The Brookhaven leader., 1888-02-02

/ lily OF the "Furissn To the day Of his
death the murder Of his first betrothal
followed him.
/ The Bible extols one who "sweareth 10
his own heart and changeth not" That
10, when you make promise keep Il at al
hazards There may be cases whore de-
ception has been used at the time Of en-
gagement and extraordinary circum-
stances where the promise 10 not binding,
but In nine hundred and ninetY.nine
cases out Of one thousand engagement Il
80 binding as marriage. Robert Burns,
with all his faults, we'll knew the force OF
q martial engagement. In obedience to
some rustic idea, he, standing on one side
OF the brook Ayr, and Mary Campbell on
the other, they battle their hands in the
water and then put them on the boards OF
Bible, making their pledge of fidelity.
On the cover Of the Old Tes lament Of tina,
book to this day, in Robsrt Burns hand
writing, may be found the words: "Levit-
icus, xix, II: Ye shall not swear by my
name falsely; am the Lord" And on
the cover Of the New Testament, in his
own handwriting, Mathew, ", 80: Thou
shalt not foreswear myself, but shalt per-
form unto the Lord thine oaths-"
Suppose a ship captain offers his serv-
gets little way he comes alongside of q
vessel with a more beautiful flag, and
which has perhaps richer cargo and is
bound for more attractive port Sup
pose he rings bell for the engineer to
slow up and the wheel stops. Now see
the captain being lowered over the side
of the vessel into a small boat, and he
crosses to the gayer and wealthier craft,
and climbs up the sides and is seen walk
ing the bridge OF the other ship. pick
up his resigned speaking trumpet and
shout through it: Captain, what does
this mean? Did you not promise to take
this ship to Southampton, England"
"Yes," says the captain "but ! have
changed my mind, and have found can
do better, and l am going to take charge
here. l shall send back tc 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 a captain as 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 prorn SO.
The sending back of all tho letters and
rings and necklaces and keepsaEes 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 be taught is that be-
trothal is an act so solemn and tre-
mendOuS that all men and women must
stand back from it until they are sure
that it is rig hit, and sure that it is best,
and sure that no retreat will be desired.
Before that promise of lifetime companion
ship any amount of romance that you
wish, any ardor of friendship, any com
ing and going. But eSpousai is a gate, a
golden gate, which ne should not pass
unless he or she expects never to return.
Engagement is the porch of which mar
rage is the ca ste, and you have no right
in the porch if YOU do not mean to pass
into the castle.
The trouble has WAYS been that this
whole subject of alliance has been rele-
gated to the realm IF frivolity and joke,
and considered not worth a 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 mi shtily needed
is that pulpit and platform, and printing
press, all speak a word of unmis tax able
and thunlerouS protest on this subject OF
| infinite Importance. We put out into
thin poesy and light reading the material
engagements Of Petrarcl aud his Laura,
Dante and his Beatrice, Chaucer and his
Phiippa, Lorenzo do Medci and his
Luerelia, Spencer and his Rosalind, Wal
Ter his SaucharisSs, not realizing that 1t
was andthe style of their engagement that
dec ded their happiness or wretchedness,
thep virtue or their prohgacy. All the
literary and military aud religious glory
of Queen Elzabeth'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 aud 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
Warng after an engagement of seven
wears, and the heart of Stella after an en-.
gagement of fourteen years, and the
poetic stanzas he ded icated to their ex-
cellenceS only make the more immortal
his own perfidy.
"But suppose l should make a mistake, F."
says some man or woman, land find it out
after the engagement and before mar.
riage?" My answer is, you have no ex-
cuse for making a mistake on this sub
jeCt. There are so many ways of finding
out all about the character, and
preferences, and dislikeS, and habits
! 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 u you are for an idi OF asy-
| um. Notice what soc ETY. your especial
| friend prefers, whether he is industrious
! or law, whether she is neat or slatternly,
what books are read, what was the style
of ancestry, noble or .p:aved, and If
there be any unsolyed mystery about the
person under cons Iteration postpone all
promise until the my ,tarY is solved.
| Jackson'S Hollow, Brooklyn, was part
| of the city not built on for manv years,
and every time | crossed it | said 10 my
self or to others, way is not this land
built on? | TO md 1T afterward that the
title to the lan1 was in controversy, and
no one wanted TO build there until tina
question was decided. Aftarward l un
derstood the title was settled, and now
buildings are going up all over it. d.
not build your happiness for this world or
a character, mas culin3 or feminine, thai
has not settled and undi sputed title t.
honor and truth, and sobriety, and kind
ness, and Righteousness.
o woman, you have more need to paus
before making such an important promis
than man, because if you make mistak
it is worse for you. If a man blunde
about promise of marriage, or go on to an
unfortunate maria 20, he can spend hi
evenings away, AMI can go to the club