Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, August 3, 1873, Page 10

10 TIE CHICAGO DAILY 'l‘RIBUNE' SUNDAY, AUGU 8, 187 B e e e S — MARRIARE IN FRANCF. An Arithmetical Computation of Practical Results. Married Happiness as dompreheml— ed and Pursued by tho Frouch, Forhoaranco of Fronchmen Toward Their Wives---Rarity of Absoluto Infidelity. Unwillingness to Have Children, and the Cause of This Sentiment. The Influence of Society and Re- ligion on Murried Life. < From lackicood’s Magazine, Ona of tho offects of tho individual solf-con- fidenco which is 8o gonoral an attribute of us Anglo-8axons, fs to iucline us to faco mnrriage without caleulating its costs. Wa do it becauso 1t tempte and interesta us at tho momont, trust- ing to luck and to ourstrong arma for tho moans of keoping aur wifo aud childron, Thoro lesomo- thing manly and vigorous {u this way of acting ; ©of courao it is rash and dangerous; of courso it ofton loads to all kinds of worry, and it some- times ends in downright miscry; but there is o pluckiness about {¢ which commends {tself to our natuies, Political economists and philosophors go on attacking it with unavailing argumonts sud unconvineing proofs, Right as thoy mny bo in thoory, they do not influenco our praotico ; “improvident marriages” nre ss numorous as ovor, Wouaranot n prudent people in this ro- spect, and neithor oarnest books nor oloquont discourngs are likely to changa our teudonclos. Most of us beliovo, in varying degrees, in our own innato power of ovorcoming obstncles ng thoy ariso. We do not shrink from matrimony bonuvo it may involve us in riska and difienl- tlos; worughat it becnuso it attracts us at tho moment, and becnuso wo aro surronnded by crowds of pooplo who have dono tho ssmo be- forous, and love struggled somehow through tho consequences of their hurry or their error, The procoss of the Fronch, on this point &8 on many others, is 1IN ADSOLUTE CONTRADICTION with our own. Where we decido and act, thoy woigh, and calculato, and hesitato, and consider. Thoy romch no resolve until thoy fancy thoy have oxhausted the mensuroment of advantages ond disadvantagos, until they have pondored over probabilities and possibilitios, until they imagine they havo united ns many cloments of success 0 human forosiglit can collect. It can Bearcely bo snid thut oven in Eugland marriago isregarded as a purcly personal arrangemont, concerning only tho two immediato partics to it. Wo adinit, in our uppor clussos, ot lonst, thut it involves considerations of a varied naturo, which Justify and sometimes ovon roquire tho inter- vention of parents aud familics. But tho French carry this intervention to a length which wo could nat support: they leave no liberty and no action to tho coming poople ; (ho wholo thing is takon out of their huuds, they are treated asaf they were incompotont in tho question ; their parents undertake the nogotiation for them, and handlo it as governments deal with intornational treatics. Glaringly ovident ns are tho emo- tionnlity and the mobility of the French in other phasios of their conduct, thoy have no applica- tion here, They find their uso sbundantly in superficial ecntimonts, in tho forms and thoughts and words of outside existenco, in the manifes- tation of already oxisting affections; but, with raro osceptions, thoy have nothing todo with tho preparation of & marriage. Thelr placo 8 taken, on thut one occasion, by o DRY, ARITHMETICAL COMPUTATION OF PRACTIOAL TESULTS, with no oxcitoment und with no distraotions. Where wo 80 ordinarily listen to what we under- stand by love, to the templations of the young beart in all their forms (however transitory), to our Individual impretsions aud to our opinions, the French consult fitnoss of relative situation, reciprocitios of fortune and position, and harmo- miod of family intercourso. 