Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1867-07-16
Why Young Men do not Marry.

Rev. Robert Collyer, the eloquent
Unitarian clergymen, recently preach
ed sermon in Chicago on "Our Dai.
ly Bread, in the course of which he
discussed social questions, and ex-
planned why young men do not mar
ry:
"When one said lately in the pres.
ence OF frank, outspoken young wo~
man in this city, that the reason why
young men did not marry was that
their wives would not be content to
begin to live in a homely fashion, af-
ter they had been raised in luxury,
she replied, the woman is quite as
willing as the man to do that, ard |
know OF no woman in the circle of
my acquaintance who would not be
content, for the sake e the man she
loved, to cast her lot with him and
make his interest in every way her
own | believe the young woman
spoke the truth. When | hear a
young man living in chambers and
constant in bis attendance at play
and opera, say i dare not marry, be-
rause | know no woman would be
content to live as one should have
to live,' | say to my sell, It may be
true, but it looks very much like old
Adam, who ate the apple and then
turned around and laid the blame on
the woman. Let this be as it will.
Here is the dismal fact Staring us ev>
erywhere in the fact, and in no place
more painfully than in our own city,
that for social conventional, or still
worse reasons, the best youth of the
country is held back, from its most
sacred duty as we'll as its most per.
feet felicity-fall int } that sad mistake
of long engagement, in which the
pain and disappointment bears hard
est always on the woman; or the
young man shuts his eyes and his
heart when the spirit walking among
the golden lamps whispers to him Of
some maiden, That is thy wife, and
says, No, not yet for many q year to
come'-and SO marries at last away
on in life, when both lives have PEI
come set in their own fashion, and
their love is hardly strong enough to
give them the kindly mutual forbear>
ance toward what is dissimilar in
character and disposition, until they
can become
"self-reyerent and reversncing each
Alike in Municipalities"
and so the best Of the days of the best
of our youth go by and find Il dare
not wait upon Il would
''In the name Of all that is sacred,
ask why this is, and get for my
answer, we cannot afford it. The
young farmer can afford it on the
prairies; the miner on Superior; the
woodman on the peninsula; the car
penter at his bench; the smith at his
anvil; the operative at his frame or
loom the 'longshoreman and the
sailor. That cluster of men down
there in Pennsylvania, and those in
Yorkshire whose mere young men
were with me long years ago, lost no
time and asked few questions, because
some night instinct told them they
must do that or worse-worse in any
and every way they could look at it;
and so | can remember, as il it were
yesterday, how speadily these found
the wife and went to housekeeping in
one room or two, as they could man
age it, and make the hammer ring
with new music, a1d gradually got
their house and household goods, and
the world has never failed them, no,
not for day; but through dark flu
ture and bright, and sickness and
strength, they have found the deep>
est experiences Of their life each with
the other. for Great Heart and Inter.
prefer 60 together on this pilgrimage,
and now they see their children COM
ing up to manhood aad womanhood
about them, with the freshness of
their own youth in their hearts, and
know, though probably they cannot
tell, the deep content Of life order
ed after the fashion God gave them
when he created them man and wo-
man.
.'But here are man with noble pow
ers, with faculties that will ensure
them greater place, living n the
most plentiful land on the globe,
evening themselves through the years
Of their youth with that poor lost
tribe of ballet-singers, the loneliest Of
all those to whom God has given a
chance, and when you get at their
real reason it is either one or the 9TH
er of these. They cannot believe
what, if they have lived in the coun>
try, they have seen twenty times to
be true of the birds that sing about
us everywhere; that new exigencies
tap new energies, and the little fel,
low who, few weeks ago, had quite
enough to do to take care of himself,
is now caring for nestfull just as
successfully. They do not believe
that the Maker who has made their
life of itself a natural prayer for dai>
ly bread, has provided that the an
swer shall be equal to the cry; or
when they pray they mean by daily
bread board for two at the Sherman,
the privilege to attend parties three
times week throughout the whole
winter, to take trip to Saratoga in
the summer, and miss no chance at
any other pleasure, however expen-
sive. Let it be that or shred of
that which makes this fatal failing
in the flower of the youth of Ameri-
ca-the men from Harvard and Yale
and all of their fine qu4lity-and the
thoughtful cannot but deplore the ed.
ucation that can so curse the fair
manhood and cause the blossoming
ofyouth to come to such an untimely
end.
LAND MEAsURE.-Every farmer
should have rod measure-a light
pole just l61 feet long, for measuring
land. By little practice he can
learn to step rod at five PAGES, which
will answer very well for ordinary
/ 20 nm 1r-ocI- Al