Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-07-07
Money and Marriage.


worth thinking about. and which we
must answer with due care:
I'm a case where religion is the same,
and education and social position are
equal, do you think man without
money can ask a girl who has money to
marry him, and at the same time re-
tain his self-respect? Do you think
such marriage would turn out a hap
py one?
Il know society has ordained that a
man should be able to support wife
| before he takes one, but when a man
reaches the age of 45, and has been
| unfortunate in money matters, should
he allow himself to drift into old age
| alone2"
| The most important, nay, the essen
tial inducement to marriage, is the at
traction of love and affection. Without
such sentiment the law of natural Sc
| lection is violated; the instinct or i'm
pulse which brings about the mating
that, rule and in the long run, is
most desirable for the race, is disre-
garded and profaned. Hence through
history of the world, mankind has dis
tinguished this sentiment or passion
above all others, and has celebrated
and idealiZed it as the most powerful of
the influences affecting the individual
and society. 1t is the one great theme
| of poetry ancient and modern, and it
enters into all literature both sacred
| and secular as a dominant element.
| The Church is figured as the bride of
| Christ. AS the view of the marriage
| relation is high or low at different
periods or in different countries or in
dividuals. the conception of love varies
from gross passion to the purest and
and most exalted and romantic senti-
ment; but always and everywhere it is
| recognized as the only true motive for
mating. The human race thus obeys
or rather is controlled by the law of
its being and its destiny. 1t is propa-
gated in accordance with natural selec-
ton.
In society, as it becomes more civil
lied and complex, the operation of this
law is disturbed to some degree by ar
tificial influences tending to restrain
the natural instinct. Reason, prudence,
ambition, and considerations of pecun-
iary interest may control its manifes-
tatiOn. Both men and women may
marry under such influences rather
than in strict obedience to the simple
law. Yet, after all, even with them
there is a selection which is natural
according to their natures as modified
and developed under their conditions,
and which is not undesirable for the
race. Those are qualities and attri-
butes oftentimes worth preservation.
In the cases where they control, and in
all cases, the instances of mating are
few where there is the positive repul- |
sion which indicates a fragrant violation
of the law. In France, for example, |
marriages are arranged by family |
council; but the experience of all |
French society shows that they are not
contracted in defiance of this universal |
instinct; for French wives and mothers
are conspicuous for their fidelity and |
devotion. French novels written by |
men of course imaginations may des-
cribe them differently, but the descrip-
ton is false and fictitious. Neither
French women, nor any other women
who are not the victims of morbid per-
version, are the monsters they depict.
Never before was love alone, and
love in its higher sense, so generally a
motive in marriage as it is
now. 1t is becoming more and more
even in polygamous countries
and its growing power is shown in the
revolt of women against barbarous
traditions and usages; for by
the beneficient decree of nature, the
law of selection first Influences the
The choice rightfully rests
with those who are to be the mothers
Of our race. Docs the woman want
the man? That is the important ques-
ton [;
In the case of our correspondent,
then, the proper course, and the only
is for him to find out whether
the rich girl wants to marry him. And {
now can he find that out except by ask
ug her? What society or other people
think about the matter is of no impor- {
.ance What she thinks about it is
he sole question. Is he the man she
desires for her husband and the father
IF her children? In other words is she &
n love with him? 1t is for her to deter {
nine whether she is satisfied with man i
Who has reached the age of thirty-five e
without getting a foothold in the world. /
t is not the business of society.
So far as his letter indicates our Y
riends character, it is very doubtful
whether it would not be better for her v
elf and for society if she decided t
.gainst him by answering no to the t
l. f<.r.- lie