Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1915-02-12

A MATRIMONIAL
THEORIST
His Theories Did Not Work
In Practice
By ESTHER vANDEvEER


In this age Of skepticism regard.
ing marriage there are those whose
faith In It cannot be shaken. They are
persons who have been happily mar
ried and about whom children have
sprung. To such marriage Is their
whole world. They are not interested
In any one Of the plans which are In.
vented for experimental marriage or
easy divorce. To them the loss Of a
single child Is an %irreparable misfor.
tune. and to the family as a whole the
loss Of either parent is the greatest ca.
lamity that can befall them.
II Is either those whose married life
has been O failure or those who have
never been married ut all who are seek
ing substitutes for the wedlock Of the
present day. The former usually take
the initiative by advancing new ideas
concerning It; the latter. with a few
exceptions. are ready to jump into mat.
rimony without consideration.
Among young unmarried persons in
clined to forethought In this matter
were Edward Ellis md Rebecca Sayles
Neither was disposed to take life, its
Joys and its sorrows as they came,
but must plan everything ahead. Being
mutually interested in many problems
that their elders have found ~lnsoluble.
they were drawn together by their dis.
c%ussions. and an attachment sprung up
between them. Ellis weighed bachelor
life against married life and found the
advantages and disadvantages of equal
weight On the one side there vas
something to tie to. on the other lone
liness that increased with old age. He
granted that n n marriage turned out
happily the advantages Outweighed the
disadvantages. II It wns a failure It
was unbearable.
This view Of It led Ellis Just where II
has led q host Of other thinkers on the
subJect-irst, to guard against injudi
cious marriages: second, to render them
easily dissolved when the parties found
themselves not mated He spent n
great deal OF time on both these prob
lens END at Inst solved them tn his sat
inltANNiins nv AOulAGs AN NiiAt nllbhlA Nv
married without living for at least a
yenr in close proximity with each 9th
err; no couple should he married with
out n prenuptinl agreement that ut the
option Of either they should live apnrt
and both nssist In securing n divorce.
Miss Snyles. whose views IN the sub
tect Of marriage had been Influenced
L. IL .-.NN.-NA N-.IIAa - No.
aunt rnther than n mental bent toward
the discussion of nhStruse problems.
ngreed with Mr.. Ellis ms to the pre-
cautions. but was Eat sea" with regard
to the remedy. She shrnnk from the
breaking up OF n fhmily-sOmethlng n
woman would be more likely TO feel
than q mnn since the maternal IL
stronger than the p~nternal instinct. She
failed to see how the damage once
done could be remedled. Anyway. It
would leave n terrible scar.
However. II Ellis did not convert her
to tbs views MS to separation, provided
marriage proved n failure. he finally
persuaded her to consent to his pre-
nuptial agreement He was perfectly
satisfied with this. because she was a
girl who would neyer go buck on her
promise They lived near each other.
met frequently and by mutual agree
ment refrained from trying to convince
each other that they were far better
thar they appeared. AT lenst they
tried to appear what they were, but
whether they succeeded or not Is an
open question.
At the end of a year Of such inter
course they were married Ellis pre-
natal agreement as to separation In
case their marriage proved a failure
was put In writing He give bis bride
a copy and kept a copy for himself.
The Ellises lived together ten years
without any more matrimonial dis
agreements thnn the average married
couple During that period four chill
dren came to them. two boys and two
girls. Ellis remained In accord with
those cynical filings Mt marriage which
have been 10 popular OF recent years
When he went to the theater and heard
an actor crnck jokes Illustrative Of
" AAuA "a hAnAltAAlA iAhFA EAhhAE hG nOlN1
applaud vOciferously. He read a novel
on the theme of domestic unhappiness
and recommended 1t to a friend. The
friend handed 1t back with the com
ment that neither he nor the world was
interested In the subject treated. add
ing that what was wanted were stories
OF married comfort and family affec-
ton. Ellis looked upon the critic ever
after as a nan Of very narrow mental
compass.
Twelve years after the marriage Of
Ellis and Miss Sayles he one day hand.
ed her his COPY Of their prenuptial
agreement to a separation In case their
marriage proved a failure II gave her
the surprise OF her life. She had lis
tened TO his Jokes about what bus
bands must endure. but considered that
they sprang from q desire to be race
tiOus. She was aware OF what the wife
must endure, but during the term of
years she had been married her good
sense lad prevailed ove the theories
OF inexperienced youth. and she had
come to consider them on the same
footing as other necessary evils and
that for the sake Of both parents and
children they must DO passed over
with as little disturbance as possible.
Indeed. she realized that It was far
more lmpoFtAnt that they be smOOthOd
over than other necessary evils.
Her husband said nothing when be
handed her the paper. but she knew
what be meant In his prenuptial
agreement he had not thought It neces-
sary to mention children He had then
not had children and was on the same
plane In this respect as other baehO-
lOrs. Children In a matrimonial separa-
tiOn he had not considered