy. or to worse. Start
not. fair reader, if friend asks you how many
of those guy young men whom you see at an eve
ming party 50 gcntee SO polite, have learned
that a concubine is less expensive than II wife
You will be shocked when you know how many
there ara, and who they are. And it is tho fault
of their mothers, sisters and sweehearts They
have carried folly and extravag ,nce in dress and
living TO so high pitch that poor young man of
any pride of character Is afraid to marry. No
man wishes t. his wife living in humber
style than his atlianced. seem to want from
the husband what tho father supplied. Rather.
he desires that his chosen at least appear better
oil married than single; but now can he when
young ladies' dress as they now do. OF this he
Is hopeless and if his moral character be not well
established, the syren can in such cases too often
successfully tempt him 10 his undoing, and cause
him to entangle himself in some immoral alliance
that ruins him forever.
But pnradyenturo he runs the risk and marres.
The crtravagant tastes that have been assduons-
y cultivated by the father and mother of tho
Young wife, brought to maturity under the
| fostering care of the indulgcnt husband. But it
saps his moral strength to do it. The ordinary
sources of money fail to supply his needs-pa-
tient toll does not suffice, and grand specu atlons
must be adventurel The show of prosperity is
necessary to the bold Spectator, and money is
! spent by husband and wfa without stint. For
tune dees not smile upon the adventnrer, aud of
ten, in these cases, desperate game is played,
| in which moral character is staked against the
chance of gain snd is lost How many forgeries
and deialcations can be traced precisely to this
source. How many husbands curse the day
they ever began to indulge the oXtravagant
iastes OF their wives. How many wives, when
failure, poverty aud degradation come, would
gladly have tor, gone their folly cfuld they have
! predicted the en- Let us hope that the evil has
reached t. height. and that society will soon
be restored t, its senses by the msfortunes aud
crimes that attend It's madness.
THIS i ma trtling subject 10 the mothers of
| this generation. II is with them t. shape the
tastes and habits of their daus htrrs. The hus-
band often succeeds i'll acquiring n competency.
| which the father fails to retain. Th" wife may
| add to prosperity which the daughters exhaust
| hrtlre the oldest gets out her teens or strikes
some other vein for gold than the pat'rna peck
ct Look 10 il, ye mothers. that you teach other
and wiser arts than those @! -ho" and dress
lnn> 10 il, or there may be such decline in the
demand for walking millinery blocks. that few
years hence you will See only beyy of iadinA,
| spiUSters. where yoa had hoped to your grand
| ehlidren at play; you wandering meanwhile
If the matrimonial market will ever rise 50 hi 4.
a that they may yet become merohantable arti-
Giles.
Oar 'Ecets.
i is often asserted that the teeth Of the pres