M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1858-04-22
EIOpements.


The species Of amusement known
by the above name has been, for the
last year or two, and, in fact, still is,
extraordinarily popular. 1t seems as
if the rising generation was fully con-
vinced that marriage is something to
be greatly ashamed Of, or else the seed
sown by romance writers of the past
age is bearing a goodly portion ofiruit.
In former times, if John wanted to
wed with Mary, he went and told her
so, like an honest youth. lfshe was
willing, she said, "Ask pa !" and pa
settled the question. If John was
industrious, temperate, and well.to.do,
pa said, "all right !" and Mary be-
came Mrs. John. II John was not,
pa said "No !" and Mary got over it,
and married some one else.
1t must be confessed that this was
not so romantic as an elopement.--
There was no surprise and no scandal
among the neighbors. But the Johns
and Marys were very happy. They
raised crops, and built houses, and
spun cloth, and bore children, and
fulfilled their simple destiny 90 well as
it could be done.
Now, however, '!nOus avOa8 chanse
tout ceLa." Mary secs John from the
'boarding,school window, and sees that
he makes eyes at her in passing. The
next time he passes she contrives that
he shall see her again, and q little bit
ofeye coquetry is the result. Process
repeated several times, when John,
being, of course, in love, from his boot
heels up, finds out Mary's name, and
indites to her fowery epistle, say,
ing:
"S(eet mo by moonlight alOne!"
To this Mary replies, and meets
him. John squeezes Mary's hand,
and talks moonlight and "Childe Har
DID," and goes home feeling as if he
had been living on honey and maple
sap ior week. Mary goes home feel
ing ditto.
A correspondence ensues on sweet,
smelling, pink paper, with gilt edges,
but in which all the words are spelled
wrong, and the English grammar to-
tally ignored. All of a sudden some
fine morning, Mary turns up missing
and John also. They are not heard o.
for week, when they return Mr.. and
Mrs. John, and go down on their knee
pans, to beg the old folks forgiveness.
But altogether too young and mex,
perienced to appreciate what they are
about, ten chances to twelve they
quarrel before the honeymoon is over.
John finds the oroomhandle scraping
acquaintance with his head, and Mary,
though a blonde, appears in public
with black eyes. How much better is
this, we should like to know, than the
Ola style OF dong Things
Romance is nice article-a very
pretty article-but it may be pprchas.
ed a little too dearly. A lifetime Of
misery is hardly atoned for by fort
night of sugary sentiment, and it be-
hooyes young people TO think twice
before they run their heads into {
moose from which there 10 10 escaping
We would recommend those Of oul
readers who contemplate any move
mept Of this kind, to consult their pa
rents on the subject. If the old folks
agree to it, the young folks may elopt
as much as they like, and will Oe en-
tirely justifable therein.
There are cases, pudoubtedly,where
running away is quite right; but these
are exceedingly rare, and requires a
most singular combination Of circum
stances, Generally, the mania pro.
ceeds from the effects of Silenus Cobb's
romance, acting on feeble brain, and
should be treated accordingly.