Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-06-18

ANNN ~ AAAAAL VI NNNM MNMINMNMNNA WM I'D. \
character Of their mission, which, when /
In any way connected with the life or
Of their associates or &C
is apt 10 be made tire5ome.
missionaries come within /
this category, and they are likely 20 be
In presentation Of their views |
and the advantages Of what they adyo-
cate. Naturally, most Of them are |
women, and married women for II they !
were not already wives, they would be |
restrained by delicacy from expressing |
themselves warmly In favor Of what |
they had not tried, lest Il might be sus- |
pected that they we're over-Willing for |
the experiment But being wives they |
can not be accused-unless they chance /
to have marriageable daughters or rela- |
tives-of interested motives or studied |
designs. When their eulogies Of we'd |
lock can be referred 10 any personal |
cause, they are liable 10 be called, and |
not unjustly, match-makers, between
whom and matrimonial missionaries
there is so much difference that the two
should never be cOnfounded.
A matchmaker may be said 10 be en-
listed for a campaign; a matrimonial
missionary Is In for the war; and when
the present war Is over, for the next
war, and the war after that. Her serv-
ice, indeed, is for life. She viii never
cease 10 recommend marriage, geRer-
ally and particularly, abstfactly and
cOncretely, in season and out Of season.
Her faith in the institution Is mistaken
and unshakable, whatever her outward
observation or her received condolences
may have been. She is an enthusiast on
that point, and so interested IN it as to
be forever dartiug off from other topics
10 take up the one she loves.
1t is the first duty and the last of every
man and woman TO get married. There
is not, there can not be, any valid eX-
cuse for celibacy-nOt poverty, nor dis
ease, nor disinclinatiOn, nor bad habits,
nor want Of affection; each OF any of
which is, in unbiased eyes, accounted
an excellent reason. She knows better
Marriage is a panacea. If a young
woman be an invalid, it will cure her.
II a young man be dissipated, it will re-
form him. If he be poor, it will insure
his pecuniary independence. II he be
opposed on principle to the condition,
or II he be convinced of his unfitness for
Il, experience will disclose his mistake.
Does a young woman confess that she
loves no one, has no such feelings as
would warrant her in accepting hus-
band, she is told that this is all foolish
romance; that when marriage comes,
love follows, with happiness and all the
rest.
The missionary is often fortunately
welded herself, which explains her ten
dency to misapprehension of marriages
in general. Seeing the world through
her own rosy spectacles, she can not be-
ieve that it does not reflect her happy
state. You may mention any number
of inharmoniOus alliances, of deep spir-
itual tragedies that have resulted from
mis-mating, but she will not credit you.
You have been misinfOrmed, and il you
assert your positive knowledge, your
| Judgment has certainly been warped.
| She may concede that such a thing as
connubial unhappiness exists, but it is
clearly the fault Of the parties them
selves. They need not have been un-
happy unless they were so resolved.
The kind of marriage she recommends
she actually recommends any and
every kind-Would not and could not
globe may be wrong, but the divine in.
stitution, as she likes to name it, is un.
questionably right, and even very i'll
marriage is better, she is sure, than nc
marriage at all.
Even when the missionary is not sucE
wife as she claims that nearly al
women are, when she is notOriously un
suited to her husband, and he to her,
she is not less persevering and ardent il
her labors. She contends for wedlocl
and its Joys, whatever her private suf
ferings in the cause; she not only losei
no opportunity to chant its praises; sht
turns all times into opportunity, and i
as loyal to the thing that tortures hel
as if it brought her unending ecstacy
J Perhaps she has such faith IN wha
should be that she refuses absolutely Il
put trust in what is.
There are persons who think her inn
PEELED by malice; that, being wretchec
herself through matrimonv, she would
like to see others wretched by the SAINT
means. But they probably do her in
Justice. Her own sad experience doe
not mar her faith in, or her admiration
for, wedlock. Having missed her des
tiny by some deficiency which may We
be made good, it would be a sovereign
satisfaction to have her free friends en-
Joy what has by uncomfortable cir
cumstance been denied to her. 1t i
really benevolence which moves he
connubial springs. She is more re
signed to her domestic incompatibiitie
when she reflects that her tireless ef
forts have been expended IN directing
the mind of others in the path, as sh
conceives, of true felicity. Her per
sonal disappointment is sOftened by tn
;; thought that the many have realize
their radiant dreams.
She is absolutely sincere in her cOuI
,, sells and endeavors, and nobody az
auainted with her will question her eT
; ergy and resolution. She would no
? could she have her way, leave maide
! OF bachelor on earth. She would hav
the whole world arranged in conjugi
pairs. She would admit no single pei
pie to her paradise; indeed, it would !
vain, for, without marriage, there coul
: be no paradise. Her confidence
unions under all circumstances may
. beautiful; but her manner of expires
Z ing it is so ceaseless and frequently
inappropriate that she bores her a
ouaintances exceedingly. Even ma
: rage may be worn threadbare as
!. theme the interest of the subject, lii
: the interest Of the thing, may be e
hansted.
: 1t is more than embarrassing for 81
gle persons to be everlastingly urged
do what they have proved by their Ii
= they are opposed to doing. Despi
their general respect for the nissionar
4 they grow to hate her eternal solo
: one string. There are here, and
1 every city, hundreds of estimable won
= en- N1hnsa society Is made WearisOm