Year: 1876

yau man and wife with as little de-
lay as possible, and, if cash be a
scarce commodity with you, | will
charge you one-half the usual fee.
Till then, adieu, and may heaven
bless you. l am sorry, but, as 1
said, You are too young"


Several days ago the same young
man called at Young's Office and
requested him to accompany him
Barnum's hotel. Thinking there
was a marriage on hand, the JUS
tice lost no time in complying, and
was ushered into a room in the third
story.


"You found him, did you, Char
ley" said soft female voice, and a
handsome, well dressed young wom-
an arose to greet the visitor.


"Yes, I yound him, but he had
moved into another shop, and has
church pews in his Office"


The young woman shook hands
with the justice, and beckoning him
to approach, turned down the white
counterpane, revealing the sleeping
form Of an infant about two months
old, as plump and rosy a boy as
ever made the heart of young
mother dance with JOY.


"What do you think of him q'
asked the lady.


"He is very beautiful child
madam; well formed and appar-
emily healthy. Why do you ask p


"Does he look scrawny, or badly
formed, or sickly, or puny, or any
thing wrong?"


"No, madam; he is perfect
could not be improved upon"


ale weighs fourteen pounds
Now look at me do look sick OF
in want of anything


"No, madam; you are the perfect
picture of health. But / am not a
doctor-only a justice of the peace


"Don't you remember, year ago
you told me that l was too young.
Now if you see nothing wrong
about the child, and nothing wrong
about me-and | am sure Charley
her is all right want you to ad-
nit that you were mistaken when
YOU said / was too Young .-


at is true, madam, did say so,
but what | meant was in legal
sense. The law, madam, fixes the
age Of eighteen as the period when
a young lady may choose a hus-
band without the parental consent;
and You told me you were only a
few days past sixteen


"Fiddlesticks. What does your
law know about girls? Some plants
get their growth in a single season,
and others require years to pro-
duce blossoms and fruit. You men
ought to be ashamed to make such
laws" ..-. ......


MADAM, you have the best of the
argument, and / will not dispute
what you say. / could not violate
the law by marrying you myself,
but am blad you found Somebody
else who was less scrupulons.'


Charley now put in, "That's it,
judge; but the fast is, we-are a lit
tie in doubt whether that other chap
had any authority to marry us; we
were in too great hurry to exam
inc his credentials, and so, if you
have no objections, well Just get
you to go over the thing again and
give us a regular certificate" n


81 am very sorry, my friend. but





you viii see the difficulty. If the
lady was only sixteen year ago it
follows that she has not yet arrived
at the age of consent" .p.o.


"Why, look at that baby. Ifthat
isn't enough, I'd like to know what
you want" .t a,.f ,s5t,f,


81 did not make the law, but |
am bound to obey it. Did the man
you speak Of give you q marriage
certificate 2"


"He did, but he talked so queer
and wrote such bad hand that we
don't really know whether we are
married or not. Here's what he
gave u.s." g,s IS


Judge Young looked at the paper
and found it was signed by a duly
authorized justice of the peace
Still the lady was not satisfied, and
after a good deal of persuasion the
Judge was induced to perform the
ceremony anew. In the certificate