The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1904-08-03
rs LOVE INSANITY
Romantic Kind 81 Short Duration
Affection That Lasts.

was Ah1 ch0 JD1V Va - ~ ~ ~ \ Y ~
tecost's after-dinner speech at The
closing meeting of the Sunrise
Club on Monday evening. Mr..
Pentecost began by imploring the
audience to understand that be
was about to consider the subject
abstractly, not from personal ex-
pefience. He had been induced
to talk about this matter before,
he said, and persons had carried
remarks Of his to certain mem.
Der of his family, and it was mol
their fault that they did not make
him trouble. Furthermore, since
the announcement Of his subject,
he had been approached BY Sc
many women in threaten,
ing attitude that for the first time
in a long career of public speak.
ing he could fairly say that be
was inundated and should prob
ably hedge.
what is lovesn he began. rs
it diseased Is it a species OF in
sanitys What we call romantic
love, attacks men generally be-
tween the ages of eighteen and
twenty-five. It attacks girls, too,
but with a difference. The girl
always keeps her head enough to
know what she is about. The
man becomes temporarily a luna
tic. 1t is a state in which people
do not see each other as they are.
They seem entirely different per-
sons. I've seen a man in love
with a woman that | thought he
must be crazy to love. | couldn't
have loved her to save my life.
| saw her as she was. He was a
totally different person.
THAT sort of love disappears
very quickly after marriage. 1t
never lasts more than few weeks.
1t may be gone in a few weeks.
And there you are. Married, and
the feeling which induced you to
marry, vanished. That is the end
of that kind of love between those
two people.
Now the fact that the two peo-
pie are married has nothing to do
with this disappearance. There
is a liberal element of very inteIli-
gent and respectable people that
betrays a disposition to think that
marriage is an evil per Sc, and
should be abolished. | have
known some of these people who
assumed the marriage relation
without the conventional cere-
mony. And they were just as apt
to be unhappy as those who mar
ried. Romantic love, with its
splendors of emotion, persisted
just the same between them as be-
tween those who were bound.
Better Than Romance.
The happiness of the years
that follow does not depend in any
way upon whether the two people
have observed the common cere-
mony or not. It depends entirely
on the two people themselves. If
the two people are SO constituted
that they can maintain mutual
love, it will not come to an end.
If they are not, it will. AS a mat
ter of fact, no one is happy. eth
er married or single, for any pro-
longed period. But very great
number of married people, the
vast majority in fact, are comfort
able in the relation. They get
more comfort with it than they
would without it. The feeling
they began with has come to an
end. Then their future comfort
depends on whether they harmon
ize or not; whether they are on
the same intellectual plane;
whether their tastes agree in
short, whether they suit each 9th
er; whether they like each other.
And two people who do suit each
other in this way come eventually,
after the lapse Of years, to feel
that this is a better and more sat
isfactory feeling than even the
roseate, Undesirable, unreal feel
ing with which they began.
What we are to call this latter
feeling, friendship, affection,
/ don't know. But all
happy married people possess it,
and they all know it is better than
the other. These are the happy
people; the people every one en-
vies; the people who have main
tanned that much discussed insti-
tuition, the home, for many centu-
ries, so that no assaults have had
any effect upon it. Marriage is
Everybody will go into
It. IF they have tried it once,
they will try it again. IF they
have been married twice, they
will marry three times, if The oc-
casion arises. If they were hap
py the first time they will say, ]
can duplicate it. # they we're I'M
fortunate before, they say, can
do better this time. ] am speak
ing of the great mass Of human
kind. OF course, there are ex-
captions to every rule. In spite
Of the apparently great number Of
divorces, the vast mass of the race
remains fond of marriage. It.
suits them. 1t meets their needs.
Il is what they want.
Eternal Espionage Kills L.
tfT swzsI1 81 - - 4 < =. L.. ..z.