Worcester daily spy., 1872-12-06

An immense audience greeted Mrs. Liyermore
on her appearance in the Mechanics course, at
Mechanics hall, last evening. The hall was
filed in every part, and large number of extra
seats were brought in and occupied. An organ
concert, by Mr.. Wm. B. Stockwell of Milbury,
served to occupy the time during the seating of
the audience, and at its conclusion Mrs. Liver
more was introduced.
After promising that, whether or not the Dar-
wnian theory be correct, man was originally a
very rude animal, both in tastes and manners,
she gave an interesting account of the customs
pertaining to the marriage ceremony among an
cient nations some of which have come down
to the present day. In those days woman was
regarded as the slave and inferior of man, and
even now the laws Of civilized nations recognize
man as superior to woman. In support of this
idea we hear it urged that God created man
in his own image" and that there is nothing
said about women. This idea is taken from
Milton rather than from the Bible In Genesis
this statement quoted above is inseparably Joined
with the words, "male and female created he
them" There is no isolated life. Every
created thing has some natural affinity
toward some other thing. la addition to
this natural law there is, or should be, at the
basis Of marriage the fundamental principle of
love.
There is great complaint made of the un.
happiness resulting from marriages. This is
mistake. Marriage does not increase unhappi-
ness. OF course there is unhappiness in the
marriage relation as there is out of it, but mar
riage is not its cause. 1t is matter of wonder
that there is not more unhappiness considering
the haste with which matches are sometimes
made and consummated
the speaker objected strongly to the popular
idea Of "lallng in love-" and said that mar
riage should he the result only of careful and
well considered use of judgment of both parties.
In illustration of the manner in which many
matches are made, she drew truthful but
amusing picture Of the meeting, the wooing,
the rehearsal of the marriage ceremony, and
finally the marriage ITSELF
between an average couple of conventional
young people. BY way of parenthesis, Mrs.
Livermore observed that when people told her
that they had been married ten, twenty, or thirty
years, and never had u quarrel, she accepted the
statement with large discount. She could
imagine two idiots living thus, but not two
sensible people with wills Of their own Some
sound, sensible advice, drawn from twenty.nine
years experience of married life, was here given
to young couples to act upon, when family Jars
occur.
The speaker then took up the subject of di-
vorces, saying that great portion Of them are
demanded by the wives, and the causes are
drunkenness, neglect and iceniiousness. The
primary cause of this lies in the fact that society
recognize two standards of morality, one for
man, and the other for woman. The crop of
wild oats which young men Of the present day
are expected to sow, will surely return for the
reaping later in life, and to ensure happy mar
riages it is necessary that boys and yolng men
should be held to the same standard of temper.
ance, purity, and chastity TO which their sisters
are expected to conform. 1t is said that great men
seldom marry happily. 1t is not that they do
not marry happily, but that after marriage
they do not strive for happiness as they do for
fame. The speaker showed in nearly all these
cases, instancing among others the married lives
Of Charles Dickens and Henry Clay, that the
man was the offending party. She also defend
ed Iantippe as much abused character in his
tory, and drew picture of the personal charac-
ter Of Socrates widely different from that gen.
orally understood. She said in preparing the
lecture she had meant to speak at length upon
the subject or doctrine of free love, but she con-
sldered that after the manner in which it had
been publicly treated by its prestess il was I'M
clean. The only argument fit to meet the state
ment that woman suffrage aud free love are
identical is fiat denial. Free divorce Is even
worse than free love. The frequently repeaf cd
sentence, 81 loved him once" is Il libel on the
name of love. Whoever loves once, loves, as
God loves forever.
Mrs. Liyermore spoke in an earnest, womany
way OF the evil effects OF Il great portion of the
popular literature OF the day, as 1t relates to love
and marriage, giving as examples the poem,
eStolllils tue virtues OF jim BludsO, who had
"one wife In Natchez under the hill
And another one here In Pike"
ana nc story OF Kit Carson, who stole bride
ana lelt her TO die in prairie fire, while he
n a0ue away on horse stolen from her father
The lecture closed with an eloouent description
OF the true man and true woman, and an appeal