The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1883-07-11

l4tEGASSr
wRECk or DOMESTIC H~AFFlNE~7-
You -av | am talking about MAZDA
ra.-ar. or Central Africa, or Russia
NOR, corrupt than PARIS. You are,
erhaps. a supplemented man, and |
have gone To and from your home -
ouietly that YOU have not heard the low
mutterinrs OF this demon OF phall>m.
He has left Madagascar. where deceucy
i inst beginning 10 ind a ioolhold. and
successfully engaged il founding a
petty dynasty within i stones throw OF
vnur own house. He WAS driven from
Phrygia. Greece. Rome aud from the
wiywams OF the Americans saSa.es,
NOTABLY. the ~~euninole> Of Florida; but
he Is an honored teacher in New York,
and his mysterious rites are numerous
~ attended. ii we may Judge by he un-
utterable details of these seven cases
of divorce. His temple Is not OF Chat
ham square. where the refuse Of all ma
tionalities is gathered. nor yet in certain
parts OF the Bowery. where crime hides
itself from the garish light OF day. but
Oh the avenue. to have a house fronting
on which i the last a|ttainable end OF
the highest earthly ambition OF some OF
US.
Now the wonder of this whole matter
: that pure NJ girls can be fascIna-
ted by a man 10 ought never to throw
his shadow . their path 4 marriagca-
ole girl who feels herself 10 be IN the
market Is not in the slightest degree
shocked because her lover dare not tel
her where he goes when he leaves her:
On the other hand, lbs knot0n impUrty
seems 70 be an ddt}.f charm IA her sight.
She has no been taught 10 set any high
value on virtue. neither does she regard
it as indispensable in a husband.
so she have money, she ceases TO ask
questions. IL i, better SO. perhaps, be
cause if she were at all curious she would
never marry. O,d-maidism Is the pur
gatory of social life. and 20 rather than
live in purgatory, she moves into a pal
atial residence in the nameless region be
yond. Who does not know that In the
set to which she belongs simple honor
and fidelity are regarded as slow, and
that the appetite for excitement Is 80
~quickened by the condiments Of vice that
excitement is tasteless and lnsipid unless
it is highly seasoned with immortality.
Nay, the whole community, for that
matter, is wallowing in the pit. In dra
matte representations, for example,
Shakespeare is adored with a sham ado
ration, but never listened 10 with ever
tolerable patience. In the rivalry be-
tween Shakespeare and a >eml-lewd play.
the bard of Avon is voted out of the
house The sensational drama in wklch
the heroine totters in the first act on the
dizzy edge of a vicious precipice and IN
the last act falls into the tathomless
depths of domestic infide)ity, rouses u
to the highest pitch of enthusiasm.
Nothing pays SO well in a play as dis
guise ed indecency; and if the disguise be
very thin, we DO not allow our scruples
to ma our enjoyment.
This Moloch worship, which demands
that mammas hal turn their daughter,
into the open and fiery and consuming
arms of an holy marriage, is far more
prevalent than we think. Young girls
are drilled into the belief that an elegant
mansion on a corner lot IN a matrimonial
inferno is preferable to an honor snug
gerry on a side street in the matrimonial
heaven. Money must be had at any cost
and since the ouly merchantab'e article IL
her possession is herself, the young CIR
gets the largest price the market offers
and runs the risk with the man who pay.
it. | use the word risk, but that i'm
plies a chance of happiness, and th'
chance is SO small hat | may as well be
little more exact, and says that she get,
the largest price, endures the new rela
tion~hip for awhile, and then either seek.
her own pleasure in her own way, or APP,
plies to IA divorce court Cor relief. 4
blasted life with fashionable society, O
allmony as IA last resort, is the history o
scores.
" hen girls become ambitious for hap,
plncss, rather than cash, things vii
change and not till then. When they
want homes, instead of establishments
when they fall in love with a man, in
stead of a pocket book, when pomp anG
show and sham cease to hold them in
vile thralldom, then we shall look upor
wlfely virtue and manly honor; but We
are all wrong as yet.
Il do not croak and do not belong tC
the family of ravens. | am simply tel.
ing a truth which no one wants to hear.
and one which every one acknowledge.
to himself, while he denies it to tn,
world.