The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-08-24

till death do Us part. with sense o.
ioyful security and certainty. The dr1iF
iu.. is over. the loneliness and foriornnsHs
rsgt Never. never again will she stand
in the twilight murmuring that thread
bare vet ever new lament:
III bark. upon a darkling sra
And rs, one stands beside me.
And no one minds the helm for me.
And 10 one cares to guide TIE
And the man. If he be a true and hon.
orable man. As he turns from the altar
tells himself that in this hour new NE
must begin for him-the old follies ana
vices must be forswoTn, the Old COM
uauions forgotten. tine old crooked ways
he made straight and clean. he mas
promised TO love. cherish and protect
This WOMAN and forsaking all others
ken himself only unto her SO long as
both snail live"-solemn words and
large promise, but he means 1t all-at
least we will hope most bridegrooms 90.
They 90 home, and life begins, ana tor
some, perhaps oLe-half of those welded
couple. the early promise and the solemn
vows IN.corn.. realities-at least, wo Will
say, approximate reahties-and Tune
the effacer and the recOnclier, smooths
oy II the shortcomings and burles the
memory Of those sOfty ideals and brings
a certain cynical philosophy into the me
and SO makes of it not what was expect
Ell. not what was planned, but some
thing tolerabie and moderately satlsfac-
torv-at least a. good as the lives OF other
De0ple around about, and-yes, well
enough, let US say.
Ont of this great mass of mankind
there are few, very few, married
couples who do really fulfill their ideals
and find life just what they had hoped,
lust what they had planned. They are
fully satisfied and go about the world
gloating over their own happiness ana
Haunting it in the faces of other people
in a fashion that would be exasperatlng
if it We're not SO pathetic.
Now, this class of persons look upon
divorce as near akin to murder or sacrl-
lege or madness. They cannot III the
least understand how anybody once adj
mitted to the paradise of matrlmony
could ever wish to leave it or to drive
| their other self out of its dear inclosure.
| They speak with bated breath or with
uplifted eyebrows and whispers of holy
horror and dismay as they wonder what
| strange sort of beings those may be. and
finally giving up the gloomy conundrum
| turn with a sigh of relief to throw them
| selves into each others arms and "thank
with brief thanksgiving whatever pow
ers may be" that they are not like other
men.
Returning to that great class of mar
ried people who just get on after fash
ion, with a good deal of pickering and 6
good many spoken or unspoken doubts
as to whether marriage is worth while
or not, we find them also opposed to di
vOrce, but from a different standpoint
than the little clique of paradisians JUS
described. They thoroughly recognize
why some people wish to be divorced
They are more or less frankly conscious
of occasionally wishing to be so them
selves, but they have never said so aloud
and the bitterness of their opposition tt
this mode of relief is that they do no
care to see others rid themselves Of ;
burden which they have made up thei
minds to bear. 1t is just the dog in tn
manager over again. Il can't eat thi
clover. and so you shan't," says the dog
to the OK, and sometimes the OK is scarce
away and gives up his proposed ban
quet.
''If | can get along with Tom, i'm
agine you can with Dick, and so can yo1
with Harry" says one Of their philoso
piers to her sisters who are whisperin,
ABOUT divorce, and then, warming wit
her topic, she reads them lecture upol
the sinfulness and the shamefulness an
the general depravity of the woman VIII
will see her name dragged through
divorce court" and the duty of ever
wife to submit with patience and sweet
ness to her marriage lot, whatever
, may turn out to be, and if she can't re
form her husband to win him over b
the exhibition Of her own virtues unit
he falls in love with goodness and FOL
sakes vice. and ''all goes happy eve
after"
Yes, these disconnected and yet obst
, nately staying" wives are the bitteres
and most virulent opposers of divorc
and do very possibly effect some good b
4 dragooning their feebler sisters into
! submission that not infrequently ends
a half bitter, half Indifferent acquie
ence in fate very different from whs
was hoped and yet not too bad to be e1
! dured with some sort of philosophic;
content. To wives of this class-in fac
of all three of the classes just described
! say: Stay where yon are. Be Statistic
with the frying pan and don't jump in1
q the fire. Bear the ills you have and &
q all that you can to alleviate then
J. Above all, if you have children, sacrift
a your own worn and weary life to the
+ fresh young promise. A woman WI
has borne child has in a mann
+ pledged herself to bear for that chi
4 what she would not bear for herself, al
i great strength comes from heavy bu
den we'll borne. That is the way tt
V Italian women acquire their queen
r poise.
a But there is still another class, and
!, large one, to whom l would not prof
= this advice; to whom | would rath
say: Save yourselves while you can
= women without children and witho
/ oDAiooOioio O-AeSpt 0IiC LudIIldSo NON
- which have been flung back upon thel
re shattered and soiled by him who b
e. sworn to hold them sacred and inviola
g, $50 long as We both shall live" VIII
]. this day comes to any wife, the d
s when she finds her home ruined, h
d womanhood insulted, her self respe
to outraged; when she finds that her pc
r. tons, her tears, her arguments and
warnings alike are scoffed and dis
III garded: when she sees that she can
n nothing to elevate the man who persi
ID emily degrades himself and drags
,p down with him; when she fears tt
b. blows may be added to cursing a
coarseness. then my advice to tt
=, woman is. appeal to the law for a
. lease from union which has becom
slavery; annul the contract broken a
:, -. despisei by the other contracting par
. be free.
~ Every legal covenant is made depel