Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1879-04-17
Unequal Marriages.

\ DOtnV yOatS 49, y ~>~--9
" girl, moving in what was called
the best circles of New Haven, in
| Connecticut, made decided stir by
clipping with an Irish groom, and
now like rash young lady of Hart
ford, the daughter of an Ex-Governor,
has electrified the people OF that city
by going off with her fathers coach
man. lll-assorted matches of this
sort have been frequent of late, and
as they usually bring pain and last
ing modification 10 many innocent
persons. and as commonly turn out
| unhappily for those chiefly concerned.
it is fitting,in considering such events,
to look for their cause and their cure.
Little thought is needed to show
that the cause of these homogeneous
unions is to be found ID great meas
ure in unwholesome literature. The.
stimnlant of this kind is almost pure
ly modern, and it must DO owned is
mainly eoeval with the rise of the
democratic principle. The opposite.
form of ;ncongruity, that i'll which
the man and not the woman, stoops
for partner, is more frequent in old
plays and novels, and for obvious
reasons. In such cases the woman
takes the rank of the man. He does
not sink to her level, but draws her
up to his. King Cophetua makes the
beegar maiden queen. There is no
necessary degradation for either par
ty, although towering elevation for
one OF them. The idea thus indicat-
ed has abundant illustration Ia our
older literature. When society was
arisiocratic, and books and PLAYS
were written for the few, and not for
the many, there was little thought
among the humber ranks OF men OF
lifting an audacious eye to ladies far
above them and little thought among
ladies of descending in this wise from
their own degree. When the tho't
existed it was generally coupled with
distinct recognition of impossihility.
A man might adore woman above
him, but his desire was as that of the
moth for the star. One in such a
plight clearly saw this when he said
love between them was beyond even
imagination "She is so above me in
her bright radiance and collateral
sphere"
But with democracy came in diff.
ferent ideas aud different tales and
dramas to exempify them. a wider
circle was to be catered for and the
self love OF numbers to be flattered.
Such plays as the Lady of Lyons,
which asserts that "love levels all
ranks and lays the shepherds crook
beside the sceptre;" as "Love,' in
which countess" is depicted who
is passionately enamored of "serf;"
as "Ruy Bias, in which the strain on
fitness and probability is pushed 20
the lud:crous by the wild alteration
OF queen for valet; all these
would have been impossible a few
generations ago. They are the gen.
uine outcome OF political enfranchise-
ment, the fruit of those snowy yet
cloudy congratulations that are al.
ways seeking to tack on social analo.
gies to political growths and develop
ments Of course people are not
happy fol- being joined forever with
husbands or wives whose whole life,
training and habits are totally foreign
to their own; and the instinct of
good sense prompts the authors to an
amusing modification even while they
are purveying for the popular appe-
tite. Hence Claude Melnotte be.
comes Colonel Morier, the "Hero of
Lodi" before he really lives with
Pauline az her husband. Huon, the
"serf," is a miracle of knightly grace
and honor, and is not only freed but
ennobled in the sequel. Ruy Bias is
so amazingly clever that be outshil1s
Crichton, and beats William Pit"
Thus the unusual character of these
personages is fully admitted in each
instance. But the lesson they teach is
seldom taken with the qualification
and here certain mischief is done
by plays in fashion that has count
less parallels in current novels. The
influence exerted by swarms of sto-
ries of the "Aurora Floyd" school
need not be dwelt upon. Merely to
name such books is at once to sug-
gest how il is that romantic young
girls are SO often led astray by their
inculcations, and allured into life of
misery by the silly caprice OF an hour.
Another cause for these inauspic-
uous marriages lies in what has
grown to be an unpleasant and om-
nous characteristic of American life,
the habit: namely of disrespect and
disobedience TO parents and general
ly the habit of despisin seniority and
the wisdom that experience has
hitherto usually been supposed 10
bring At one of our "female colleg-
es" the other day two children of if
teen and eighteen actually walked
off and got married without a word
to their parents, and we believe,
utterly against their will We are
justified in saying, however cory
we may be TO say it, that the gener-
al tone of many young persons OF
both sexes who are bred at some
much praised Institutions Of learn
ing gives rise to the fear that fipan-
cy and self-assertion is taught them
rather than modesty and reverence,
A fair share of spirit and indepen-
dcnce is becoming in all persons,
young or old; but The habitua air of
assurance end of SOOTHING at years
and authority so often affected by
contemporary youth is among the
most disagreeable and perilous signs
of the times This spirit and the ig-
norance and folly which precipitates
unequal matches are very happily
satirized in III. ID. s. Piuafore.'
The stage is discharging proper
function when il ridicules social fol-
lies, and especially when these follies
are, 10 a measure of its own ma
king. The topman, Ralph Rack
straw is made captain the merry bu.
ietta before be gets his Josephine;
and thus the satire on such peioes as
the Lady Of Lyons" is rounded into
felicitous completion. Perhaps if
y