The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-08-14

| character thus como into play II shown
| In the moral transformations which mar
| rage. when IL IL q true love mar
rlage. frequently brings about Often the
vain and thoughtless girl. caring only for
| amusements, becomes changed into the de-
voted wife and mother: and often the man
who is III tempered and unsym pathetic be-
comes transmitted into the self-sacrifcing
husband and careful father. TO which is to
be added that there is usually exercised. moro
than BEFORE tho discipline OF self- restraint.
| Mr. Spencer goes so far as to affirm that some
| enectis wrought by marriage even upon the
! thinking faculties: not perhaps In their power
| but In their balance. In women. indeed. the
| Intellectual activity is frequently diminished:
| for the antngonlsm between naturalization and
| reproduction. which Is in them most pro-
| nounced tells more especially on tho brain.
| But to both husband and wife there daily
| como many occasions for exercise of judg-
| ment, alike in their relations to domestic
| affairs. to ono nother. and the children: exer-
| cises OF judgment which In the celiLate state
| were not called for Honco an increase Of intel
lectual stability and sense OF proportion. Tho
author IL careful to qualify these remarks by
reminding us that the beneficial effects to DO
| expected from marriage us giving q sphere to
| the large part OF the nature otherwise rela-
lively mort. presuppose a marriage OF arec-
tion. II the union be one OF tho Kind to DO
officially reprobatcd. n marriage of convent
once. there may follow debascment rather
than elevation. 1t must not be inferred that
MIR. Spencer approves OF rash marriages merely
because they are prompted 10y affection. He
deems it needless to insist that IL domes-
tic responsibility Is entered upon without
fair prospect of efficiently dscharging It. q
wrong ia 'one especially to children. and. by
imp!icu.iDl.. 10 the ruce. To take q step from
n Of VA
hold containing a hnlf-starved and half
clothed family. Is pronounced to be. II ssti-
mated by entailed misery. something like
crime. When after long years OF PAIN anxiety.
cold and hunger to adults and young. some
out of tho many born have been reared to ma
turity. ill-Grown. unhealthy. and incapable Of
the efforts needed for sef-support, 1t is mani
fest that beings have been produced who are
at once curses to themselves and to the COM
munity. The evolutionary moralist docs not
stint the condemnationto be passed upon con.
duct which has such consequences.
But what has evolutionary ethics to say con-
| corning choice in marriage. the selection OF
wife by husband and OF husband BY wife Mr..
| Spencer begins his answer to this question by
reminding us that current conversation
| proves how low Is current thought and ssnti-
ment about those matters. " 1t will be . very
| good match for her." is tho remark you hear
| i0opcStiuE so"o JUNK iauy 0ukokco W
| wealthy man. Or concerning the choice made
| by some young man 1t will be said. She is an
| accomplished girl and we'll connected: and
| her friends will help to advance him in his
| profession" Another engaged pair arc de-
scribcd as we'll suited: he lie Q domestic man
| and she docs not care much for society. Or
| perhaps tho impending marriage is aDplauded
| on the ground that the lady Is . good house,
keeper and can make the b.st of q small In
come: or that tho proposed husband Is good
| tempered and not too fastidious But about
| the fitness OF tho connection as con-
sidered not extrinjically but intrinsically.
little or nothing is said. As to In
| trinsic fitness MIR. Spencer concurs with the
| old-fashioned moralist IN averring that tho
| first ground OF ethical judgment is tho recip-
rocal state Of feeling prompting the union.
| Where there exists none OF that mutual at
traction which should be the incentive. evolu-
| tionary ethics and hedonistc ethics alike pro-
| test. Marriages OF this class are reversions to
marriages OF earlier types. such as those found
| among the rudest savages. Our author thinks
| II is with some show OF reason that the marriage
de conr6nance has been called leGalized prosti-
tuition. Passing over. however the interdict
which ethics utters on marriages which are
mercantile. or which arise from any
other motives than affection. We are called
upon to notice further interdicts physio-
logically originating. Here. again. we are re-
minded how prevalent ts the blindness to all
effects save proxmate ones. unmistakabls az
may be the genesis OF remotcr consequences
Only in extreme cases do either OF those
directly concerned or their friends think of
the probable quality OF the offspring when dis
cussng the propriety OF q marriage Disap.
proval. perhaps rising to rerrobation. may be
expressed when the proposed union Is be-
tween cousins or is a union with one who
probably inherits insanity: but consideration
of the effects to be borne by descendants goes
scarcely beyond this. A feeble mind
or bad physique IS but rarely
thought sufficient reason for rejecting
sutton. Thin. fat-chested girls. debil-
itated men perpetually III. some who
are constitutiona!ly wanting in bodily energy. |
others who have no activity either OF intellect |
or feeling and many who are from this or that |
defect so inferior as to be unfit to carry on the
battle OF life. are ordinarily considered good |
enough for marriage and parenthood. In q |
manner that seems almost deliberate. there |
are thus entailed households in which illness
and dulness and bad temper prevail. and out |
OF which there come unhealthy and incapable
children and grandchildren. Mr.. Spencer In
sists that ethical considerations should hero |
serve as rigid restraints. Though guidance by |
the feelings Is to be 80 far respected that mar
riages not prompted by them must be ruth |
lessy condemned yet guidance by the feelings
must not therefore be regarded as so decisively |
authoritative that all marriages prom pied BY
them should 10 approved. A certain perver-
sion of sentiment intrinsically noble has to
be guarded against. Relative weakness ap-
pealing for protection is one OF the traits in
women which excite in men the symptoms of
| adscton-the tender emotion. Balm styles
it-and sometimes degree OF relative weak
moss which greatly exceeds the natural all