Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1858-12-14
THE INTELLIGENCER..
MARRIED LIFE IN BRAwop

GhleHy on the authorities of travellers who
nave described French life as they saw f. md
! VINO nave not always seen it from the most NOR.
al and domestic point of view. large nn1nhers
have come to believe France about one Of the
most immoral countries in Europe, unless Italv
DC excepted Paris is probably about MS loose
capital as any need wish to see. Yet vice and
virtue are not mixed uT, even in Paris ne Dr
Sanger has shown them to be in every street in
,, New 1orK; nor does vice walk the streets MS
ao' unotus.i'nSty. But all great cities are great
sores IN some points of view, as Jefferson has
truly sald: and French cities are more SYSTEM
9tlcally depraved probably than many others
f3Ht ne who sees the corruption of French citv
lite, and Judges thereby Of the whole French M.
non, greatly miSjudges the bulk of the people.
Ana nothing seems to be better established than
that the small farmers and the country peoolenen
orally, who form the great masses, areverv much
IKE that class OF people all the world through.
ana about equal TO the average in point of NOR
alty, marrying and giving in marriage like the
rest of the world
reputation does not increase quite so fast in
france as in England, nor in England, of course,
as IN the United States. But Franco furnishes
at least the most authentic and accurate statis.
tlcs exhibiting the effects ofcvery different mode
OF lie upon tue national prosperity. In this re-
Spect 1t is lar before every other country on the
globe.
Out of thirty.six millions of inhabitants in
France fifteen and half millions are married
or In state of widOwhOod. This certainly does
not look as if marriage was there becoming an
obsolete institution. Eight and half millions
are bachelors or spinsterS, leaving only twelve
millions tor children-sO, at least, the figures
show: Thus, the proportion Of the married
would seem much larger than might have been
expected, but the number of children Singular
ly small.
DR.. Fare thinks, however, that the type of
the French race is improving, from the diminu-
ton OF bad types, such as idiots and lunatics,
who do not marry. The general opinion has
been that, in the point Of stature, at least.
Frenchmen were rather deteriorating In
France, marriage IS much more the result of
prudential calculations and considerations than
with u.s. Or even with the English. All is done
by negotiation The heart has little to do with
tue matter; fancy nothing; and prudence every
thing. The marriage is not valid unless the
man IS eighteen and the woman fifteen. Even
then, unless the head of the family give his or
her consent the ceremony can be set aside. In
all this, France is in one extreme, and we quite
as excessively in the other. Prudence and
principles have too little to do with our mar
rlages, and momentary fancy too much. Mar
rage Is more favorable to long life celibacy, as
these French statistics prove, unless it be verv
carly marriages. The mortality of males mar
rylng before twenty is almost five times as great
tbs said. MS of those remaining SINGLE This,
however, must be an error. From twenty, up
wards, marriage seems to about double the
chance of seeing sixty. 10 about thirty, the
chance of life for unmarried females is rather
better than that of married But from this up,
the scale turns decidedly the other way; and
the chance of seeing sixty is very far better for
the married than the unmarried female. For
those marrying under twenty, however, the
chances of mortality are rather greater than of
those who wait till about that time, when the
bodily system is well maturcd. Even to twen-
tsii7s fYsdi nine married women die to eight o0nn'-
At ages widows are more mortal than wives,
and widowers than married men. Grief has, of
course, much to do with this. The absence of
that mutual care which each exercises for the
comfort of the other is also concerned. So that,
great as are the cares of married life, great
often the expenses and privatons, these are all
as nothing to the evils of having no one but self
to live for.
In fact, to live without a purpose and without
an aim, beyond the mere personal good, seems
the most fatal of all things to human life. With
out some object beyond themselves, men and
women soon die. The married life calls into
exercise faith and hope more than single life
| There is enterprise and risk, and reliance upon
the future, with fear sometimes for daily bread,
and hope in children, and in the good time
coming, all connected with married life, and all
Of which have valuable effect on human char
actcr, and which, strangely enough, all streng-
then health and increase the length OF life
Married life is the great foe of n thousand mmo-
raties thar cut shortlife, and the friend Off peace
Ten single men enlist as soldiers, or throw their
lives away in fights, to one married. When
shall we be able to furnish the world accurate
and reliable statistics of our progress and social
life a: all equal to those of France Ours would
be the most valuable of those Of any nation un-
der the sun Phila. Ledger.
~ -----S.ee.S .So---- ---
AN IsExoRABLE LovEn.-our readers will all
doubtless remember the trial, conviction and
imprisonment of an Irish gentleman, "John
Garden, of Barnaue," for an attempt to abduct
Miss lArbuthnot, young lady re!atedto Lord
Cough. Mr.. Garden passed two years in prison,
but prison fare ard prison discipline did rot di-
finnish the ardor of his attachment. Released
from prison, he renewed his attentions" to Miss
Il A., but she, in an unrelenting spirit rega rded
them as annoyanccs, and again appealed to the
law for protection.
Mr. Garden was arrested, but before the case
I-.xl c.o,,, tl,o pC1;co cOrnlo1 n.