Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-03-11
The WOMAN QUESTION.
" PERSONAL Liberty and the Mar
rfage Relation.

From Demorest's Monthly.l
have lived in different countries anC
in the varied relations commonly sus
tanned by women, for half the allotted
years accorded to the life of man, and
have never yet found one that gave m,
personal liberty. On the contrary, tho
relations which increased my happiness
increased my duties and my responsible
tiles, SO as to leave personal freedom ou
of the question; yet / rejoiced in them
and accepted them, and would not have
exchanged them for freedom which car
only exist in isolation. The truth al
which / am endeavoring to arrive is
simply this: that duty is about all we
have to do with in this world, and that il
this were done rights would very readily
take care Of themselves. But when
some people do not perform their duty,
what's to be done then2 Why, we can at
least go on and perform ours. Two
wrongs never made a right, and their
shortcomings cannot excuse wrong-do-
ing on our part. The moral conflict
is occasioned by the substitution of
individual rights for individual duties.
The assertion of rights arms individ-
uals against each other, while the
recognition of duties draws them nearer
together. The individual sovereignty
and woman-rights theory is respon-
sible for all the sophistries Of the mod
ern free divorce and anti-marriage spec
ulations, and otsonly for the misery
which these ideas have introduced
among families, but for the disruption
wmcn Is threatened 10 tne entlre iamily
reiat,on = tnat one diVine lnstitution I
whlch is stamped with the slgn-manuai OF
uod hlmseli-whieh no neglect or disre-
gard OF lts sacred obiigations cam utterly
peryert or destroy-which lives conse,
Grated IN the hearts OF ali good men ana
women as the highest form OF social III, Iiie
which humanity has yet known Inc
union OF the sexes upon some OASIS OF
other is natural and inevitable. Mar
rage IS the only one which we know OF
that meets the eXigencies OF the case,
and Its honor, It's safety, and lts happi-
ness, are all founded In It's permanence
and IN the sense OF obligation and re-
sponsiblllty which attaches to IT.. Ihe
possibilities OF marriage, It's perfectlon
where the conditions are IN harmony WIN
each other, have never yet been 1uliy
realized, and the still greater mistake has
been made of supposing that mere change
would cure those evils which result from
the radical defects In individual organi-
zation. There are, undoubtedly, persons
whose influence and atmosphere aggra-
Yates and stimulates our natural tenden-
cies to evil, and 1t is doubly unfortunate
If we find ourselves allied to such persons
by marriage; but, in nineteen cases out
of twenty, where this occurs it is our own
fault--it is because marriage has become
with women profession, business by
which livelihood was to be obtained, I
that any chance is seized which
offers itself, and thus great mistakes are
made, the consequences of which must
be borne. But, asks the questioner,
=" Are the consequences of such mis-
take to be borne forever2" There is no
help for it; the consequences of mistake
must be borne as long as they last by |
some one or other and it is one of the
evidences of the shallowness of the indi
doctrine, that we are so de-
pendent upon each other, our interests
are so closely interviewer with those of
others, that the consequences of our mis-
takes cannot be confined to ourselves,
but must be borne by others, and that
his enlargement of their responsibility
IS generally in proportion to the strength
)f their sympathy and the greatness of
heir humanity Marriage was not insti-
.uted for the benefit of individuals alone.
Its great object was to found the family,
md the moment its obligations are as
,umed its duties commence, and there
lfter ought to control or influence every
act of our lives. The fault Of
he free divorce system is this: that it
would involve thousands and tens of
thousands in all the evils of separation,
without adequate cause. Few people !
AN live together for any length Of time !
Without disagreements arising between !
hem; often they are small, and proceed
rom trivial causes. / have frequently
rendered that more separations did '
lot take place during the early :