Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1888-02-04
ten thousand Jepthah's daughters sacri
BURNT OFFERINGS.

The whole subject needs TO be taken
out OF the realm OF comedy into tragedy.
and men and women need TO understand
that, while there are exceptions to the
rule, once having solemnly pledged to
each other, heart and hand. the forfeiture
and abandonment OF that pledge makes
the transgrcssor in the sight Of Goo as a
perjurer, and 50 the Day Of Judgment
will revea! IL. The one has lied to the
other, and All liars shall have their place
in the lake that burneth with fire ard
| trimgtOne.
IL a man or woman make q promise in
the business world, is there any obligation
TO fulfill it? If a man sign a note for five
hundred dollars. ought he TO pay it? If
a contract be signed involving he build
ing OF a house or the furnishing OF a bill
OF goods, ought they stand by that CON
tract? ION, yes always answered.
Then | ask the further question: Is the
heart. the happiness. the welfare, the
temporal and eternal destiny Of a man or
IN worth As much rs the house,
worth five hundred dollars. worth any
thing? The realm of protligacy is filled
with men and women as a result of the
wrong answer TO that question. The most
aggravating ~stupcnduous and God-defying
lie is a lie in the shape OF broken espousal.
PROMISES II sACRE
But suppose a man changes his mind.
ought he not back out? Not once i'm n
thousand times. What if / change my
mind about a promissory note and decline
to pay it, and suddenly put my property
in stca shape that you could not collect
your note? How would you like that?
That, you say. would be a fraud. So is
the other a fraud, and punish it God will
certainly as you live and just as certainly
if you do not live. | have known men
betrothed 70 loving and good womanhood
rcsigning their engagement and the vic
tim went down in hasty consumption,
while suddenly the rccreant man would
go up the aisle Of \ church in brilliant
bridal party, and the two promised Il
will with a solemnity that seemed insur-
ancc of a lifetime happiness. But the
simple fact was. that wasthe first act of a
Shakesperian play entitled, Tanning the
Shrew.' He found out when too late
that he had not married into the family
of the "Graccs' but into the family of
the 'Furics.' To the day of his death
the murder Of his first betrothal followed
him.
The Bible cxtols one who ''swearcth to
his w hurt and changeth not" That
is, when you make a promise kept atall
hazards. There may be cases where de-
ception has been used at the time Of en-
gagcment, and extraordinary circumstan-
ces where the promise ia not binding, but
in nine hundred and ninety nine cases
out OF a thousand
EACEl w, IL A. pINNyNc AC NADpJAnIr
Robert Burns with all his faults well
knew the force Of a marital engagement.
In obedience to some rustic idea he. stand
ing on one side the brook Ayr, and Mary
Campbell Oh the other, they bathed their
hands in the water and then put them on
thcboards of a Bible. making their pledge
OF tideli:y. On the cover Of the Old Tcs-
lament Of that hook TO this day in Robert
Burns handwriting may be found the
words: 'Lcviticus xix. 10: Yc shall not
swear by my name falsely, ! am the
Lord" And on the cover Of the New
Tostamcntin III. own handwriting: MAT
th"w V. 33: Thou shalt not forswcar thy
self, but shalt perform INTO The Lord
thin. oatls."
vices Ia take 4 ship ont 10 sea. After he
EAtN "a ilNlif way lt NVili'S dNbIiESllit vi u
vessel with a more beautiful flag. and
which has perhaps a richer cargo and is
bound for q more attractive port. sup
pose he rings a bcll for the engineer To
slow UP and The wheel stops. Now | see
the captain being lowered over the side Of
the vessel into . small hoat, and he cross
cs to the gaycr and weather craft, and
climbs no the sides, and is seen walking
tyni N-.,t..- "a r tIN tn, rl,D 80.
his resigned speaking trumpet and shout
through il: Captain, what does this
mean? Did YOU not promise TO take this
ship 70 southampton, Engiand?' Yes
says the captain. "but ] have changed my
mind, and | have found | can do better,
and | am going to take charge here. !
shall send back to you all the letters | got
while managing that ship and everything
! got from your ship and it will be all
right You tell me tina,
THE WORST FATE.
for such n captain rs that is too good for
him, But il is just what a man or wo-
man does who promises 20 take one
through tIc voyage Of life, across the
ocean of earthly existence, and then
breaks the promise. The sending back
Of all the letters and rings and necklaces
and kccpsakrs cannot make that right
which is in the sight OF God, and ought
to be in the sight Of man. everlasting.
What American society nccdsto be taught
is that bcthrothal is an act SO solemn and
tremendous that all men and women must
stand back from it untiithcy are sure that
it is right, and sure that it is best, and
SURF that no retreat will be desired. Be
fore that promise OF lifetime companions
ship any amount Of romance that YOU
wish, any ardor Of friendship. any com.
ing and going. Bu, ospousai is n gate. a
golden gate. which one should boz pass
unless be or She expects ncvcr 10 return.
Engagement is the porch Of which mar
riagc IS the castle, and YOU have no right
in The porch If you do not mean 10 pass
into the castle.
THE TROUBLE
has always been that this whole subject
o. alliance hes been r~elegated 10 the realm
of frivolity and joke. and considered not
worth IA ermon or even serious para
graph. And SO the massacre of human
lives has gone on and The devil has had i,
his own cruel way, and what is nightly
needed is that pulpit, and platform, and
printing press all spcai; a word Of unmis-
taxable and ~thundcrOus protest or this
subject Of infinite importance. We pat
clear out into thin rocsy and light read
ing tho marital engagements Of Pctrarch
and his Laura. Dante and his Beatrice,