New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-03-23
YOUTHFUL MARRIAGES.
,Is~ They are damaged in sew 30

tA8W Hty uEC
Burleigh, who is a Clergyman, and not
statesman" writes from New York TO tho
Boston journal that early marriages are
the fashion of the day. Boys from sixteen
to eighteen appear in the courts with o VIII:
of habeas corpus to get possession OF .
child wife. Signals hang out from fashion.
able boarding schools, which tue initiated
understand. The first-class hotels are kept
IN estate of alarm over missing maidens who
run of with lads. No punishment. No
license and no certificate are necessary 10
make valid a marriage. Though divorce ~
a difficult thing 10 that State, the pathway
to matrimony is as broad and the gate is aS
wide az the road that leads to destruction.
Any priest, magistrate or justice may marrp
a party, whether any of them reside in the
State or not. Marriage is % civil contract,
and if entered into by the parties in ths
| presence of witnesses, it is as valid and
binding as if performed by the rabbi az
Jerusalem or the holy father at Rome.
Just outside of Brooklyn 10 a beautiful
| suburb known as Bay Ridge. One would
travel thousands OF miles without finding n
p~rettier spot. It lies on . high eminencs
overlooking New York bay. and is occH.
pied by the elegant dwellings OF the mes"
chant princes of the city. Ihe place has
been stirred 20 it6 p~rofoundest depths by .
wedding that has Just come Oft. The par.
ties belong to aristOcratic households, and
their ages are eighteen and seventeen. The
bridegroom is an understood lai, green and
retiring. He ~alks regularly to school,
with MS books under one arm and hls
luncheon under the other, LII a tin box. He
bears as little appearance OF a young man
matrimOnially Inclined as = cosset grazing
on the hillside.
The intimacy between the W vas Hoe
pleasant to tho young lady's family. anu
she was forbidden to keep company with
her adorer. This only Intensified matters
and led TO clandestinc meetings. IhS
young lady was sent 60 Europe. The tS"
Their OF the young man. who favored tho
match, sent his boy abroad on the steameS
which sailed the day after. When the
young lady and her family reached the doch
at Liverpool, the first sight they saw vas
the form of the terrible young man awaiting
the arrival of the party. His vessel waa
the ~swifter, and reached Liverpool tirsto
He quietly but persistently followed the
company through their continental wana
behring's. He was always bound to the same
place-was ready at the exact time-neveS
missed a train, but, when he could bride
! the guard, got into the same compartment
! lodged in the same hotel, had q seat at the
| same table, and by an adroit feeling of the
steward, had his tea and toast en- fnmieo
He was ignored and snubbed, and treaso
ed with disdain; but all 20. no purpose.
He stood against the car door when
the party got out, and was in sight when
the train stopped. The family fastened
back, and the young man, nothing 10th, fol-
lowed. The elandestine interviews were re.
newed, and the family at last gave theis
j.! reluctant consent to the marriage. The ano
nouncement contained the ominods words.
mo cards" The child wife followed the
boy husband 80 his home. The youngsteF
| has left school and given III snowballing.
and the parties will soon settle down TO the
sober business of housekeeping. The mis-
chief is, that the example is contagious, and
rumor has it that half a dozen young ladies
are locked up in their chambers 10 keep
| from an elOpement.