Evening journal., 1894-05-25

veneer scarcely covers tie rough and
coarse wood beneath
This culture is particularly prevalent
inst now in ethical studies and social
sciences One Of the evidences Of II IS.
the temptation Of men, who have little
knowledge Of the facts and who are not
industrious enough to study statistics, to
speculate upon the imaginary conditions
Of political economy. They try to specu-
late in an abstract manner on a science
which, like history, must deal with facts
aud facts only. Political economy Is the
science OF things which have occurred.
They make it the science Of things which
they imagine may occur
The same sort Of superficial culture has
attacked the social sciences One Of the
evidences Of this was the movement, as
these cultured people call all such pre-
tended investigations, that was started
by the cynical soclalists-"Is Marriage q
Failure p
Like the supercilious Plate, who
mockingly asked, "What Is TRUTH" they
ran away before the answer was made
in fact, they run away from the answer
itself The answer is the human race /;
the civilization of this marital Anglo
Saxon family, this English-speaking peo-
pie who are the chief conservators Of
marriage. ANY single family, almost, is
the answer TO this mocking cynioism Of a
modern intelligence which lacks sense.
There is no doubt about the success Of
marriage It is no matter whether we
consider II as a means Of promoting hap
piness or n means Of spreading civiliza-
tion. Marriage is not only happiaess-it
is the sweetest and noblest relation in
life. The slightest investigation
will show any man accustomed to con-
slider the phenomena Of any science that
the marital relation is happy relation.
Being the fufllment Of mans exis-
tence, being the chief end and aim Of his
life, being the climax OF his hope, and
the fulfllment Of the scheme Of his
existence, aud being state in strict
conformity with the plan Of his creation,
Il could not be otherwise than a happy
relation II IL were an unnatural and
odd and curious thing, IL it distorted
mans life, disarranged the plan aud
purposes OF his existence. If it we're a
disappointment and a disruption, or a
contortion Of the purposes for which he
must have been created, then. and only
then, could IL be unhappy.
Now it is true, of course, that a man
may make I he marital relation an un.
happy one just as man may commit
suicide. He may prevent the scheme OF
creation from fulfllment by cutting of
his existence, but marriage as 1t Is, and
marriage as II always has been and will
be so long as the race exists, is, in the
nature Of the case, a happy relation. As
for the question whether the husband or
wife may quarrel at times, may have
temporary disagreements. or that there
may be cases Of unhappiness, as there
are cases of measles or typhoid fever,
does not alter the general verdict. These
exceptions TO the rule Of happiness,
serve to prove the rule.
This proof is everywhere abundant.
It is superficial Ignorance and cynica
c1nceit. which pretend to raise the ques
tion. It is as moeking a cynicism as thai
Of PLATE, whc imagined that he was dis
cussing a new discovery in ethics by
asking, "W hat Is TRUTH
Truth is so abundant and Il forces
Itself on mans consciousness so that
like his Cwn existence, he needs ne prooi
Of Il. There can be no proof produced
that would satisfy the cynic that mar
riags is not a failure. The abundance
Of the testimony on the contrary, is EN-
bArrassing It could not be produced
we would have to pick up the world anc
throw it al the cynics feet.