Middletown transcript., 1894-03-17
rhe oblirattons Of Marriage.

Marriage has so many sides that the
| more one considers it, the more is one
, struck with its multiplicity of aspects
and relations. The great modern
misfortune, however, is the want OF
consideration of this matter; for, un-
der the careless and glancing scrutiny
too often bestowed upon it, marriage
appears to be very simple and, more
or less, insequential thing, whereas its
consequences remain and continue till
the end of time. HI the careless sur
vey of the greatest and most impor-
tant step human being can take, only
one side presents itself, and that is the
romantic view. 1t represents itself to
the young and ardent as state of per-
ennial bliss, and its responsibilities ap-
pear but hazy prospects in a general
roseate cloud.
OF course, the moral and spiritual
sides of marriage are the most impor-
tant to the individual and to the race,
but there is what may be called the
practical side which is the least of all
regarded. Marriage besides its sacred
obligations. is a contract in which
each party agrees to discharge certain
obligations, and these obligations are
as legally and morally binding as the
terms of other contracts made before
the law. The man solemnly engages
to furnish and support the home, and
the woman as solemnly pledges herself
to take charge of its comfort and hap
piness. These are not light obligations,
and the fact they are so lightly as
sumed in such a majority of cases is
one principal reason why so many mar
riages are failures and so many homes
are unhappy. Neither man nor
woman can rush into a state requir-
ing so much knowledge, and thought
and preparation, without developing a
pitiful inadequacy to meet its duties
and thereby creating a domestic con-
fusion, just as results when one under
takes to run an ordinary business
without capital, experience, or know
ledge of its conditions.
In spite Of the romance surrounding
it, marriage must have business ad-
ministration, or it will be failure in
all it's phases. The partners of the
matrimonial firm must be actuated by |
a sense of honor towards each other, |
and faithful discharge of mutual, or
the firm will become bankrupt not only |
in business way, but in the far more
important matters Of love and happi-
ness. The young man who enters the
married state ought TO be willing and |
able to maintain Lone of his own, to
fit himself to earn its support, TO be
capable of sacrifice and exertion, and
to shift for no cause, save the excep-
tioDal and inexorable one of necessity,
its burdens on the other shoulders. He
is bound in conscience, in honor and
by virtue of his manhood, not to as
sumo obligations when he has no pros
pect of fulfilling them, for by so doing
he commits a serious wrong against
his family, society and himself. Until
young man has good prospects of be-
ing able to support family, he has no
moral or civil right to marry, and to
rush headlong into matrimony on
nothing year is as criminal as it is
foolish.
On the other hand, it is on the wo-
man-the wife and mother-that the
making of the home depends, and she
cannot, either in honor or conscience,
evade the obligations she voluntarily
assumes. She engages to supply its
comforts and happiness, and, in the
case of the average American married
woman, this involves degree, varying
with individual circumstances, of
manual labor and domestic science. A
woman is bound by her contract to fit
herself for the due performance of
these duties, and if she, too, rushes
into marriage as she would accept an
engagement at ball, with no know
ledge of its duties and responsibilities,
she is in the dishonorable condition of
one who promises to give what she
does not possess, and commits a grave
offence against the welfare of society,
which depends on the solidity of mar ]
riage. The two are generally consid- s
cred opposites. It will be found prac- ]
tically that welded romance wears .
much better when on a business basis. q