The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1902-09-10
IN DEFENSE OF CELIBA(,Y
a sss s s .SK 5 S e4gs
A Reply to e resident Andrews.


'fhe other 0ey, lnj tecbpffng OeIGfe
.he school teachers Ind snnmer stu-
dents at the University OF Chiosgot
President Andrews slrssa All Of his
hearers who weren't married to rush
into mstrimony, aud declared that Q
man or woman who voluntarily re-
NAMED single was moral desseaer-
ate. z
Perhaps no more misohievous ad-
vice than this was ever given. Hasty
and ill.considered marriages., marriages
entered into without snfaieiens means
10 support q family, marriages con-
tracted in the mistaken belief that q
psssipg fancy is . deathlesss psssipn,
are responsible for nine-tenths.of the
murders and thsffs and, drunkenness
and misery Of the world. Such un-
ions where loves dies with the honey
moon, and where all that is left is q
hated chain that binds two people to-
gether, is the DEVILS workshop. where
ali that's worst in the character Of q
man and woman are developed, and as
matter Of truth, the moral degener-
ates are net old maids and bachelors,
but men and women who have been;
unhappily married, and whose own ex-,
periences have embittered them and
scared their belief in every good and :
true thing.
The old bachelor, no matter how
wicked he may have been himself,
oherishes some ideal OF womanly gem
.leness and purity; the old maid hugs
to her heart to the last her faith in
the supreme nobility Of man; but the
man whose wife has betrayed him, or.
;he woman whose husband has been
false to her, believe in nothiug, and
either go forth to avenge their wrongs
on society, or, soured and disgrnnt-
led. mock at the gods Of others.
If every marriage we're happy
marriage, DR.. Andrews, and every
other preacher and teacher, might we'll
urge it indiscriminately on people, for
there can be no doubt that just as un-
happy wedlock develops all the tares
and weeds il the soul, happy marriage
isthe sunshine in which ell the buds
and blooms Of the heart find their
finest flower. The love that robs la
Dor Of its toll, that's makes sacrifice a
pleasure, that prefers another above
itself, rounds life into its fullest per-
fiction.
Those who have missed . happy
marriage have missed the best that
the world can give, sbus those chat
have kept out Of On unhappy marriage
have escaped . LOT Of misery and snf-
fering, and sometimes itis sgood deal
better to be safe than toy run the risks
Of being blessed. Unless all the cir
oumstances Of marriage are propitious
unless the man and woman s-s old
enough to know what they really de-
sire in a life companion, and are sure
that their love is founded on some
thing deeper and more lasting Chan
the curve of cheek or an ability to
dance the two.step, and unless they
have sufficient income to live on de.
Gently in the way in which they have
been accustomed to live, it will be
great deal better for their hearts and
their morals aud their tempery and
Ithelr purses to stay single, DR.. An.
drews to the contrary Notwithstanding.
There have been reckless marriages
Ithat turned out all right, but nobody
iilas right to take it 9or granted that
they will be struck by lightning.
As further inducement TO the un-
prepared to break into the holy state
% matrimony. Dr. Andrews says chat
''she single MAJ or woman has no place
70 society. The facts in the case
Esn EIaon't seem to besr out this either,
|glen who have done great things have
ssSeen mostly married becaaae women
saamired d them go they couldn 7 escape,
through quite respectable number Of
!. 1faschelors have also made q noise in
She world, and have done things that
ssett humanity better and wiser, while
2nOng 4 women Florauce Nightingale,
Frances Willard Clara Barton, j Jane
jAddams, and : hundred more one one /
Eould name ssss ! h=.ss 1 i ! ave noGouiy fhad
4 definite place in society, hut perch
s the topmost ronnd Of the ladder,
although none oe them had q hns.
A3and.
In society--the gay cociety ihat
|Fves balls and paftieg and rides ia au-
a'nobilas--whether e middle.aged
person has . place 10 III Or NOT de-