Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-01-23

"Oh, yes" always answered. Then l
ask The further question: Il the keart,
the happiness, the welf.re, the temporal
and eternal destiny OF 8 man or woman
worth as much as the house, worth $500,
worth anything? The RESIN CT pre- fiigacy
Is filed with men and women IS g result
of the wrong answer to that question.
The most
AGGRAVATNG, sTUPENDoUs AND GOD
DEFYING
lie is lie in the shape OF broken es-
pousal.
But suppose 8 man changes his mind,
ought he not back Out? Not once in ten
thousand times. What if l change my
mind about promissory note and decline
to pay it, end suddenly put my property
in such shape that you could not collect
your note? How would you like
that? That, you ssy, would be a
fraud. So is the other fraud, and pun
ish 1t God will certainly as you live and
Just as certainly if you do
not live. l have known men
betrothed to loving and good
womanhood resigning their engage
ment and the victim went down in hasty
consumption, while suddenly the recre-
ant man would go up the aisle OF a
church in brilliant bridal party, and the
two promised az will'' with q solemnity
that ,eemed insurance Of lifetime hap
piness. But the simple fact was, that
was the first ect CT 8 Shakesperian play
entitled "Tamiug the Snrew." He found
out when too late that he had not mar
rieG into the family Of the "Grsces," but
into the family OF The 'Furies." To the
day Of his death the murder OF his first
betrothal followed HIM.
The Bible eXtOls che who "sweereth to
! his own hurt and cbangeth not" That IS,
when you maze promise keep 1t at all
| hazards. There may be cases where de-
| ceplion has been used at the time OF en-
gagement, and extraordinary clrcumstan-
ces where the promise is not binding, but
IN nine hundred and inety nine cases out
OF thousand engagement is as binding
rs marriage. Robert Burns, with all his
faults, well knew the force OF marital
engagement. In obedience to some rus
tic ldea he standing on one side the
brook ayr, and Mary Campbell on the
other, they bathed their hands in the Wa
ter and then put them on the boards of a
Bible, making their pledge of fidelity. GA
the cover Of the Cd Testsment of that
book to this day in Robert Burns
words: "Levi.icus xix:12: Ye
shall not swear by Ny name falsely:
am the Lord" And on the cover CT the
New Testament IN his own handwriting
"Metthew v:33: Thou shalt not for
swear thyself, but shalt pei form unto the
Lord thiue osths."
Suppose ship captain offers his servi
ces TO take a ship out to sea. After h
gets q little wsy he comes alongside Of 6
vessel with q more beautiful flag, anC
which has perhaps richer cargo and /:
bound for
MORE ATTRACTIVE PORT.
Suppose ne rings a bell for the enginee
to slow up and the wheel stops. Now
see the captain being lowered over the
side of the vessel into small boat, an(
he crosses to the gsYer ard Weslthle
craft, and climbs up the sides, and L
seen walking the bridge OF the other ship
. l pick up his resigned speaking tTumpe
and shout through it: captain, VIVA
does this mean? Did you not promise II
: take this ship to Southampton, Englandf'
J eyes" says the captain, "but l hav
D changed my mind, and l have found cal
! do better and l am going to take chsrg
here. | shall send back 10 you ell tn
4 |
. and everything | got from your ship, an
q it will be all right" You tell me tnat tn
worst fate for such q captain as that
" too good for him. But it is just what
= man or woman does who promises t
y take one through the voyage of life
9 ACROSS the ocean Of earthly existence
= and then breaks the promise. The send
y ing back OF all the letters and rings an
% necklaces and keepsnkes cannot max
\ that right VIII Oh is in the sight OF Goo
=. and ought to be In the sight Of man, q
II everlasting wrong. Whist America
\ society needs to be taught is tn.
's betrothal is al act so solemn and tire
n mendous that ell men and women mus
stand back from it until they are sur
>. that it Is right, aud sure that II Is bes
and sure tbst no retreat will be desired
20 Before that promise Of lifetime compar
- ionship any amount Of romance that 20
- wish, any srdor of friendship, any cen
~ ing and going. But espousal is q gat
~ a golden gate, which one should not pa
90 unless he or she expects never to retur
"a Engagement is the porch OF which ma
~ riage is the castle, and you have no rig
a. in the porch If you do not mean to pa
into the castle.
:, The trouble has always been that tn
=; =; whole subject Of eff nee has been rel
20 gated to the realm of frivolity and jok
~ and considered not worth sermon
70 even
bo SERIOUS PARAGRAPH.
al And so the massacre Of human liv
er has gone on, and the devil has had it
e. own cruel way, and what is might
of needed is that pulpit and platform al
he printing press all speak word OF unml
to taxable end numerous protest on tn
tai subject OF infinite Importance. We p
ne clear out into thin poseY and light readl
ed the marital engagements Of Pet-arch a.
lot his Lsura, Dante and his Beatrice. Chsuc
ana his Philips, Lorerzo de Medicl a.
his Lucret1s, Spenser and his Rosaliu
Waller and his Saccharisss, not realiZ.
le- that it was the style Of their eDgagemer
IRE that decided their happiness OF. wretche
ire ness, their virtue or their profigacy. I
NJ the literary and military and religlc
il glory of Queen E0zabeth's reign CAM
he blot out from one of the most coDspic
in Gus pages Of history her Infamous o
rs havior towards Seymour, and Philip, q
be Melville, and Leicester, and others.
re- the ecclesiastical robes that Dean 5"
,ge ever rustled through consecrated plat
or csnrot hide from intelligent people OF
IN. sges the fact that by pr mise OF marrl'
en- which he never fulfilled he broke