The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1888-05-18
CONCERNING MAKHIAGE.
A Sensible Essay in the New York
Herald on the Subject.

The protest of the Hebrews OF
Columbia, s. c., against the marrl-
age OF young people without Their
parents consent strikes at a grave
social wrong. 1t seems that a Bap-
list clergyman recently united a
thirIeen-year.old Hebrew girl to a
Christian without her parents' APP
prevail. The Hebrews resent and
denOuuce this.
Nothing does more TO \iliate the
sacredness of marriage than TO con
tract it in a needless manner.
There is no n act within the pow
er of man or woman which so deep
" affects personal happiness and
the peace of society. And unless
we surround marriage with its pro
per safeguards and dignity, deal
ing with ii as a burden and apt 10
degenerate into crime.
We are taught that whenever a
young man sees a ribbon rustllng
IN the wind, or a young lady sum-
mons a smile to some lads peach
down cheeks, it means marriage.
This foolish philosophy we learn
from popular novelists and often
from popular clergymen. What
volumes of nonsense are talked
and written about true love and
the holyt affection; stern fathers
holding their daughters for mon
ey managing mothers selling their
children for gold ; pure affections
ignored for gam! Parents have a
voice in what concerns their chill
dren-health, education, comfort,
amusements, opportunities, future;
they live, strive, slave, work, die
for their children /; but in marriage
the most important-we are
taught that the affections are holy
and parental interference is tyran-
ny. For a young girl to run away
with some clerk, or the young man
to carry a maiden from the home
where she is the centre OF a king
dom of love, devotion, reverence,
to struggle with poverty, is to be-
come the social hero of the hour.
And the world %applauds, saying
with Emerson that all the world
loves a lover.
When woman WAS secluded held
in the restraint which prevails in
Eastern countries when even in
civilized England she was only
something better than a hound,
something dearer than the horse ;
when her w%omanhoOd was indiffer-
ent social incident and her honor
could be torn from her and worn
without reproach as plume we
can understand the rebellion
against domestic government
which marks The old comedies.
But it should be remembered that
these old comedies picture old
DAYS. Persons whom Il sainted
grandfathers would laud as a sue
5 cessrul gallant would now be
: thrown into a horse pond, and the
! darling Of COngreve's drawing
roo ms would be kicked out of q
modern club. Woman is now un.
der no constraint-hardly the re
straint of public opinion. She sees
the world as it is: Her parents are
not j~ailers, but friends, wise expe
rienced friends, and i'll nothing Sc
sure to be wise as in what concern:
her marriage.
The South Carolina Hebrews are
right. TASTY, i'll considered MARI
ages, especially i'll spite of the faith
ers and mothers will, are always
. selfish, generally criminal, anC
never come TO Il good end. No hap
piness that the most perfect mar.
= rage under such circumstance
could bring would ever do away
with the memory of the wound The
parents heart was made to suffer
tho wound of lngratitude. There
NAV have been happy runaway
marriages, and it is not well TO be
implacable in dealing with mere
acts OF folly. But experience jus
tifief our accepting it as a rule thai
when a man proposes to elope will
a girl he is a scunlrel and the con
: sent can only be deemed the con
sent of a fool.