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Show 4. Borne Circle, j PLAIN TALK ON" PROMOTION" . OF CATHOLIC MARRIAGES The hesitation of young Catholics to enter into the married state and the alarming growth of mixed marriages inspires the Catholic Press of Sydney to the following remarks: No time should be lost in suggesting and carrying into effect the means for healing evils that "must seriouslv affect our position in the' state. ; No one can deny what the,, great apologist Ter-tullian Ter-tullian even ' in the earlier days of Christianity demonstrated that thens is no more prolific source of . infidelity than mixed marriages.- And in the Catholic church in this state we find that all of those wh live in the state of matrimony 3oM per. qen.t are those in which either husband .or wife is a non-Catholic. How can we. stop the tide, and impede the evjl consequences of such unions? Many Catholic lads find : themselves at that period when they might reasonably rea-sonably hope for a happy marriage and a comfortable home' in receipt of a t retched salary in an office or business busi-ness establishment, while" others who have learned a useful tracte are receiving re-ceiving $15 and $20 a week. To parents, par-ents, then, we must appeal to send their boys early in life to study trades and acquire a technical education, so that they may have a' profitable and reliable source of income rather than the shabby-genteel respectability of a clerkship. Our girls also are somewhat at fault. They are often overeducated in the social instincts of life known as accomplishments ac-complishments and have no tastes whatever for the more substantial duties du-ties of housekeeping and cooking. In Belgium, for example, all girls are bound to a regular course of domestic economy and culinary knowledge. Would it not be much more desirable to have a thorough knowledge and Info Fn V.n,,oa.,-nl. n r, A nmnc-tin stnnn omy than to devote too much time to the pleasant recreation of the higher high-er and no doubt nobler arts of music, drawing and painting, in which not one girl in 10,000 can ever hope to excel? ex-cel? The genteel girl will not be inclined in-clined to associate or marry her brother's broth-er's equals. She aims much higher in the social scale and is ambitious for at least a well-shaved bookkeeper, if she does not aim at a professional man and "society." Hence she fails in most instances and prefers to remain in single blessedness than endeavor to make . some one in the same sphere of life happy whom her virtue and education would elevate and ennoble. William Corbett says In his "Advice "Ad-vice to Young Men" that the true and sweetest music in a home is that Of a mother singing her baby to sleep. That music cannot be found in the pianola and the grand piano. It is not taught by the long-haired music teachers. And Corbett preferred - the needle to the novel. But he was old-fashioned, old-fashioned, and yet strangely enough the tastes of the great democrat were also those. of the old-fashioned gentlewoman gen-tlewoman to whom we owe any little lit-tle grace that remains in modern society. so-ciety. The dislike for housekeeping sends great numbers of girls to seek employment em-ployment as saleswomen and at office work, which unfits them for the duties of wives to the industrious working-men, working-men, who would in other circumstances give them a comfortable home which they could make happy. Of course our. remarks do not apply to a large number of sensible Catholic girls. We must, however, look at the evils honestly in the face and seek the causes, even though we are forced to draw a decaying tooth 'or two in the process. By a greater attention on the part of parents and our girls to the realties .of their surroundings, we believe these evils would be much abated and the, Catholic community be made more flourishing and influential. It is questionable, too, if it is not desirable to revive the old practice of match-making. In Ireland and other countries where the young people are not left entirely to their own giddy fancies and to chance circumstances the marriages are happy. In Ireland divorce and domestic tragedies are unknown. un-known. In Australia parents make no efforts to settle their children in life. Too often the daughter of the house meets a stranger at a dance, the acquaintance ac-quaintance ripens into love on her part, he marries her perhaps to break her heart, or maybe he jilts her, and for years afterward her thoughts do not turn to matrimony. In such ases the parents seldom inquire into the man's position, habits and family history. his-tory. The