'They soek to insuro the future, in somo dogree, in its aocial aa woll a8 18 pecnniary forms, Thoy lny it down that pussion, 14 o gnide to permanont satlsfaction, and that other people than the two directly in- terested have, both in law and roason, & rlgHt of judgmont in 80 grave o case, This dous not ab- solutaly moan that pro-oxisting sympnthies aro considerod to bo unuecessary for mearrizge lu France; but it does mean, in the distinciest lan- guago, *thot such sympathies plone aro not ad- mitied thero s o sufliciont motivo for an anso- cintion whicli is to last till doath, Bympathics wenr out somotimes; new ones grow up from other contacts; otornal attachments aro very raro betweon peoplo who bave not managed {o ?st murried, and havo not tho aid of tho wedded io to hiold thiewm steadily togothor ; but the neces- sitics of lifo nover fado nway; thu{ never woak- on; thoy romain in force with pitiless porsist- ence, and tho French parenta pay more attention to them than to what may be only & passing in- clination in their sons and drughtors, And it must be borno in mind that this view of marringe is not sololy o developmont of the na- tioual disposition towards prudence; it is also, to sume oxtent at all ovonts, n consequence of tho legu! enactmonts coutainod in tho Code Na- poloou, ‘Lhe Juw forbide all maringes without sither tho " CONHENT OF THE FATHER AND MOTHES, or proof that thoy are both dead. It is vory troublesomo to get marriod in France; the opot- ation is surrounded by difficultios and formalitios which would muko an_Englishmon stamyp with rage. It is true that if paronts refuse to allow their children to fullow their own wishes, tho Intter are permitted, provided thoy have attained their majority, to go through a process called *a rospectful summous to consent,” after which, if thoparents porsjutin thoirrojection of the appos) marriage muy bo at last attained, No mottor whot 80 & TaN OF 8 WOmNG muy Marry, oven if they are 60, thoy must either produce the write tou consent of their fathor and mothor, or show that thoy havo spplied for it In due Jegal form, and that it has beon donied them without sufti- cient cause, or prova thet thoy are orphans, Tho object of Liis legistation is not ouly to provont bi§nxuy (which, under such conditions, is natu- rally ruro in Franco), but, even moro, to main- tain parental authority, und to insure a due sub- Jection of children. "So far thora js something to bo snid in ity favor, eapecially as, in mauy e£asos, it renlly does protect young peoplo against their own folly. But s, after all, marriago is a complex sfato, requiriug something more than o father's approbation to conduct it to suceoss, it * s natural that wo, who regard the entire sub- {‘uct from a vory difforent ppint of view, should av0 o 3oofl'mun¥ olsjoctiors to urge. ‘Tho question, however, is not merely ono of logal forms and parontal priviloges; it contalns o vast dosl moro besidos, As marriage i tho vesl starting-point of homo lifo—as tho happi- noss of hushands, wives, and childron doponds, in o groat dogroo, on the conditions undor whicl it i roalized und workod out—it i folr, and evon necossury, to judgo ik nok only in ity Doginuings sud its “organization, but in” ity result aw woll, Indeed, it would be rathor diffieult fn such n cage to consider causes without effocts, Wo loak, in- stiuctively, from one to the othor, and, half-un- consciously, cstimato the valuo of the ehd. But how aro tho results of marriage to bo CORRECTLY MEAKURED ? Wa allknow Liow diflicult it is to make a dofinite opinlon for oursolvas ou the point evou in the caye of tho friends with whomn wo live in con- stant intimucy, whoso extoriors wa kuow fu de- tuil, whose quarrels, whoso special sympathies, whose qualitios and dofects, wo have had some moans of tosting. IIow thon, if it bo #o hard a task to roncl u conviction in tho fow cases round u#, can we hopo to form & gud smont fairly ap- plicable Lo an cutiro nation ague fdeas ara of no use hora; projudicos misload; facts are im- {muumm to colloct ou 0 lnrgo & scalo, And yot hore I8 8 gnide, an mcomplote and insufliclont one, but still a safo one o far ag it can Jead us; that guide Iy the lnpression which a nation ens tortalhs about itwelt, 1f wo consult 1t earofully, we. fiat the accumulatod oxporience of the maks in tho only form in which 1t manifosts itself on 8uok o subleet A this, ‘Thoro 4o 10 Tolusns, | N rannrir, na abatabioa tn vofar ta: hub tharn aro drawing-room talks, and haif-confidoncos, and villago rumors, and tho gosalp of tho mars kot-plnco, and tho wiso head-shalings of the B Emo[lla; and with their aid, if wo liston clasoly, o can composo a tolorahly approximato l»,lcturu of what nll theso indlontions dosoribo, 1t wo can only do it falrly on condition of boing nnrupulmml{ oxnot, of offnoing from our mem- ory all prodisposition toward spocinl shades and specinl forms, of marking down nbanlulnlfuolh- iug of what our own imagination so onsily mug- gests, and of atrictly