The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-23
Love and Marriage.

Love anu "dIiiaGV'
Inevitably the somewhat astonishing
letter of woman lawyer on which we
commented the other day has started
discussion among our correspondents
on the subject of love and marriage. 1t
is a provocative subject and every man
and every woman is sure to give large
amount of attention to it.
Love has been the theme of poetry and
romance from the time when ideallty
began to be evolved in man, and still the
most of the literature produced in the
world Of civilization bears on it. The
reading of poetry ia said to be less gen.
| eral than formerly, though, as our expe-
rence with verse writers proves. the
production of it has increased rather than
diminished. Romances, moreover. are
| produced at a far greater rate than ever,
and Of those printed the circulation is
far more numerous than was that OF the
most famous novels Of the past The
main reading of the great body of the
public, outside of newspapers. is OF
novels good bad and mediocre.
Consequently everybody regards him
self as an adept in the philosophy OF love
and competent to lay down its laws, if it
has any laws. He may not assume to be
so llustrious an authority on the subject
as Mr.. HENRY JAMES. for instance, but
he imagines that even if he has not had
personal experience Of the emotion in its
most romantic developments he has ac-
uuired an imaginative conception OF
what it ought to be from tireless novel
reading
Mr. JAMES seems to have a theory
that there is something mysterious about
this sentiment called love that human
nature is so complex that the emotions
which influence men and women most
fundamentally are discoverable only by
a rare analytical faculty. In truth. nor
nal human nature is very simple. 1t
divides itself up into broad classical
tons easily distinguished The love
affairs of one young man and one young
woman are very much the same in their
impulse and manifestation as those of
another, more especially of the same
general social sphere and antecedents.
They are in their basis instructive in
humanity, though happily for the moral
elevation of mankind Imagination sur
rounds them with a beautiful halo of
poetry and romance. Unless they have
that halo they drop very close to the
british level
The theory of the woman lawyer that
"true love" is selfish passion and apart
from duty works the greatest mischief.
As she propounds it, her theory is that
this emotion of true love" is law to
itself and its qualification by any means
which can be used by it is justified, even
holy. OF course, that is free love, :"
social anarchy, moral dissolution. 1t
substitutes the vagaries of what is really
no more than passing emotional con-
dtion for the marriage ordained by
society. 1t recognizes no marriage in
which the passion she calls true love"
is not preserved in its most tyrannical
form.
The strongest bond which holds mar
ried people together, however is and
must be a sense of duty, whose oblga-
| tlOn Is lIlClt'Scu ny uHtNllcIl, anu VIC
mere habit of the association helps pow
erfully Are the pair happy? That is a
matter of relatively small consequence
If they are not happy in doing their duty
to each other and their children they do
not deserve happiness.
correspondent suggests to-day that
the new advancement of women intel
lectually and their greater self-depend-
ence interfere with marital harmony and
happiness and necessitate a more gen.
eral resort to the divorce courts. Pos
sbly the emergence of the new woman"
has not been accompanied by CORE
spending masculine Improvement Supe-
riority in woman implies the necessity for
superiority in man; and all the better.
The truth u.s. the motives in marriage
remain the same as Of old time; nor is
the average Of harmony in matrimony
less than it used TO be. 1t is probably
much greater. Both men and women
have become more civilized. OF all
human institutions marriage is the one
which has proved the most successful.