Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-04-04

as busy collecting these indispensable pa
pers as they have been at work on The
rousseau and the furnishing Of the new
apartment. Long ago the formal marriage
contract was signed. or the young man had
never been admitted to court his beloved.
II mas It's legal value az a basis for an In
junction or damages. should either party try
to back out afterward. And now In the
beautiful spring weather the marriage party
Is assembled In the mayors Office There
is great waiting room. A dozen other
well. At last q good batch is collected, and
they are ranged in line. The mayor stops
q moment before each couple. do you
take this woman for your wife?' Answer:
husbandr' Answer: Yes" The groom
then slips q ring on the brides finger and
remarks: This ring Is the sign OF the mar
rage which We have here contracted" They
the documents piled on the secretary's desk
have done the rest.
This ceremony, 80 decent, simple and un-
Affected, hides all the difficulties in the way
give q look Of ease to the transaction. The
church function ts a mere spectacle. which
may or may not follow. What could be
more republican and in conformity with the
rights OF man? Yet the whole procedure u
strewn with hideous injustices. Each pre-
liminary may serve to break or two mar
rases where 1t works well Tor one.
What the Conditions Mean.
The certificate that the groom has fulfilled
his military obligations means that before
he can think Of engaging himself he must
have passed three years in the corruption
OF the barracks Twenty-one years Of age
and generous hearted and impressionable.
he is Just at an age to form disinterested
attachment Three years Of the cynicism
When he comes cut he must have his fling
to compensate him for that choking-on. It
Is sentiment that II in the air in France.
1t IL catching. He has lost three years from
work. from business advancement. They
put him back that much.
The certificate OF birth means even more.
in one respect. In name 1t sounds innocent
enough. but in fact 1t 10 q terrible threat
ener to great mass Of the population.
Young men on the eve Of marriage have shot
themselves because they feared the result
OF some discovery by reason OF 1t. The GER
tifcate Of birth is the indication to each
Frenchman's secret dossier kept by the
governments detectives. clerks. function
aries. municipal and state. which gives the
secret OF each Frenchman'e life These
records are kept so infinitely that at the
recent trial OF jacques Saint-Cere" the
government was able to confront him with
proofs that he pawned borrowed books at
the age Of eighteen; that he had lodged a
cab fare at the age CT twenty-three: that
ne owed money for his morning coffee at
the age Of twenty-four. Have you ever
been arrested for obstructfng the police
some night when you had dined too well?
1t Evil be there Each time you have been
sued for debt has made it's mark. All the
forgotten peccadillces of ones youth lie
waiting for this general judgment Of the
searching father-in-law prospective.
Illustrative OF French Life.
There is an ellegory Of Aurel.en Scholl
in which this side Of French living is per-
sonified in the "middle-aged gentleman"
who grew jealous OF the attentions which
the girl walters in a Latin Quarter cafe
showed to younger and handsomer fire.
quenter Of the establishment. They called
the latter Handsome jacques" out Of pure
nght-heartedness. ami he. the elderly gen.
tleman. took up the habit Of calling him
that name sarcasticallY. Time passed, the
young man set himself seriously to work,
wrote brilliant book, and was beginning
to be received into society simply because
OF his merits. One evening at a reception
the elderly gentleman" recognized him
and smiled malevolently.
His companion asked. why did you start
when you saw that young man: Do you
know him?" YES" Il hope you Know
nothing unfavorable TO him? L beg you to
tell me: 1 have the greatest interest to
know. In fact. he IS a suito- for rhe hand
OF my daughter. who fancies she cares
for him.
The elderly gentleman replied: Eyes, ]
know him. and You will see that he knows
youth. he remarked significantly: Good
evening. Handsome IacQues." He turned
startled. and replied IN a confused am
trembling way. while the elderly gentle.
man drew his companion on. That match
was broken. Years passed again. The
young author had written another brillian,
book, and every one was sure that he could
not fail to be decorated with the ribbon
OF the Legion of Hon The minister was
going over the lists, sin a futile attempt Il
make hundred decorations cover Il hun.
dred and fifty deserving aspirants. He bad
come to the name Of Dur young man. The
elderly gentleman was also there.
Fate Was Relentless.
"Oh!' he exclaimed, you've got him
DOWN." YES" replied the minister. hur.
riedly; why do you speak so? DO you
know anything of hint" Handsome
jacques" laughed the elderly gentleman
mo; nothing of Importance; an old story;
q name the waiter girls called him in the
Latin Quarter The minister ma ie a narb
with blue pencil: "Loos HIM zip. Sesrns
to be spoken of ligatly.' So in the hurry
Of business. the young author missed his
decoration.
Years passed again, and a; third crisis
Of his life the elderly gentleman STEPPED
in to intervene, though. how and with wha,
result does not concern us. The damage
was done, each time, Dy the mere kim L II G
of suspicion by one who wac a Inaste: CT
the art, and who could speak Authoritative
ly. You have robbed me of my tr:de OF
cuted one exclaims at The en1 of the chap.
ter. and now you come to claim a serv-
ice of met But the elderly gentleman
could only stammar that he had only acted
for what seemed to him the best
Every day in France honest and perfect.
ly proper attachments are ruptured because
Of the third impediment of parents con-
sent. French pride and suspicion 60 to
absurd lengths on both sides with respect
to the previous antecedents of the young
| man; but they are capable of going quite
as far when brought to bear upon the deli
cate questions Of fortune and position. All
over the world no one objects to a girls
parents thinking their daughter too good
for any young man. Lovers are used to
kneeling and pleading. But 1t is a very
different thing when the young mans
parents calmly remark: 1--WE are afraid
your daughter will not do for Henri OF
course, she Is q good girl, but we have
other views for him."
STERLING HELLO.
Catching Whales I'm a Net.