The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1876-01-30

| A remarkable interesting series of papers
on German Home Life concluded in the
January number of Ffaser's Magaziae On
the subjsct Of marriage in Germany, the
writer says:
"The latest statistics tell Us that marriage,
which is reckoned at 80 per cent in England,
and 81 per cent in Ireland, only reaches 19
per cent ia Germany, and some anx-
iety is felt lin the fatherland at the mani.
fest signs Of a decreasing population The
| subject is one to claim the gravest considers
ton of her busy legislators. Toe hatred OF
compul cory CONSUMPTION, hatred which the
la wars have nov and again famed aim ost
into frenzy, produces a serious etdux OF pop
ulation.
Hans Michels turns FESTIVE, escapes to con-
venient neutral ground, evades con ciption,
and in America or Austria ia is free to marry,
to become householder and prosperous citi.
Zen. The returns of the last census show
that in Prussia proper the decrease of popu-
lation is little short of alarming. Between
lS6l-64 there was increase Of 8409; but be-
tween 1864-67 there was a decrease of IL 922
and between 1871 Of sc, 40. Allowing tor
the loss of life in the last two wars. and for
the Prussian soldiers qnartered in France at
the time of the census, the loss Of population
in the years amounts to so 900. And as tx se
figures are derived from authentic German
sources, it is only fair to presume that they
are, approximmt.l y, correct. Having wit
Dessed the obstructive regulations restricting
persons from entering upon the married
state, a certain blank wonder falls on the
MUD of the outsider, when he recognises, on
the other hand, the. fact that the knot, SO diff.
cult to tie, can bsSloostd with extraordinary
ease.
The bonds that require fifteen thousand
thalers before they conld be recognized as au
thentic, the chains that called tor sucn as.
siduity In forging, are slipped with the calm
est and most careless ease, should any mo-
tive sufficiently strong arise to suggest the de-
STABILITY of such slipplngs. There need b
nothing very scandaious or except. nal in the
Case Alexander unsheaths hi, sword: 8" Our
tempers are incompatible" he says; whirl.
swing, and sIa- b, aud the Gordlan KIN 1t Is
severed. Adelheid discovers an elective
affinity with the sympathetic soul of
her husbands jugend treund. whose manners
and moustache are more congo. ial 10 her fas-
tidious sensibilities than those Of her lawful
spouse. Bring the fateful scissors, she
signs family to tbs three old imme morial ladie.
in waiting; snip, snap, the uncongenlal bonds
are severed in q second.
The matter creates gossip or rather confirms
it, but can scarcely bo said to provoke scan
dial; it is less than niae days wonder; IN
deed, it is no wonder at all, aud lenient So
ciety prudently abstains from Judgment. It
is said that divorce is nowadays looked at
askance from high placer, the official tone of
the Prussian court being ostentatious correct
on matters domestic (witn@ss the now historic
. Dsar Augusta telegrams); but the elasticity
OF German views on such points is not iikoly
to be materially affected by a stern masqne-
rade in the interests of morality, and socially
the parties concerned suffer no injury what
ever. To persons who have lived loug in Ger
many, the examples Of spouses who had DIS
solved their union, and after years of estrange-
ment have been remarried, can not be alto
gether unfamiliar.
The writer remembers case of two broth
ers marrying two sisters (they were from
the German provincedAf Germany changing
partners, and on deatlf removing one OF the
husbands aud one Of the wives, the original
pair (now widowed) were for the second time
united in the holy bonds Of matrimony. 1t
is quite true that the case was exceptional,
but 1t was told with in: Innate csckling, delight
and amusement by an admitting circle of in
duIgent friends.
In the family of the writer a great uncle
seemed to have reached the acme of skilled
practice in the matter of the dissolu-
ton of matrimony. He sat down every
evening of his life to play rubber of
whist with his three divorced wives; they cut
for partners, shuffled, and talked of tricks
and honors with all the gay PHILOSOPHY Of
folks for whom words had no meaning, and
facts no moral. No one bore animoslty to
anybody else; the three ladies had all tried
their hand at it, but they h ID held bad cards;
the luck was against them, and they success
sively threw up the game and awoke to the
that their terrible old General the
was Waterloo many Was much more prac-
ticable rs a rtner al the card table than as a
com panion for life It was merely matter
of mutual accommodation; there was no i'll
will and no resentment; the arrangement Was
conducted in the most business-lik and least
emotional manner Imaginable, and the result
proved to be eminenty sati ,factory to all par
ties
The subject of marriage can not be dis
missed without a brief glance at that supreme
sham called the 'morganatic' marriages.
most miserable shutting compromise sup
posed to have been Invented Tor the preser-
vation of youthful royalties from m.trlm onial
Nine times out OF ten a NOR
ganatic marriage means the left-handed inf.t
uation of grand duke for ballet-dancer,
but not always; and the English mind is apt
to feel intense disgust when an English dukes
daughter marries q small secretary, and is not
allowed to 90 to court in her husbands name.
Nor can we admire the position, when re-
mole prince of the blood marrying lady of
most ancient lineage, brings the bar sinister
into the coat of arms of his children. No
matter that the mother was noble
she ought to have. been royal; fidelity,
purity. and truth avail no hing, her children
can not inherit their fathers styles and titles;
other titles and styles must BE- invented for
them. According to the gospel of herslds'
offices, aud the jArgon of ceremonlals, they
are not officially recognizable. Neither is it a
very pie .sant spectacle when poor young
princelet, insig i6cant among Insignificant
,ies, marrying modestly, wi b his onl, avai'a-
Bile hand, the maiden of his choice, is snatched
from the hearth that was bright, and the b me
hat was vocal WITH shrlll piping trebles, to
give the legal dexter palm to the princess fate
imposes on his Oh 1cure royalty. The sinister
1uion is at an end; it il III vain that the iile-
gal left hand is bedewed wi loving faithful
ears, and casprd with close cllpg'ng kisse-;
re waves it in the wild despair OF final fare