OCR Text |
Show EARLY MARRIAGES FAVORED. Duty to Church and Country Neg lected by Ambitious Parents. Early marriage should, as a rule, be recommended and promoted by thoss who have authority and influence over young: people. The mature and deliberate delib-erate opinion of groat minds in the vorld's history has been in favor of early marriages. Profoundly convinced that early marriage is the great safeguard safe-guard of youth, and the preserver of i purity, they have strongly advocated j the early marriage of young men. The morality of the Christian, the wisdom of the philosopher, and the knowledge of the man of the world, favor early marriages. Marriage is the only natural, proper and safe state for the majority of persons per-sons living in the world. It is a snre promoter of domestic happiness "the only bliss of paradise that has survived , ' tne fall."' The law of Sparta required f man to marry when he became .if age: if he did not he was lialrii U prosecution. . The salutary effect of this was pern in the superior morality of the Spartans over the other people of Greece. ; The morality of the people of Ireland is one of the brightest gems in the , crown of the "loved Ireland of sor row;" the practice of early marriage contributes in great measure to this morality. The pernicious practice of marrying late in life, which prevails ' penerally in France, is one of the chief - causes of the licftiousncss of that gay and gallant nation. Unfortunately a tendency towards late marriage has been gradually growing among the American people, especially in our large cities. This is one of the most dangerous and threatening signs of the times. It arises from a love of luxury and dis-, dis-, play which have overspread the land ; :l and destroyed that simplicity of life I ." and manners which was once the glory ) and strength of our nation. Parents are unwilling that their V daughters should marry young men I - who are not well-to-do. forgetting i M that they themselves were poor when. irr- they married, and that their wealth has been amassed by long years of ' constant toil. Themistocles. when asked y if whether he would prefer to marry , - his daughter to a poor man of merit, or : ' to a worthless fellow of an estate, re- ! " P'ied: "I would prefer a man without 1 ' an estate to an estate w ithout a man." The trend. in our country, is to- wards wealth and titles. Those who thave but little of this world s goods seek to be affiliated with wealth, and ,f those who have wealth covet titles which are foreign to the tastes of a republic. re-public. Neither appreciate real worth. The consequences of marriages arranged ar-ranged by ambitious parents, on this false basis, have been most lamentable. lamenta-ble. Divorces in high society today are proof abundant. Daughters are unwilling to aban-i aban-i don a life of east and luxury to share f the fortunes of young men who though , poor, in a material way. are rich in real worth, and have that which will command success. A foolish young woman once refused to marry a young man on account of his poverty, whose death was mourned by two continents the noble philanthropist, George Pea-body Pea-body Napoleon III, when in poverty in London, solicited the hand of an English ladv of rank; she refused him, and his commentary on her rejection of his suit was. "Madame, you have refused re-fused a crown." Young women in refusing re-fusing voung men of talent, industry and virtue, on ac -ount of their present -V poverty, living on the hope or accepting worthless young men of fortune, fre- .juently refuse a life of domestic peace . and happiness. - . V dim o J i-KUehnl hv vounc The stanaa.ru -i".--' --- - women is so high that many young men despair of reaching it. There wo--v men have very expensive tastes that make it well night imposs.b le for a man of humble life to purport them. Treason alleged by many yoxmg men for deferring marriage is that he? connot afford it. When mentioned, on one occasion, to Chief ."us ee Chase that lately a young man of his acquaintance had grown cynical cyn-ical and censorious because he was engaged en-gaged and could not afford to marry, hhf remark was that "Any young man who can support himself, can suppoi rt a wife-that is. if he 1 V'1! Jl? S The L Feleet the right sort of person. The ( chief justice had married when he was 1 voung poor and unknown, and his success suc-cess began with his marriage, jil any 0f the young men In America today are not satisfied to live comfortably; comfort-ably; they must live luxuriously. They Jive as extravagantly as the idle sons of rich men. Necessarily they must live up to, if hot beyond, their means. They can afford to marry if they will give up expenses which are always useless use-less and oftenxlangerous. Our American youth owe a duty to their church and their country which they neglect with criminal indifference. indiffer-ence. An early marriage is the best beginning for .the majority. It gives at once an object and aim to life. Marriage is a holy state, established by God, as the ordinary means for the happiness and salvation of the greatest number of the faithful. As a rule it is the safest state for persons living an ordinary life, and for many it is the only one that is safe. Sacerdos. |