young meh also rely on chance to supply them with a partner for life and a mother for their children. We have no sympathy with the cowardly cow-ardly cry of poverty. This country is richer than other countries in which the marriage rate is high. Among the rich there is even a stronger disinclination disinclina-tion to marry than among the poor. A young fellow and a young woman with good characters can marry reckless reck-less of consequences. Our- wealthiest men began life in the humblest circumstances. cir-cumstances. We could give scores of names of successful men who began married life with what would be regarded re-garded now "as scanty' worldly prospects. pros-pects. It is not poverty, but a bad character and an enemy of her religion that a Catholic young lady has to fear. It is the first duty of parents to see that their children are married safely. It is of more importance than all the genteel accomplishments with which they are wont to arm them for the battle of life. -With a bad husband or a bad wife, or in a lonely state, superficial super-ficial accomplishments are of very little lit-tle use. Good character is the basis upon which all happiness or love is built. Good men and women are all at heart alike, and there need be no fear hat love will be a stranger, in such a union. And we all know Catholic Cath-olic young men and women who would made ideal husbands and wives and who w ould readily' marry if encouraged to do so. The present state of . things is disgraceful dis-graceful and alarming, and unless serious seri-ous and constant consideration is given to it the result cannot be other .than disastrous for the future of our people and of the church in the commonwealth. common-wealth. Supersensitive Children. j There are children born into the world in these days of nervous and j industrial strain and strife so hihiy strung, so intensely sensitive, that they shrink from a sharp word as some nature would not recoil from the sting of a whip. A curt reprimand will bring the tears welling to the eyes of such a child and a sob to its tnroat. A sensitive plant will die under rough treatment that may be given a hardier plant with perfect impunity. Children are very like flowers. Some of them require more light, more warmth, more care, more consideration, more direct manifestation of affection, than others do. Denied these, they never attain their fullest possible development, but are often hopelessly dwarfed. Effect of Tobacco on Pupils. On Wednesday morning in general students' meeting of the L. D. S. university uni-versity of Salt Lake City Instructor D. J. McRae rave the results of an investigation in an eastern school to ascertain just how far smoking war. the cause of inefficiency in school. The investigation covered several months and the results were reported by the School Journal. Twenty boys, known to be cigarette Smokets, were compared com-pared with twenty non-smokers drawn by lot. The pupils investigated were from the same rooms in the same schools. No guesswork was allowed. Time was taken to set at the facts of the case on the twenty questions of inquiry, hence the value of the report. The ages of the boys were from 10 to 17. The average age was a little over 14. Of the twenty smokers, twelve had smoked more than a year and some of them several years. AH twenty boys used cigarettes, while some of them also used pipes and cigars ci-gars occasionally. The following table shows the line of investigation and also the results: Non-Smok- smokers, smok-ers, ers. 1. Nervous 14 1 2. Impaired hearing 13 1 3. Poor memoir 12 1 4. Bad manners ." 16 2 5. Low deportment , .. 18 4 6. Poor physican condition 12 2 7. Bad mora! condition ..14 8 Bad mental condition ..IS 1 9. Street loafers 16 10. Out nights 15 - .. 11. Careless in 'dress 12 4 12. Not neat and clean .. 12 1 13. Truants 10 14. Low rank in studies 18 3 15. Failed of promotion (No. of classes) 79 2 16. Older than average of grade 19 2 A Beautiful Tribute. Many wives deserve but few receive such an I. O. U. as that which the grateful humorist Hood gave to his wife in one of his letters (when absent from her side). "I never was anything:, any-thing:, dearest, till I knew you, and I have been a better, happier and more prosperous man ever since. Lay by that truth in lavender, sweetest, and remind me of it when I fail. I am writing warmly and fondly, but not without good cause. Perhaps there is an afterthought that, whatever what-ever may befall me, the wife of myj bosom may have the acknowledgement of her tenderness, worth, excellence-all excellence-all that is wifely or womanly from my pen." ' |