limiting. our coloring to what wa are quite cortaiu that wo distinetly Beo, And, ovon then, we have to roconelle bitter cone tradlotions, to firaup togohor tho most opposito rosults, to instituto & comparison of causcs, But boforo we consider tho ovidenco thus obtainable ns to the moral results of morriago {n T'ranco, it may Lo usoful to cnst & glanco ot tho material comparison which it iy pousiblo to mako botwoon tho QUANTITY OF MARRTING which takos placo among the Froncl, and #ho corresponding figuros on tho ssmo subject which other nations offor. In his ‘‘Elomonts do Btatistiquo," M. Moreau do Jonnes gives a table of .tho numbor of martiages which aro offotod annually in tho principal countrios of Europe. Ircland comos firat with one mnrriaga for each ninoty inbabitauts ; Franco i sixtoonth with 1 for 1233 England twenty-soventh, with 1in187; Tusunn{ tionty-clghth and last, with 1 in 148, Now, £ this bo truo,—and the woll- know namo of M. Moronn de Jonnes may bo accoptod as a guarantoo for tho oxactness of tho numbers,—it seoms to follow that, notwith- stnnding our hoadstrong Imprudence, wo English sctually marry less, proportionstoly, than tho prudont, ealeulating Fronch, who look boforo they loap. This {a an unoxpocted faot to start with, but, it it bo a fact, it indieates, with tolor- sbla distinotnoes, that the lhesltations which procodo all marringes in France do not really stop marriagoe, for the Fronch stand in the mid- dloof tho tablo which bns just been quoted, Dbolow tha Northorn races, which (excepting Eng- Innd) hond tho list, but above all the Southorn Btatos, which clogo it. Tho position thus indl- catod for Yrance 18 tho yory ono which would appoar to bo thomost desirablo to ocoupy; it is fair avorage, showing nelther too little nor too much. And France rotaina the same approx- imnto position it we look backward and earry tho compnrfon into tho eightecouth contury, A hundred yoars ago, marringes wero ovorywhoro moro frequent than they are now; subsistonco was moro opsy to'obtain, it was not so difiicult to provide for children; and wo consoquently find that tho numbor of annual marringos, rla- tivoly to the then population, was, throughout Europe, about 10 por cont above its prosont rato, Du tho diminutfon which has sinco oc- curred hna boon univorsal ; it is-not spocial to Franco or to any othor land. Tho Fronch cone- tinuo to tako wives in tho samo _proportion ns thoy havo nlways J:rnctlcml towards thoir nolgh- boraj thoy have diminishod matrimony only as it has beon diminishod all around them. 1t, howovor, thoy have held tholr own in the rato of marrying, they have dimin{shed Inrgoly, sinco the Revolution, in THE FEQUNDITY OF MABRIAGE. In 1770 tho ohildron born in France woro, in proportion to tho wholo population, 1 in 25; now thoy havo come down to 1in 85; tho falling off has consoquontly renchied the enormous figuro of 40 por cont. Horo lics tho real oxplanation of tho stmngn faot which has 8o astonished Europo nftor each consua racontly taken in Franco ; the fnct that the Fronch have almost censed to in- cronso in numbore, It is not, howovar, a8 o stn- tiatical curiosity that tho subject is reforred to Thoro, but boeauto it is most intimately connected with'the entiro question of Fronch marringos, ‘bacauso it boara closely on their moral organiza- tion, because it opons tho door to considorn~ tions which would be almost incomprehonsiblo if it woro omitted. Wo will presently come back toit, Moennwhile we can leavo dry figures and return to the more Interesting study of opinions, {mprossions, and porsoual oxperiencos, 'I'ho Fronch aro cortaiuly convinced that they aro A TIAPPY TEOPLE. And g0 thoy aro, if gavety, and cheeriness, and mutual good-will ean takon a8 eatisfuctory and sufliciont ovidence on the point. No nation hins moro laughtor ; noither Irishmen nor nogroos surpass them thoro ; and it s genorally good honest laughter, resulting from a motive, nol mero soneeless giggling, But happiness and laughter are not synouymons: tho Iatter in nob nocossarily o symptom of tho esistonco of the former; - tho saddest of us moy lnugh somotimes, while the most thorougly con- tented may bo constitutionally inclined to gray- ity. Itis not, then, on this ono outward sign thiat cithor practically or logically the Fronch can baso their olaim to bo m%:mlnd 28 a really hap- py nation, If the claim be founded, the grounds on which it rests must bo looko for clsewhere— in doeper, loss superficial, and loss apparent roofs. 