Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-12-20
WHY DON'T THEY MARRY!
p MatrimensaD Essay


From the London Examiner.l
1Why don't they marry2" is a ques-
ton that young ladies' and anxious nam
mas Otter ask and nev YER vii Cease ask
ing until the one only satisfactory an
swer is given, "They have married. AS,
however, that happy time seems. at
present, about as distant as the millen-
hum, we must remain content with
less decisive answer.s We are aware that
this Is q niolnentous topic from which
the rash and profane should be warned
off. 1t profoundly affects two great in
.terests-the hearts of young ladies and
the pockets of their papas. These two
interests find their deepest expression in
the most ineradicable passion of the hu-
man mind, the maternal anxiety for the
settlement Of female children. AiWho
can conceive the joy that would run
through society were the mighty secret
discovered and matrimony made uniyer-
salP To convert all the marriageable
Young men into Benedicts would be an
achievement compared, with which the
discovery of the philosophers stone
would be child dsplay. Such projects are
tooIgreat for US; be ours the humber and
less grateful task to point out one OF the
chief impediments to matrimony. This
imposes the duty of looking at the sub
ject In its least lovely aspect, in its pro-
sale troubles and inglorious cares. Very
different is the one of the novelist.
These thihgs8he keeps mostSrehgiously
ont of sight. His readers are presented
With fascinating pictures that neat the
imagination. They feel grateful to him
for the illusions, although they are not
helped one step toward realizing the
blissful visions upon which their imagi-
nation feeds. Now, if we had no stom-
achs, if nature had kindly furnished us
with an epidernis proof against the ex-
tremities of cold and heat, The treatment
of the novelist would be as comprehen-
sive as it is delightful. 2 But our constir
tuition is very different. In the lower
classes, as is we'll known, the marriage
rate has an intimate connectonwith the
price of wheat in the highest money
hasa great deal to do not with the desire
for matrimony always, but certainly
with the execution Of it. 80
Who are accustomed to complain that
men don't marry? Not the9 working
class. A mechanic Just ,opt, ,of. his ap-
lprehticeship is as able to support a wife
as he is likeiyto be at any future period
of his life. Unless he hopes by saving
money to rise OUT ffhis class and be-
come an employer, he has little induce
Enent to refrain from marriage, II IS
where gentility begins, and, the banker
ing after gentility, that the disinclina-
ton of men to pass under the yoke be-
comes apparent; and the more genteel
the grade, the stronger does the reluc-
tanee become. Shopkeepersand clerks,
who have aspirations toward, il not al
finities with higher circles, hold out
long Doctors, as become creatures
higher in the scale of being, reach matu-
rity considerably later. AS for young soil
eitors and barristers, they seem almost
like the angels an heavens who neither
marry nor are given in marriage, al
though, we. fear, there the comparison
ends bEEVbF 4ffB,t, a.t
: While in the ascending scale there is
growing unwillingness to contract mar
riage, the usefulness of the wife appears
TO diminish. The wife of a workingman
Il cook, ,housemaid, nursery-maid, every
thina. all the manifold forms of service
developed by the division of labor are
summed up in her own person, When
the poorcwoman, as is too often the case
has a large family, her work is, in pro
nnrrtion to her strength, more severe than
her husbands. She costs less than a
servant, son that, if she dies, leaving
Young children, her widower has no al.
tentative buta omarry again. II we
measure her services in money they Will
compare favorably with her husband s;
indeed she contributes to the common
expenses, if not to the same amount, at
least equally according to her strength.
Can the same be said OF wife IN the
middle class?a Her position is greatly
superior. She is infinitely better pro
yided with the necessarles, and has
almost exclusive enjoyment of the
Injuries of life. She is released from
domestic drudgery, her chief serious oc-
cnpation being to look after servants.
The pay has grown better, while the
work has become less. Does not the
lady get more, and give less than the
workingman's wife? But, it may be said,
the same is true of her husband COM
pared with the workingman. 1t is one OF
the stock reproaches of proletariat ora
tors against the present distribution OF
property, that the harder thelwork the
iesslthe pay. There is, however, q clear
distinction. Where men are highly paid,
their work must be, of a kind that few
are actually found competent to per
form. or itis such that no one can do II
without along and expensive prepara-
ton. Great artists command their own
price, because the public prefer TO COM
pete for the works Of the best men,
rather than ia, remain content with the
productions of those who are only a hit
lie way from the 'front.' A doctoris more
highly paid thanapapothecary because
the profession involves a more expen-
sive {e(iucationg But these reasons
do not seem to have much appll-
cation to women. Every girl is, or is
fondly believed to be, able to. manage a
household; and the education OF girls IS
neither so protracted nor so costly as
that of boys. Women, and especially
literary women, when given to magnify
ing their office, may demur TO tins view.
We may be told that the management OF
two or three servants is q gigantic under
taking. 1WomenOpf an active disposl-
tionlmake work for themselves wherever
they are; but their energy, when con-
fined within the four walls of home, is
rather mischievous; having no sufficient
occupation, they "meddle and muddle;
they worry the SERVANTS they keep the
house in a turmoil, and achieve barren
perfection by sacrificing all real com
fort Viewing the wife as a housekeeper
we fear her value cannot be rated very
high. There are few housekeepersEho
are not very much cheaper. If a man
marries forthe sake of housekeeping, be
has q decidedly poor bargain. "a VI
Mark Twafn-Jenkins and VIII
n a--a@--- helmsnOhes