Sharp County record., 1888-02-16


some rustic id a, he, standing on one slds
Of the brook Ayr. AL Mary Campbell on
the other, they batho their hands IN ths
water aud then Pu. them on the boards ol
A Bible, making their pIsiZe OF hdelty.
I. Oa the cover Of tn, Old Testament Of tnst
book 10 this dav, in EobsrE BIrns' hand
writing, NAV be found the words: Levitt
icus, xix, Y: Ye shall not swear by my
name falsely; I an the Lord" Ana on
the cover Of the New Tsitament, in his
own handwriting, mathew, v, 80: lnou
shalt not foreswea ear thysslf, but shalt per-
form unto the Lord thine oaths."
Suppose a ship captain offers his 5erT'
ICES 70 take a ship out to sea. After ne
gets little way he comes alongside Oh a
vassaI with a more beautiful flag, and
which has perhaps a richer cargo and IS
bound for more attractive port sup
rose he rin-s a bell for the engineer 70
slow I'D aui the wheel stops Now see
the captain being lowered over the side
| Of the vasseI into a small boat, and he
crosses TO the gayer and wealthier craft,
and climb, up the sides and is seen WalE-
| ing the bridge Of the other ship. plcz
I'D his resigned speaking trumpet and
shou. through it: Captain, what does
this mean? DID you not promise TO take
this ship to Southampton, England"
| eyes" saws the caDtain, "but l have
changed nv mind, and have found can
| do better, and am going TO taxa charge
| here. shall send back TO you all the let-
| ters got while managing that ship, and
! every thing l got from your ship, and 1t
will be all right" You tell me that the
worst fate for such captain a5 that IS
too good for him. But it is just what a
man or woman does who promises
| to take one through the voyage
/ Of life, across the OCEAN Of earthly
existence. and then break the promise
| The sending back Of all the letters and
rings and necklaces aud keepsaEei can
not make that right which is in the sight
Of God, and ought to be in the sight OF
man, an everlasting wrong. What Amer
| lean society needs to ba taught is that be-
/ trothal is an act so solemn and tre'
mendou3 that all men and women must
stand back from it until they are sure
| that it is right, and sure that it is best
| and sure that no retreat will be desired.
| Before that promise Of lifetime companion
| ship anv amount OF romance that you
wish, any ardor of friendship, any com.
ing and going. But e5pousaI is gate,
| golden gate, which one should not pass
unless he or she expects never to return.
Engagement is the porch Of which mar
riage is the castle, and you have no right
in the porch if you do not mean to pass
| into the castle.
The trouble has always been that this
whole subject of alliance has been rele-
gated to the realm Of frivolity and joke,
and considered not worth sermon or
even a serious paragraph. And so the
massacre of human lives has gone
on, and the devil has had it his own
cruel way; and what is nightly needed
is that pulpit and platform, and printing
press, all speak a word of unmis taxable
and thuuderous protest on this subject OF
infinite Importance. We put out into
thin pOesy and light reading the material
| engagements Of Petrarch and his Laura,
Dante and his Beatrice, Chaucer and his
Philippa, Lorenzo de Madici aud his
Luerelia, Spencer and his ROsalind, Wal.
Ter his Saucharissa, not realizing that it
was andthe style of their engagement that
dec ded their happiness or wretchedueSs,
their virtue or their profgacy. All the
literary and military and religious glory
Of Queen Elizabeth's reign can not blot
out from one of the most conspicuous
pages of history her infamous behavior
toward Seymour, and Philip, and Mel
vile, and Leicester and others. All the
ecclesiastical robes that Dean Swift ever
rustled through consecrated places can
not hide from intelligent people of
all ages the fact that by promises
of marriage which he never full.
filed he broke the heart Of Jane
Wsring after an engagement Of seven
years, and the heart of Stella after an en-
gagement OF fourteen years, and the
poetic stanzas he dedicated to their ex-
ceHences only make the more immortal
his own perfdy.
But suppose should make q mistake, u
says some man or woman, "and find il out
| after the engagement and before mar.
riage" My answer is, you have no ex
cuse for making a mistake on this sub
| iect. There are so many ways Of finding
out all about the character, and
preferences, and dislikes, and habit:
Of man or woman, that il
you have not brain enough to form
a right judgment in regard to him or her
you are not so fit candidate for the mat
rimonial altar as you are for an idiot asy.
Ium. Notice what society your especial
friend prefers, whether be is industrious
or law, whether she is neat or slatternlY,
| what books are read, what was the style
Of ancestry, noble or depraved, aud il
there be any unsolved mystery about the
person under consideration postpone all
promise until the mystery is solved.
Jackson'S Hollow, Brooklyn, was part
of the city not built on for manv years,
and every time crossed it l said to my
self or to others, why is not this land
built on? l found out afterward that the
title to the land was in controversy, and
no one wanted to build there until thai
question was decided. Afterward l IN.
| derstood the title was settled, and now
buildings are going up all over it. Dc
not build your happiness for this world on
a character, masculine or feminine, that
has not settled and undi sputed title tC
honor, and truth, and sobriety, and kind
ness, and righteousness.
o woman, you have more need to pause
before making such an important promise
| than man, because if you make a mistake
it is worse for you. II a man bluudel