The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-05-11
= NEW THEORY OF MARRIAGE.
From the Nation.l


What our refor1rers plead for here. and what
a good many of them practice, is simply easy
divorce; in other words, the dissolution OF the
marriage contract by judicial tribunal when
ever either OF tho parties alleges that ne or
she has had enough OF it. To deny person
this, they say, is to cut him of from the "pur-
suit Of happiness" which is we'll known to De
one Of the s'inalienable rights" This ls, u
must be admitted, tolerably advanced ground
and they have greatly enjoyed standing on u,
but they will be PANIED to hear that a FrenGn Sa
sister has got ahead of them and now leaus
the march on that line; and she IS not Que VI
the ignorant declalmers, or fanatics OF ,no
ssRedoute," but an exceedingly acute tnlnnei ls.e
and powerful writer, OF whom Vely 10 20 20
nort,on of our woman's rights champions mere
mioht urobably take lessons in logic ana fnets
orc Va mean Madame Clemence roger, OF
whose afle argument against the rlgnt o! coD-
h;not;on amongst the working classes, N the
December number of the journal des Ecoho-
mistes. we spoke some time ago. her remedy
for the evils Of the woIklngmans nS so1athoS %n hos
nroduced itin long article in the March num-
ber OF the same periodical:
Her remedies are, first, the revival of the old
trade corporations of the middle ages, but on
different basis. master and workman TO be IN.
cluded in them; secondly, the "mobolzatlon OF
the worlingman, that is, the supply OF every
pOSSlDlo faculty. IOr his moSiuS hoiu PiaSS W
place in search OF work; and under this head
she condemns in strong ;erms all movements
which encourage him to become an owner OF
house or real estate, as this mode OF investing
his savings naturally ties him down to me
place. But then the workingman cannot be
mobilized very much under the best OF cIrcum-
stances unless you also mobilize ms 1amny,
and the mobilization" OF wife ana cnlIqren
involves great expense and trouble. upon
reading her statement of its dlfhcuties, we
felt that she was flce to face with an lbsur-
mouptable obstacle, but we are mist aken;
Here she takes her great leap ahead, " and
leaves Ben Butler, Ben Wade, and the Whoie
fraternity Of our social explorers literally. IN
the language Of the turf, nowhere. her mode
Of mobilizlng the family Is 10 aDolsn lne
family. Woman, she says, needs and must
always have permanent abode. She cannot
rove, as man can and must do; therefore let
her not be tied to any man In particular, or any
man to her.
I'VE must then," she says, mobilize the
family, destroy it's ind'ssoubility. This is the
only way Of saving it from shipwreck;lt is only
it's falling into complete desnltude." So she
proposes that the marriage contract should be
dissolved on the simple request Of either ot
the parties, and that there should be instituted
kind of marriage corresponding to the con-
fdrreQt2o Of the Romans, sufficient to iesitl-
mlze tie woman's position and the birth OF her
children, but not binding on her or her hus'
band longer than he or she pleases. The wo-
man being the more permanent person, Ma.
dame Royer proposes that she, and not
the father, should give her nume TO
tha children aud be the legal head OF
the family, tie father being relegated to
secondary position, and constituting IN domes-
tic lite kind Of shadowy auxiliary, of no moral
influence or weight. and not necessarily snown
to his children; and the mother taking as many
husbands in succession as her fancy or clrcum:
stances suggested; the result beng. We need
hardly say. perfect happiness, purity and free
dom for all concerned, and an end, total and
complete, to the gu ,rreliugs, falsehoods and
oppression OF the present system. The scheme
is worked out with much ability. and its bear
ings on property and other social arrangements
are fairly considered.
The editor of the Journal half apologies for
inserting this portion OF the article, which he
STYLES biement teIcentriQue;' but be justl.
fes himself on the ground that his readers are
s.philosophers" to whom "the most delicate
combinations" may be submitted with safety:
We commend it to the careful consideration OF
our American reformers. Many OF them will
naturally peruse it with modification, for there
is no denyipg that Madame Roger Is. at pies
ent, far in advance ofthem all. The most fear
less of them has never proposed to make tho
mother the head Of the3amily. giving her name
to the children, and consignng the tatner 70
q nomad existence, in which his domestic rela-
Iations would bear the closest possible resem-
blance to those OF domestic animals and
through which indeed the condition OF the
whole human race would have made one step
toward the freedom and exemption from de-
grading conventional bonds and RESTRICTIONS
now enjoyed by the brute creation.