The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-03-06
RUNAWAY MATCHES.
A Correspondent Of the "McCOrmick
Makes HI Humored Criticism Of
an Editorial, the Meaning of
Which he Did Not Understand.

News" Flies s'al1 to FIinderS. anf
Makes HI Humored Criticism OF
an Editorial, the Meaning OF
Which he Did Not Understand.
1t Is with some mlsgivInC that we waste oul
ammunition upon ttOo column article whlcl
appears in the last issue Of the Mccormick
Ne,Ds. from correspondent to us unknown
| who writes under the signature OF "C. ID. lr.
wln." In his article, he states that he read.
our paper; and we are sorry, that he has no
| learned from 1t better manners anu bette!
sense, than appears in his article.
Our offence "hath this extent, no more
that we made few well tempered, good hu
mored comments upon the refusal OF certain
"local preachers of NiDety-Slx TO marry
| runaway couple. That our readers may Judge
| for themselves of the nature and gravity o
our offence, we reproduce our article, which !!
as follows:
WAS THERE Nor MISTAKE IN TUE STATEMENT p
We notice in our Nnety-SiN correspondence that thu
local preachers of that town refused to marry runa
way couple. Is it possible that these devout servants
Of the Master reflect upon the fearful responsibility
which they assume in r,tnsng honorable marriage
No such warrant or sanction can be found in Holy
Writ, would justify the refusal to marry couple
for the single the young people were not under
the fumily rOoftree.
Marriage is honorable among all men, and the honor
OF the iuily is the crowning glory Of the Christian
religion. To use the language of another. in no coun
try In the world Is wOmans honor so tendery guard
ed Us in South Carolina und in Scotland. Our own be
loved State bears of the honor from even Scotland
1t is easier to get married In South Carolina than OF
any other spot of the gl,be. Any public acEn"~edg
ment of the woman Us wife is sufficient, and no "a"
exists whereby she may be sent away In every 9th
country license laws formnties and other bars u
marriage exist AMI all to the disadvantage OF woman
The license laws are against woman and are shiei'
10 him who wonld seek to win and trfe with her al
fscti0ns We trust therefore that the day lnuy heVe
come when the statute books of this State may b.
blurred and blackened by any law against marriage
and further trust any foolish sentiment that m!
honorable should be debnrrcd the privilege o
IN honorable marriage mRy never exist.
The preacher who turns from his door the woman
In refusal OF marriage with her lover is to refuse u
the applicants that union which Is commended by tht
highest authority, and which is tine foundation stone
upon which rests the family altar. and to which ".
are indebted for the existence of oil moral purity.
Now what grave offence against public OF
private morals have we committed In writing
as aforesaid, that we should be arraigned be-
fore the public, as avery "Ahab OF the Press !;
corrupting the morals of our youths; break
countenancng "dishonorable'' marriages;
teaching children 10 disobey their parents
"perverting the word of Cod; "counselline
and advising men Of VIGOROUSLY bad character
to invade The sanctity of Christian homes
and steal from them the brightest Jewels
which glitter under the rooftree"; going be-
yond our last; and assuming to teach NOR
ais, much less bad morals; teaching the youth
of our State to violate the law, in disregardine
the necessary prerequisites to q valid contract
of marriage; and much Of the same sort o.
nonsense, extended through two mortal col
clear thought, bright eplthet, or well defined
purpose; sometimes provoking smile at the
fudicrous misuse of words, and the near, bul
unconscious approach, to vulgarity.
"To laugh were want Of decency and grace,
But to be grave, exceeds nll power Of face"
Now what was there in our article to pro
nf 0h
,Uould-be critic is "local preacher" himself
and conceives that he is aimed at over the
shoulders Of another brother. His vanity IN
appendlng bis name to his article, might In
dicate man Of "that Sort" whose inordinate
self festeem would lead him to think himself
attacked when another brother was meant
It Is said that when Dickens wrote Nichola.
Nicketby, he was overwhelmed with hundreds
Of letters from school masters, who though,
themselves attacked in the character OF the
brutal Sq,iires. and such was the experience o
Collins and other novelists, who attacked eS
listing abuses. But we disclaim anything per-
preache sof Ninety-SiX,to to marry the runaway
couple. Our information was derived entirely
from the follow Ing remarks OF our Ninety-SlS
correspondent, in which the only reason as
signed for the refusal to marry was that 1t was
a runaway couple:
Mr.. Ephram Griffin was married on last Thursday
at Hotel dc Turner to Miss Lula McSwain. The Rev
Mr. Steck Of Walhalla otiiciated. Our resident min
listers refused to perform the ceremony. II was I
runaway ma,ch,-the contracting parties being from
Laurens, S. =.
In the first paragraph OF our article we sim
ply meant to express our opinion, that there
Is not sufficient ground for such refusal. Ia the
mere fact that the marriage Is not solemniZcd
under the parental rooltree." Parents and
children owe each other reciprocal duties, and
where parents are so wanting In natural atfer.
tion as to sacrifice the best Interests of theiI
children upon the altar OF ambition, avarice
or family, pride, then their authority should
cease aud nature asserts its rights. The world
Is full Of such examples, and the pen OF tbt
novelist, the pencil of the dramatist have de
picted in glowing colorS, the horrors which
where children are led like lambs to the
slaughter" But who is 10 judge Of the pro
priely OF ministerial interposition in such
cases, against parental authority? Whether
right or wrong, the ministers of the goSpe
have assumed to Judge of the circumstance
of each case, and where no valid objection
seemed to exist, have not hesitated TO unite
two willing hearts in the bonds of marriage
With them; 1t Is matter OF conscience, ant
in so marrying we suppose, that they are thu
last persons to think that they are "pervert-
Ing the word Of God" Of which they are the
recognized eXpositors. If the "Ahab Of the
Press" holds the same view, he sins in gooo
company.
| In our second paragraph, we urge not only
the authority, but use the language OF Scrip
ture, "that marriage is honorable in alp; anC
what u NllIQu peTNeTSlOU Oh our meaning u
| make us declare, that we approve Of marriage
| Illegally contracted, as In the cases Of person.
under the age Of legal consent, or subject Il
any other disabilities? 1t is the pride anc
] boast of our State law, that SO far as any leea
process In the Courts Is concerned, the mar
| riage tie Is indissoluble; and this provides
| perhaps most effectually against hasty ant
| Iinconsderate marriages, rather than an elab
ornte system Of licensing and registration
Whether right or wrong, IL Is the long settled
policy Of our State, and in attacking us, thi
would-be censor of morals attacks that which
| the wise conservatism and Christian tempe
of our people have long sustained.
The second and third paragraphs of our ar
| ticle, are both to the same effect, and nothing
! but the perverse ingenuity of our critic, coult
misconstrue their meaning. SO far from
teaching bad morals, they announce simple
truths, known and accepted generally. ant
acted upon by the ministers of all denomina
| tions II is II wise Injunction Of Holy Writ L
''answer a fool according to his folly" and per
haps we have erred in not following 1t.