Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-05-05
1.-TWO BREAKFASTS A WEEK

1.-TWO BREAKFASTS A WEEK"
CERTAINLY 1t was bit unkiud Of
~ Miss Fannie Hurst to strike note
Of glad iubilation in the announcement
of her triumph in marriage expert.
mcnt which implies llatly that mothers
and fathers all up and down the land
nay, even grandmothcrs and grand
fathers thcmsrlvrS--havc been rank
amateurs at the business of life.
If the idcH marriage is one in which
the interested persons must live apart.
communicate by telephone as II pre-
liminary TO each joyous meeting and
keep the ceremony Of breakfast at home
stcrnly down to an average of two a
week, world in search of happiness
has been shdly mislcd by oil the people
who have married since the first dawns.
But doubt enters here. No other
institution ever devised by man has been
subjected to more experimentation by
raiding and restless minds than mar.
riagc. The proud. the adventurous. the
uncomprOmisiDg. the defiant of this
world have stood aloof TO stare and
question aud rCnouucc--for q time. But
the sanctuary at which they did not
hesitate to cast stones was the place
to which they crept, in the end for
refuge and happiness. There were mo-
mcnts. unqucstionably, whcr Adam
yCarned for his freedom. And who will
doubt that Eve knew intervals Of bitter
irritation when she craved for solitude
s,,,., l.
learned what tho married have always
lcarned-that while life together was at
times trouble. life apart was intol.
cradle pain.
Arc the mothers and fathcrS Of the
old school amateurs: They are not.
Will they be hurt by Il sense Of error
in the presence of the formal arrange
mcnt by which Miss Hurst and her hus-
band aim to prove that onc--and even
two-may hc happy though married t?
Hardly. They will recognize in Fannie
rand Jacques two valiant cgos that have
not yet achieved the surrender that is
victory for such aS they. They will
recognize. too. ancient types of ANA
tours in Miss Hurst and her husband.
And they will be tolerant. For to be
happily married in the conventional way
is to know that youth is not all of life,
that there are moods that cannot be
prolonged aud glorious intervals that
would not be glorious If they were not
transient aud fleet
Married folk who refuse to breakfast
together more than twice II week, in
order to avoid the risks Of disillusion-
mHnt. are trying to max" the world
stand still trying to arrest and hold Il
thing that nCvcr has remained for any
, one. They cannot know that life is like
! the seasons. that it holds successive
miracles, each springng from the one
that preceded it, to bring happiness to
the normal heart.
On perpetual honeymoon no one
would over learn that pain itself and
, disappointment and even sorrow and
/ rCnunciation are educational and nee
cssary prcliminarics to tho larger, all &.
, inclusive experience of happiness. A
sense of humor is on" Of the higher
forms of wisdom. without which men
aud women cannot understand each
, other. Is there no satisfaction, no de-
light, in n burden or an atlliction shared.
no sense of victory in forbcarance, in
charity in tolerance:
Tho pioneer women who went West
those who keep the vigls in countless
I homes because they have learned to love
without measure, and men who. in try
ing days, know that there is only ont
peace and ono way to find it. do not
fear boredom. They haven't had tim,
to be bored. They know what Mar.
pcssa meant when, choosing II mOrta
husband and the prospect of pain ant
age. when she was offered immortality
she said to Apollo, who vainly wooeC
! her:
80 though youth pass of
There shall succeed a faithful peace;
Beautiful friendship, tried by sun and
wind
Durable from the daily dust Of life.
We shall behold all frailties,
We shall haste to pardon.
Then, though VIC grow old,
We shall grow old together,
Md he shall not greatly miss
My bloom faded and waning light
OF eyes too deeply gazed in ever
To seem dim 80
The grandmothcrs and the grand
fathers. knowing life in retrospect, vii
feel pretty sure that Fannie and JaCque
will before louG sit down together t
seven breakfasts n week.