The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1888-02-03

Il
family Of tbs ''Gracss." but into the fam
lily OF the '.Furies." To the day Of his
death the murder OF his FIRST Letrothal
followed him.
The Bible extols one who s'sweereth to
his own heart and chan1eth not" That
10 when you make promise keep II at all
hazards. There may be cases whsrs de-
ception has been used at the time OF en-.
gagemsnt. and extraordinary circum.
stances where the promise Is not binding,
but in nine hundred and ninetY.nine
cases ont CT one thousand enxa cement IL
as binding as marriage. Rob ,rt Burns,
with all his faults. well knew the force Of
. martial engagement. In obedience to
some rustic IDEA, he, standing on one side
Of the brook Ayr. and Mary Campbell on
tho 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 Testament OF that
book to this day, In Robert Burns hand.
writing, may be found the words: ''Levit-
icus. xix, -: Ye shall not swear by my
name falsely; am the Lord" And on
the cover Of the New Testament, in his
own handwriting, mathew, w., SO: Thou
shalt not foreswear myself, but shalt per.
form unto the Lord thine oaths."
Suppose q ship captain offers his ssrv.
ices to take ship out to sea. After he
gets little way he comes alongside OF a
vessel with q moro beautiful flag, and
which has perhaps richer cargo and is
bound for more attractive port. Sup
pose he rings a bell for the engineer to
slow up and the wheel stops. Now see
the captain being lowered ovor the sids
OF the vessel into a small boat, and he
crosses to the gayer and Weather craft,
and climb, 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 ceptain, ''but ! have
changed my mind, and have found l can
do better, and am going to taks charge
here. l shall send back to you all tho let
ters l got while managing that ship. and
every thing l got from your snip. ami it
will be all right" You tell me that the
worst fate for such 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 promise.
The sending back Of all the letters and
rings and necklaces and keepsakes can
not maks that right which Is in tho 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 ire.
mendous that all men and women must
stand back from it until they are sure
that it is right, and sure that IL is best,
and sure that no retreat will be desired.
Before TINT promise Of lifetime companion
ship any amount OF romance that you
wish, any ard0r of friendship, any com.
ing and going. But espousal is a gate, q
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 il you do not mean to pass
into the castle.
The trouble has always been that this
whole subj.ct of affiancs has been rele.
gated to the realm Of frivolity and JOKE,
and considered not worth a sermon or
even a serious paragraph. And 50 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 unmistakable
and thunderous protest ON this subject Of
infinite Importance. We put out into
thin poesy and light rendin. the material
engagements of Petrarch and his Laura,
Dante and his Beatrice, Chaucer and his
Philippe, Lorenzo de Msdici aud his
Luerelia, Spencer and his Rosalind, Wal.
Ter his Saucharissa, not realizing shat 1t
was andthe style of their engagement that
decided their happiness or wretchedness,
their virtue or their proflgac 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
War!ng 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-
cellcnces only make the more immortal
his own perfidy.
"But suppose should make mistake"
says some man or woman, land find it out
after the engagement and before mar.
riage:" Ny answer Is, you have no ex.
cuse for making q mistake on this sub
jsct. There are so many ways OF finding
out all about the character, AID
preferences and dislikes, and habits
of man or woman, that IL
you have not brain enough to form
. right Judgment in regard to him or her,
you are not so At . candidate for the mat.
rimonial altar a. you are for an idiot asy.
lum. Notice what society your especial
friend prefers, whether he is industrious
or lazy, whether she is neat or slatternly,
what books are read, what was the style
of ancestry, noble or dspraved, and 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 many years
and every time crossed it said to my.
salt or to others, why IL not this land
built on? found out afterward that the
title to the land was In controversy, and
no one wanted to build there until that
question was decided. Afterwnrd I un.
derstood the title was settled, and now
buildings ore going up all over it. Do
not build your happiness for this world on
q character, masculin, or feminine, that
has not q settled and undi sputed title to
honor, and truth, and sobristy, and kind.
ness, and Righteousness.
U woman, you have more need to pause
before making such an important promise
than man, because il you make q mistake
1t is worse for you. II . man blunder
about promise OF marriage. or 90 on TO an
unfortunate marriage, he can spend his
evenings away, and can 60 to the club,