The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-03-01
BetrOt;lals.

From the Cincinnati Times and Chroniclel
In the searching inquiry that has of
late been progressing as to the rela-
tiOns of the two sexes toward each
other, there is one phase Of social ex-
istence which has escaped the attention
that it merits, and which, we respect
fully suggest to the heads of the femi.
nine department., needs Q speedy and
thorough reform. We refer to the pc
Rod between proposal and perform
ance known a. the betrothal, or, more
after the custom of Americans, the
engagement Our attention has been
especially drawn to this subject of late,
from proximity to persons thus sit
uated, and our suggestion of reform,
or rather of abolishment, springs from
o benevolent interest in the ameliOra-
ton of human suffering. It would be
perhaps unklnd to cite the smile OF
that period which one condemned for
q capital crime passes between sem
tence and suffocation, but we certainly
shall not 90 too far il we suggest the
peculiar sensations VI jumping Sam.
Patch in the interval between leaving
the platform and striking the water.
There is that unpleasant feeling that
yov'e put your foot in it, and must 60
through whatever comes of it-and
that something will come of it seems
a demonstrable fact. You can't rush
up and take the bull by the horns, but
must await his slow coming, with
an irresistible desire to fly, combined
with lack of power to do it. 1t Is al
ways the hours before battle that are
the hardest; once i'm action it is COM
paratively easy. We remember the
pale cheeks and chattering teeth of
Henry of Navarro before Cahors, and
the white plume floating In the GRIM
son fight within the walls.
The women get along with the
trouble much better than the men.
Is it not the great end of their ex-
istence, and one for which they have
been schoOled from childhood up?
Moreover, they have their trOusseau
to prepare, and there is mucn braiding
of white flannel, and handling Of
paper muslin, and sewing on Of lace,
whose value seems to increase In
proportion to its dirtiness. And then,
this is the season of all others when
it is permissible for them to gush, and
wonderful to see. With much
sOlemnity and secrecy they inform
every one in their immediate neigh
borhOod that they have taken new
chute, and will now press onward in
the path of true wOmankOOd, striving
to be q true belpmate to Charles
Augustus In his path Of fame; thew
know they are weak, they wish they
were better, but the sOlemnity Of the
occasion will move them to greater
deeds. And oh how they ripple and
gush over . neighbours baby how
they dandle and caress Ii fondling Its
L" darby itty paddles and its teeny
tootsie- -fOotsies :" We don't know
what 1t all means-we don't want to
knOw-but it Is very sweet to look
upon.
These things are endurable. But
the man-the engaged man-is the
most pitable creature ON the face 0f
this terrestrisl sphere. A bachelor and
q married man have each . pro-
nounced existence, . determined po-
sition but this hybrid, this connect
ing link, IL an anomalous what-is-it,
fit only for Bsrnum's museum and
DWar1n's anAiyels. Eltner No u IN
love, or he isn't. In the ono case he
is idiotic In the other he IL crazy. He
is unfit for business, and debarred from
sport-a thing to lsugh &C and COM
misserate. Isolated from his own
sex, not daring to approach the other,
he awaits the altar and opens not his
mouth.
We submit that these things should
not be. Rather the days when man
captured his wife, by war or wlle, in
the morning, and married her ut
night Whether the doss be pleasant
or painful, delay is alike foolish. II
the former, the chance Of "slip 'twixt
cup and lip" increases with time; II the
latter the medicine grows all the more
bitter for long waiting.