The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-02-23
MARRIAGE.


TTOW ApptetOHS OOUFUut
Marriage! No one cares for them now.
Paul and Virginia are transformed into Darby
and Joan. Benedick has forgotten his tooth
ache, and Beatrice smiles at the story of
Hero death and resurrection-events which
sealed her fate as well as her cousin's-with
the melancholy conviction that somehow she
was compelled to yield to power far more
potent than her own sweet will.
And here the hard and unpleasant truth
NAV as well be stated-namely, that mar
riages occur in accordance with large general
facts, over which individuals can exercise no
authority, and that in numbers they are in no
wise affected by the temper ana wishes of the
people. This first fact about marriage is not
only prosaic, but humiliating. Shall not
these people choose companions for life, and
listen to the clerical "What God hath Joined
together let no man put asunder, at such
time as they may mutually agree upon? By
no means. The law says they shall do nei-
ther of these things and lhe popularity of
this law is that it cannot be violated. Further
more, all who desire it will not be permitted
to marry. What is to be said of such immiti-
gable tyranny as this ? Not marry when we
choose, and whom we choose Not to be
consulted as to whether we shall marry or
not What is life worth if these things are
to be decided without our knowledge or con-
sent? Not much, perhaps; but we might just
as well learn the disagreeable fact at once,
and submit to it. Nature is fond of cheats,
and plays her charlatanry irrespective Of per-
sons
'NIen are the sport of circumstances, when
The circumstances seem the sport Of men,"
Youth has its illusions, and middle age its
hallucinations, wherefore these teachings of
statistics may go hang. Does not Romeo
actually know that he chooses Juliet in pre-
ference to Rosalind Is it at all probable
I,ok IL hoxr
with Caliban, if she had never met the ship
wrecked Ferdinand Where and what is this
tricksy Puck that makes maidens see as he
wills, and transforms Demetrius and Lysander,
subject to no law save his own? Alas this
plodding and prosaic statist, this withered
and bespectacled mathematician, will prove to
you that Romeo is mistaken, that Miranda
and Ferdinand are both controlled by the
superior provision of Prospero, and that Puck
is, after all, nothing bat the personifed Price
of Corn. These illusions and hallucinations
are results of the operations of law, and we
cannot disturb them, though we pile formula
on formula, and equation upon equation,
until the revolving earth is light as a feather,
compared with the weight of the argument
Per contra, what cares passion for the multi
plication-table, or love for the differential
calculus? A fco for you, law of statistics
Nevertheless, Maud commits an unintentional
perjury Wu6u Sic NONb hubDullA oLtiA 10
the man of her choice, and we all know that
Adolphus Fitzherbert will repeat Romeos
blunder.
Leaving the domain of fancy, we find the
plain statistical facts concerning marriage
running somewhat in this wiser
The average age of women, when they
marry, is 25'4G years; and, of one hundred
I who reach this age, twenty-one will never
marry. With men it fares differently; for,
strange as it may seem, more women than
men get married, and, of one hundred of the
latter who reach the marriage age of 29'5
years, twenty-five will die bachelors. Thus,
about one fifth of our people are doomed to
die wedded, whether they prefer it or not.
NOw,ithe marriages that occur in New York
number, year by year, about nine thousand
two hundred and eighty-eighteen thousand
five hundred and sixty persons-and for
every one of these marriages there will at
some time be left widow or widower, for il