Rapides gazette. (Alexandria, La.) 1869-187?, 1873-12-20
nl-COasidered Marriages.

In the testimony of Mrs. Kelly, the
mother of the boy who recently committed.
at Washington, ID. c., one of the most das-
tardly murders of the time, she stated that
she was the mother of twenty-one children.
and that upon the fathers side it was bad
race. Although this statement was made
by an illiterate colored woman, it strikes
the keynote of question which is now
receiving the serious attention of medical
men and social scientists on both sides of
the ocean-the question of the excellence
and improvement, physically and morally,
OF the race to come. AS the present social
law of marriage stands, there cannot exist
the shadow of doubt that, in large per-
centage of cases, at least, it has its results
In the ill-considered union of unhealthy
and incompatible temperaments; and the
bringing into this world of a race of sickly
and ill-conditioned children. 1t must be
apparent to any one who has given any at
tentiOn whatever TO the subject, that the
sacred tie of marriage in the United States
is scarcely entered into with that serious
and solemn consideration which such an
important step demands.
Young girls, being left too much to the
freedom of their own wills, are permitted
to contract marriages with young men of
whose previous history they have but lit
tie knowledge, and of whose family and
antecedents, medically speaking, they are
in perfect and total ignorance. In too
many cases these marriages are the result
of a sentimental liking formed before the
Judgment has had time to seal the compact
with respect. A young man marries girl
whose style, or dash, or pretty face en-
chants him for the time. without once stop
ping to consider whether consumption has
never stalked like a skeleton through her
family for generations, or scrOftila. with
all its debilitating complications, is not
now hiding its deadly fangs behind that
rosy cheek. What Is the result of all this
sinful and unhallowed haste ? We need but
search the records of the divorce courts
for an answer uponithe one hand, and the
slckly faces of many mothers and children
upon the other. M. Sedillot, French
physician who has devoted much of his
time to a consideration of this important
question. has declared that the time has
come when prudery or false modesty must
no longer hide the truths of science, or
prevent the proper measures being taken
iot the Improvement and advancement of
tne human family. Ii is admitted by all
phllosophers that certain characters and
faculties, as well as diseases and taints, are
transmitted from one generation to anoth-
er. 1.-The sins of the fathers are visited
upon the children, unto the third and
fourth generation.v
M. Sedillot thinks that one may obtain
valuable Information as to an individuals
real value by consulting his genealogy,
with special reference to intellect. morali-
", vlgor, health, longevity, and social
status, and this might be well, If practical |
pie; but the ways and means of acquiring
sucn Information being in most cases un-
available, even by the family and friends |
Vi intending parties, other means must be |
from the remotest antiquity, the popular |
mind has observed the relation which SUBJ
ssis between grfat size of head and supe- |
nor abilities. Although it might appear |
rather absurd for lady to refuse man i'm |
marriage because his head did not measure |
more than 19.6S5inches, the average mean |
Ior a person of mediocre abilities. still, |
laken with other considerations, this fact |
might weigh something in the scale. 1t |
IS also well authenticated truism that |
marriages observation-disclosures of the same |
slock are injudicious.; producing, in too |
many Instances, unhealthy fruits, and |
ssendlng to lunacy and disease. Three
Mlngs affect the development of the hui
man frame and intellect. A judicious
sainarfiage or the reverse controls the two |
nrst; early training and self-culture the |
last The only practical mode in. which |
such question can be settled, i'm a |
.ountry fettered by so many social bar
.'ers and restraints as the United States.
sssis ssms to be by a reference to medical
IN England, where marriages are more
s;la question of family and expedience than
,n ",.h US, the advantage of looking to the
hhaseecedents of family is apparent in the |
resu.ny appearance of the children and the |
rat ,Japust physique OF the adults. Here,
f,ne fSnere II is question more of emotional |
tsS tts"cy shan race considerations, the statis-
liz. ol large cities, with their Alarming |
'S Oh mortality among children, bear