The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-12-13

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bili;ics of marriage at - than others
at -. If marriage. however, be post
poncd after hi, last ii.urc a man i
likely To get into what may be called
the habit Of ccibacy from which, as
from other bad habits. it is hard to
break away In this habit Of crlibacy
he will continue till he is about 60
years of age, when Il great desire will
come over him to try what matrimony
is like just before he dies, and he Will
propose right and left to cvcrythus
in pctticoats until at last he is picked
up, not for himself, but for his rnrury
or for his position, or bccau~r some
one is tired Of being caiI,i Miss, >
and wants the novel sensation Of
writing Mrs. before he. iialnc. An
old man told friend that he wanted
to marry before Ii" lied. it only to
have some one to close his eyes.
"lcrhaps, suggested the friend, ''yru
will get some one who will open them.
1t is not natural for a young girl to
wish to marry an old man. y father
said to his daughter, Now, when it
is time for you to marry, J won al
low you to throw yourself away on one
of the frivolous young fellows | see
around. shall select for you staid.
sensible middle aged man-what do
you say to man about 30 years Of
agc?' "Wcll, father, replied the
girl, "if it's just the same to you, |
should rrrlr two If twenty-five. .
Perhaps she best advice one could
give II young man IN this matter is to
say, Wait until you cannot wait any
longer" Wait, that is to say, until
shc-that not impossible shc-comes
with smiles SC sweet and manners so
gracious that you cannot wait any
longer, then marry, and may you be
happy ever after! AS to the age at
which women should marry | am
afraid Of burning my fingers with that
question. All | shall say is that if
some women are not worth looking ut
after thirty years of age there are
quite as many not worth speaking to
before it. Let a man please himself,
but let him not marry either child or
an old woman.
| have heard Of people marrying
when only 20, or even Is years of age.
Well, there is no use in talking to pco-
pie Of that kind. They have not come
TO years of discretion; they arc in
fants in the eye of the law and fools
in those Of every sensible person.
When see people Of tender years
like this marrying | always think
of one stock of sweet pea trying to
support another a man who lived
to q great age was asked how he man
aged to do SO. He replied, II never
ran when | could have walked, never
walked when l could have stood, never
stood when could have sat, never
sat when could have laid, married
late and was soon left a widower.'
Fairly marriages are to be dcprc-
Gated, said Lord Beacons6cld. "cs-
pecially for men, This doctrine
does not find favor with the peasantry
of Ireland. What they say is, eth
cr marry young, or become monk
young Those who are accustomed
to comfort exercise greater sclf-rc-
straint in matrimony than do the poor.
These last rush in, reasoning, as they
do in Ireland in this matter, "Shure,
whatever VIC do We cant be worse off
than we are. And yet many Of the
Irish poor enter into matrimony as IL
sort oe investment for old age. When
come as quickly as they do
to the poor into the little cabin of Pat
and Biddy, they say, "Shurc, they
will be crate support to us in our
0uld age. And this they generally
are, for in no country is the duty of
children to provide Ior aged parents
held so sacred as in Ireland.
But indeed it is not possible to an
swcr the question when people should
marry merely by discovering their
age. To be ready to marry one must
do more than merely live certain
time. We must think of physical
and financial qualifications. Itis time
to marry only when people arc proper
ly fitted to take that most important
step. That some preparation for mar
riage was considered necessary by the
ancient State of Belgium I gather from
q picture wich I once saw in the His
torical Society's collection of paint
;ass &c New yc.k. The scene ie the
inside of q peasants house in Bel
GUM. On an easy chair sits faith
erly old priest catechising shy, awk-