The Savannah morning news., 1903-08-30
BREAKING HIS ENGAGEMENT.

I have heard men say, says writer
In the Boston Globe, that a fellow
who would discard a girl was not fit
for human society. I must say I don't
acuuiesce in that opinion. 1t is, of
course, serious thing to be Tilted, but
may there not be cases where the act
was justihable? For my part, I would
rather have a man frankly tell me he
did not want me for a wife than to
marry me and afterward show me
that he didn't care for me. To be a
Tilted sweetheart is bad enough, but
the Lord save me from being a Tilted
wife!
The longer live the more am
convinced that all marriages ought
to be founded on love. Nearly every
day l hear of some sweet girl who mar
ried a man because he was nice look
ing, but not because she loved him. 1
know many of that sort who are far
from happy. woman can stand al
most any sort of hardship with the
man she loves, but a trifle will bow her
down like a premature old woman if
she is welded to one she does not care
for.
Many find this out too late. Life
is seldom perfection, and all do not
find love, but a crust with love is bet
ter than a banquet without it.
Better is a dinner of herbs where
love is than a stalled OK and hatred
Herewith"
Hence, if a man breaks an engage
ment because he apprehends that he
would not be happy with an unloved
wife, don't think 1 have any right
to condemn him. Anyway, should a
man marry a woman against his
will? Why should he? Would you
like to see woman become the wife
of a man she disliked, just because
she once promised to marry him
and then without proper time for re-
Election? Surely not. Therefore, we
ought to allow a man the same privi-
lege as we allow woman of with
drawing from an engagement to full
fill a contract from which one shrinks.
Certainly no one wishes to lower
marriage to a mere matter of bust
ness contract. OF course you can't
back out of a business contract, or
if you do you have to pay the pen
atty. No doubt marriage is contract
ed for and the offended party can sue
for breach of promise. But 1 loathe
=
Marriage should be divine. 1t should
be sacramental. Any cold-blooded bus
mess view of it makes me shudder.
How 1 should hate to think a man
married me through pity! Yes, and
I am afraid my poor human nature
would finally allow me to detest him.
can see some arguments, of
course, in favor of the view that a
man ought to adhere to his engage
ment, but they are not very strong.
They deal chiefly with the girls feel
ings. That men should consider our
feelings it's all very nice; yes, chival-
rous If you will, but 1 should like a
little less chivalry and little more
justice. But if we ask for justice we
must also give it. If we claim the
right to withdraw from an engagement
to marry man we do not love, we
should concede the same right to him.
1 have a dear friend, whose heart
was wrung when a once warm wooer
grew cold, and finally told her he did
not care for her. She told me she
knew she would never recover from
the blow. She did recover, and
thinks now that her first sweetheart
did perfectly right in breaking his en-
gagement. To-day she is one of the
happiest women in the world, and the
wife of ono of the best men that ever
said II love you"