The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-11-04
ENGAGEMENTS OF MARRIAGE.
Discussion as 70 Whether Betrothsls
Can Be Dissolved 10 Honor.
From the EesC York Prem.

O24 % OlS5olVSO 10 honor.
From the Seso York Prea
What is marriage engagement Should
II Be considered an inviolste contract, or
simply q weil-defned understanding form
ing basis for intimate atquaintanceF
In this question are comprehended two
phases Of subject that has occasioned
much spirited discussion Of late in the
privacy Of social intercourse. Believing il
OF universal interest, the Press lifts it out
Of the drawing-room and places it in its
columns before ths brightest people IN the
world. That the subject is fruitful Of
thought Is evidenced by the manner Of its
discussion in the folio wing letters from au-
tn9rs. mothers, business women sod men Of
affairs.
Men should look for beauty Of soul In
women. He should search until he finds an
earnest, pure woman, il whose heart has
been tnstilled the reverence and love of
God, 20 make his home happy aud his own
hrsstde the dearest magnet on eartn 10 him.
Men should choose WHEY, remembering
that beauty fades as quickly as do the flow
ers OF season. Faces lose their bloom,
bright eyes grow din, and brown tresses
silver with the blight Of time, but the
beauty OF the soul, which should always be
sought for ere the hethrothal words are
uttered, lasts forever when true hearts are
rightly mated.
1t would be the most wonderful achieve
meut that could be accom- ished if young
people could be made TO really understand
no" solemn thing is an engagement TO
marry. No man should utter word, of love
to any woman unless an offer Of his heart
and hand follow it as positive proof that he
has not spoken lightly, and marriage should
follow quite as soon as circumstances per
NIT. Ii man has no thought of marriage
IL is doing a woman a decided wrong to
monopolze her time, cause her to build up
hopes upon him and then leave her. a prey
to conflicting regrets, which she' should
never have known had he wisely divided
hi attention among many.
Betrothal is the bud-marriage is the
flower. A broken betrothal is like a fair
white rose that withers in the bud-a
blighted promise of what might have
been"-that even the plying angels must
grieve over and regret. L. j. L.
have never been engaged to marry, and
have no practical experience on the subject
regard an engagement as a probationary
term, during which two people of opposite
SIX have an opportunity to ascertain by
fairly close relations if intimacy be con-
genial, agreeable and potential of duration
An engagement cannot be considered as
binding on either party to consummate
marriage, but merely as means of ascer-
tanning as nearly as possible if marriage is
agreeable. | am Of the opinion, from OBJ
servation, that the majority of juries have
awarded no more than cent damages as a
result of q breach of the engagement con-
tract. favor such an award as the max
imum sum to be paid for such breach.
Observation will also tend to show that the
engagement as regarded in the United States
is pernicious aud productive of blighted
lives In that 1T allows undue intimacy.
AS whole. the marriage contract Of
France seems the most safe. In chastity,
virtue, and morality, both In men and
women, lies the safety of the republic. In
the pure homes of America emauate the
sons and daughters on whom the duties of
citizenship and the safety Of government
depend. This is fast age. Girls and boys
know as much at II years of ags as young
men and women of earlier times knew ave-
more than our graudfathers or grandmothers
ever knew or ought TO know. Such being
the case, the question propounded is fraught
with the gravest import and should have
the calmest discussion and the most assured
safeguards Mothers of to-day must not
leave their daughters alone with men of to-
day-must not leave them alone at all.
They should not permit courtships above all
things. out of their sight.
In conclusion, watch the girls, fathers
and mothers; guard the nobility and purity
of their thought. They are to become the
mothers of the republic-the Martha Wash
ingtons on whom the perpetuity and sta
blllty of our great Institutions and our
government mnst depend. On them will
depend whether our nation degenerates or
wakes in streugth. VIM. HOSEA BALLU.
Do consider a marriage engagement
sacred. No, do not. I think that the
American woman reserves the right to
change her mind as often as shr pleases
When | was in Paris this summer, q Russian
nobleman said to me: Madame tell me
why it is that you American ladies are SO
tickle. Now you're engaged and the next
hour the engagement is broken"
told him Just what tell you. If two
people discover after they become engaged
that mistake has been made the most SEN
sible thing is to break the engagement. The