The herald., 1894-02-18

church door, was sent TO eat the wages
OF his base compliance ia q distant pro-
vincial town. Here his title and his
money soon procured him tbs good
graess OF come provincial beauty, who
consoled him for the contempt with
which he mad been treated elsewhere,
and whose husband initiated his own
example Of forbearapce and submission.
The sacrifice OF youth and beauty was
often made, and made without remon-
STRANGE, to deformity, to age, and even to
imbecility, among persons equal In birth,
when one of the parties had TO offer the
wealth or brilliant existence in society
which was wanting to the ether"
We are cheated by words, for these
unnatural unions are not marriages.
True marriage ID q spiritual and mental
exoxmose and endosmose. Each gives of
its own to each until both are alike. 1t
is natural and spontaneous union OF
ideas, aims and sympathies; and where
these exist rites and ceremonies are su-
perhuous. They can neither give nor
take away. For the marriage ceremony
is not marriage, but it is merely the
public profession of an accomplished
fact; otherwise it is morally fraudulent.
huQ IL AhAAlhB0 uOcn hOb pACCoAu bho
ceremony no real marriage exists.
1t ia because we attach &c the word
what rightly belongs to the thing, that
an act of nature ia stigmatized as a
crime.
When women, prompted by their own
affectionate and generous instincts, and
regardless of ceremonies, have become
mothers, our social Juggernaut crushes
hor t. q
outcasts, and thus they hang, drown,
or prostitute themselves. Holocausts
of little ones, innocent as those OF Beth
lehem, are annually sacrificed to the
| fear of this wooden god. What, say
you, would you permit natural" chill
dren among us? Most certainly. All
children are natural except the offspring
of enforced and unnatural marriages.
1t is evident to all observers that the
prudent and wise are cautious in the
exercise of their creative powers, where
as the least fit are the most reckless OF
consequences. Their criminal folly is
thus perpetuated, as well as its evils.
Who, then, it may be asked, shall judge
as to fitness? We reply that jury
composed of doctors of both sexes could,
on consultation, easily decide 40 to a
mans general capacity for marriage. II
| it be said that the unrestricted associa-
| ton Of the sexes would increase immor-
atty, we deny it and affirm the contra
ry. Doctors, for instance, are not more
immoral than others, yet they are
brought into much closer intimacy with
their female patients. These things are
regulated by habit and sslf-rsspect.
1t is sheer childishness to shut our
eyes to facts, or to ignore the brutal
profigscy in our midst. Mirandas en-
counter Cslibans at every street corner.
Nor ia it in the classic woods of Greece,
where impure satyrs watched furtively
from behind their leafy coverts for a
rarely passing nymph. Our modern
satyrs are elegantly dressed, and leer
openly at every pretty woman in our
public places.
Nature Hterilizes women OF immoral
lives. Immoral men should be ster-
ilized also, but this can only be done by
artificial means. Jesus said, "Some are
born eunuchs, some are made eunuchs.
and others have become eunuchs for
the kingdom of heavens sake" The
sanity Origen emasculatsd himself.
What has been done from religion, lux
ury. or choice, may be done again
from necessity. 1t might easily be
made a physical impossibility for GRIM
inals, hereditary paupers, imbeciles,
prohigates, and others suffering from
gross bodily or mental defects to prop
- -s--:-f-:i:- , =. a l-.s 49, -;,r
race is one OF the great measures of the
future, and will be taken in hand as
soon as the nation is sufficiently en-
llghtened as to its necessity. We can
not 60 on for ever permitting swarms OF
weak and depraved creatures to food
society with lunatics, idiots, criminals
and other defective Offspring. Their
maintenance and control alone consti-
tute serious menace to the welfare of
the industrious and deserving poor.
Their contagious and vicious example
outweigh the efforts of missionaries and
reformers, who are, as it were, for ever
rolling Sisyphean stone. We Danish or
isolate physical leprosy, which once
abounded in this island, and thus extir-
pate it. Moral leprosy may have to be
subjected to similar treatment.
The Spartans afforded q remarkable
instance OF what could be done by selec-
ton. careful breeding and Systematic
education. A little state of few thous-
and citizens overswed Greece and defied
the countless hosts of Persia. Mara
thon, Salamis and Platea ring out clear
and spirit-stirring after the lapse of "a
centuries.
The early Romans retained much OF
the Lscedasmonians' spirit. They took
especial pains to preserve purity of
blood. When Cato lent his wife to
Hortensius, it was from no immoral
motive, but from high sense of public
duty. Hortensius was "goodly man."
his physical and mental excellencies
were appreciated by his friend, and
therefore he selected him as his duty to
raise up children to the state. And
Cato is esteemed a model citizen and
patriot. One of the greatest punish
ments inflicted on the Romans was the
withdrawal of the privilege of lending
their wives.
Spartan and Roman requirements diff
fered from ours, and thus our methods
must differ also from theirs. We
should, however, pursue the same OBJ
ject-the mental and physical perfection
of our race-by means suitable to our
time and place. Marriage should be
resolutely discouraged where the
parties are unfit through any
disqualifcations. Where COM
munity has taken upon itself the
burden of the support of all, it should
have the power of regulating the action
'of individuals in 30 far as they create the |
difficulty. We prevent the inmates OF |
49, \