The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1873-08-15
Rather Startling.
From the New Orleans Herald.1

81 tFrom the New Orleans Herald.l
English society has been somewhat
st. .rtled OF late by the tenor of an az
t. e appearing in that highly moral
and critically polished paper, the Sat-
urday Review. Referring to the very
reception given to that no.
ted pOlygamist, the Shah of Persia, by
the women of Great Britain, it sdiscOy-
ers therein a distinct impression in fa-
yOr of the Persian social system, and
sincerely discusses the policy Of it's
adoption as the only avo1dabIe remedy
for the present alarming disparity in
the sexes.
No modern observer can deny the
premises set forth by the Review, that
society is everywhere becoming over
crowded with unmarried women, and
that such state Of affairs, if not re-
leyed, must eventually result in serious
and alarming disaster to our present
social system. AS long as the doctrines
OF Nautilus remain interClicted, and pes
thence and famine restrain their raw
ages, there would really seem to be only
one avenue Of relief open, and that, as
the Review intimates, through the door
of the seragliO.
4tO DICUtdC uldNn Ill SuppOkU Vi
this novel proposition is not only an i'm
on this side of the Atlantic. It says the
fashionable drives are lined with car
riages full of wOmen-man only being
visible in the shape of an occasion
al policeman. The country seats and
summer resorts are destitute of mas
culinity, save in the way of a few
schOOlbOys. Private parties prepOn-
derate with young ladies at the rate of
twenty to one. Dancing, therefore, be-
coming one of the lost arts, that in con-
sequence Of all this London has grown
unmanageable,7 and that
ltls, therefore, only natural that mother of
large and increasing family should find her
symbol in the Shah, who represents the poly
gamlc clement and suggests the one cOnceiv-
able method of providing for our surplus fe-
male population. The politician may see in
him a firm ally, the tinancer gain q con-
cessiOn, but the mother will dream of fresh
woods and untrOdden pastures where the
younger members Of her family may browse i'll
peace.
Now, all this is very alarming, and
we commend it to the consideration of
the fair sex everywhere, not only as the
persons most interested, but as the
proper persons to provide a remedy.
AS the human race develops towards
pC4LCCblOn1 1t lo OuIS udbuIdl bIdb IIS
6highest type should increase in num-
present itself whether an AmazOnian
policy is to rule the civilized word, or
whether it is to degenerate into the
PatriarChal system which f1Ourished in
| the darkest days Of the worlds history.
It is somewhat satisfactory to know
that the present human race will have
nearly passed away before this horrible
| dilemam will demand immediate sOlu-
ton, and if the Saturday Review had only
half the faith i'll pOsterity possessed by
| the Herald, it would be more content tC
| bear the ills we have than fly to others
| that we know not OF.
THE FREE STATE OF LIYINGsTON.-In
| the year 1841, that is thirty-twO years
ago, the Parish of Livingston, that p0r.
tion at least lying above this point
ON the Amite River and back in the di-
rectiOn of what is now the jackson Rail.
road, was sparsely settled and in fact
save probably the neighborhood of the
town of Springfield, which ancient tow
was then in the zenith of it's glory, the
entire country was a dense wilderness
! In those days habitatiOns were, to use {
common phrase, "few and far between
and the once valuable SamhO was al
most unknown. The hardy piOnee:
was wont to wear garments of home
manufacture and on extraordinary Oc.
casions he would inelose his pedal ex
tremeties with shoes of own "get up.
Stock raising was then the chief voca
ton of eye ancient" Livingstonian, as i
is now very much cultivated brancl
of his industry. PEI contra, magic plan
tations were cleared and in full opera
tion in the neighboring parish of Eas
Baton Rouge, where the much prizet
negro property was very predominant
To let a negro decamp and make his es
cape across the Amite was equal to hi
exit to any State north of Mason AM
| Dixon's line, and the wealthy plante
who purchased much of his cattle ant
hogs (for plantation use) from the back
WOodsman would have him deliver th
same on his plantation, for he could no
trust Sambo out of his sight-he dread
ed Livingston as much as any othe
Free State'.n Hence the name so com
monty applied to the Parish of Living
ston and which was first used by the ven
erable H. P. Womack, Esq, to whOr
we are indebted for this information
and up to this day there is not mar
woman or child who does not refer OF
ten with pride to his or her native plac
FsThe Free State of Livingston. ."-[ POI
, Vincent Triune.