The herald., 1894-03-25

women. And as it is in society" 60 it
is in the ranks of the middle and lower
middle classes fact, the bourge0iee.
Mr.. Giblet, the poulterer, will not allow
his daughter to wed the son OF Mr..
Spratt, tho fishmonger, unless he has
ocular demonstration of the fact that
Spratt pere is certain TO "cut up warm"
and vice veraa. The great linen draper
who has made q fortune by the sale of
shifting and huckaback urges his con to
marry into the ranks of the aristocraoy.
and threatens to out him with the pro-
verbal shilling unless he does go. Not
long ago the daughter of Hebrew dress
maker espoused q Catholic nobleman. In-
deed, the children Of wealthy Jews fire.
ouently marry into Christian families
whose blood is pure though their purses
are light. In fact, from the top to the
bottom of the ladder it is the same sto-
ry-"proputty, proputty,. proputty !"
The American poet summed up the mat
ter tersely and accurately when he
wrote:
o, dimes an d dolars-dollars and dimes
An empty pocket the worst o. crlmesl
1t is only on rare occasions that we
hear any reference made to the ''sancti-
ty of the marriage tie." This is we'll,
for, remembering what society is, and
has long been, it would puzzle Babbage
TO tell uH the precise amount of 'sancti-
ty" which still movers over the institu-
tion OF marriage. A primary evil of the
existing institution OF marriage is the
mad haste with which many matrimo-
NAL alliances are concluded. The young
couple who are to be joined together in
holy matrimony zee one another, so to
speak, in false colors-at all events, not
in their own chara cters. They are
thrown together for short time, when
both are decked out in the most attract
i've manner, and usually under circum-
stances which do not admit of any but
the merest puerilities of the day being
gossiped about. A few hasty converse
tions at parties, where everything is arti-
fetal, and everybody playing part; an
occasional chat in q drawing room,
where the girls mother and sisters are
watching her every movement and
striving to catch what he is saying; a
stolen meeting in the park or elsewhere
these are often the only opportunities
afforded the husband and wife OF the
future to become acquainted with each
other. Acquainted" is indeed the
right word for it, inasmuch as their
knowledge of one another rarely or
never develops into anything more until
the clergyman has made them one. But,
indeed, it may be stated as an in
contestible fact that under the
present conditions of social life it
takes years for people to know each
other at all intimately; yet, in face OF
this drawback, parents willingly give
their consent to the marriage of their
children, we'll knowing that the girl and
the young man are absolutely without
any, even the smallest, knowledge oi
each others real character, tempera-
ment, disposition. and good or bad quail
ities. Opportunity Of talking over the
serious matters inseperable from that
existence into which they are about to
plunge, unrehecting, yet nevertheless
responsible, they have never had. Each
ia more or less infatuated with the other,
and that is the alpha and omega OF their
wooing
A man no sooner endeavors TO fathom
the ideas, capabilities. and general char.
acter of girl to whom he has been
drawn more than to another, than his
evident partiality for her is misinter.
preted, and he is asked by the eager
matchmaking mother what his "inten-
BlOnb AIQs lAub UC 10 bOV OAbOn UhLA-
boozled into what is called making a
declaration" and he finds himself ZEN
gagged" before he knows whether he is
standing on his head or on his heels
When, by some chance or other, he ar
rives at the terrible conclusion that the
young lady is not at all suited to bis
it is too late for him to retract. the
Af hfo rufah kn 10 ~
being greeted by hint that the mat
ter will have to be referred to the
family solicitor. Fearful of such a
dsnoument as a breach of promise
action, he holds to his written OF
spoken word, and goes to the altar
with the knowledge that be il
entering upon q marriage which
can but end in dire humiliat.
ing failure. Is it not a crying
shame and scandal that the church and
the law should sanction such unholy
alliances, ending, as 90 many of them in.
evitably must and do end, in the
divorce court, or worse? Sure.
ly woman who offers herself
for money in the street is a lesser
offender than one who sells herself al
the altar for a fortune or a title. The
former, indeed, does less positive harm
to the community than the latter, who
is guilty of bringing into the world
children for whom she has no real affec'
ton, and who are often the fruit Of 8
transient animal passion.
Even worse are the marriages OF ig'
norsnce which, alas only too often
become criminal marriages. Whom
mothers take less trouble over
the accomplishments and appear
ance of their children and more over
the early forMation Of their characters