1t is eapecinlly in thoir uso of marriod ifo that tho evidence, if roally it exists, should bo looked for and be found. ‘And hero it is that we must tako up the testimonies alluded to just now and try to measuro what thoy rovonl to”us, If marriage, 88 s rule, is found to produco suo- cesg—if the mon and women that it brings to- gothor generally nssert that thoy aro entisfied with what thoy havo extrocted from it—if look- ers-on, sll round thom, confirm their declara- tions, and toll us that {hoir married frionds— go far ag thoy csn judgoe them—bave no lomo diffioulties and no homo rogrels; then wo may, without imprudence, recog- nizo that the French are ronlly a happy peoplo, and that the marrisgo systomn on which thoir Tiome lifo ia basod I8 proved to_be woll adaptod to thoir obaracter aud their noods, for tho simplo roason that it leads thom on to joy. It may bo said at once, subject to excoptions, oxplauations, and roservatious, that this renult is genotally attainod by tho Irench, that they really are, in-doors, & happy nation, aud that their marrisges, as a whole, TPRESENT ENVIADLE RESULTS, It méy bo as woll, however, before going fur- thor, to attempt to give a dofinition of marricd happiness as it is sometimes comprehended and ursued in its highost form ncross the Ohannel. J 15 ot awayn waitn thie bame. coxdition. It not unfrequently implies, amongst the educated classes, a ceosoless omployment of intelligenco and skill, such ag wo rarely know of hero. ‘I'ho mass_in Franco, of course, acts liko the mess olsowhoro; it takes lifo aa it finds it; 1t “lots it rip,”" a8 tho Amoricans say. It socks no im- {rovumnnt 3 it crawls on with what it has. But hero is o theory of marriage which some Tronch mon and women undorstand and realizo— & thoory which not only londs them to distinguish {110 Lighast usow to whioh the morriod slate may toud, but which onables them to dotect tho moans by which thoso uses ean bo reached, In cases such a8 thedo, tho lifo which two load to- gother becomes a constant, ever-growing pursuit of forms and shados of Liappiness which avo bo- 79ud tho thoughty nnd evon boyond tho facully of comprehension, of tho crowd. Tho basis of their practico rests on the wise precopt, that as our longings, our nocossitios, and our fanclos cbnmfe Wwith time nnd age, and with position too, tho attempta we mako to satiafy those longings nnd thoso fancies should vary their nature and their character in sympathy ‘with the modifica- tions which occur in tho object to bo attained. What pleasos us at 20, bogins to lose its charm at 80, and wearios us at 40, And if this bo true of mon, itis truor still of women, who, 08 a natural result of the homo life thoy lead, are fatally condemnod to nsrlm aftor varioty of in-door omotions, becauso ihoy can flud nono outsido. Tho husband who has studiod the phi- losophy of homo happincss, who has ontorad marringo with a truo senso of ity dungers and its ‘powors, will not walt for hig wife to manifost fa- “tigue ; from the firet hour of their common ox- iatonco ho will begin to tonch hor that the tio be- tweon man and woman cannot progerve its vigor ond its first cagor truth unloss tho elements which composo 1t are skillfully roplaced and {houghtfully rencwod ns thoy succossfully woar out and gradually conso to produco thoir old ef- foct ; ho will try to show hor, while sho is still in tho enthusiasm of early wodded joy, that hap- piness, Tiko all othor atntos,—and perhaps even moro than all tho rout,—is, by its vory naturo, buta TABBING, TRANSITONY CONDITION ¢ that what gave it to us yostorday may fail to cro- ato [t for us to-day; that tho sympathics which goom to us wo ardont and #o durablo in tho inox- orlonco of our begiunings, will bo but fading Y)rl htnosgon if wo do not watch over oach flue- tuation of their aapeots, onch faint symptom of their chango, Yaung wives ‘may hositate whon first such thoorios as those aro laid boforo their nstonishod eyes ; it causos pain to thoir enrnost fondnoss of the moment to bo asaurod that, ne- cording to the laws of, probability, that fondness will not last unless new nourishment, now start- ing points, now stimulunts bo providod for it ne yoars pass on. Bub when once thoy have grown accustomed to the argumont,—when onco thoy have been led to an approciation of its unvary- ing and universal application,—then, thoy do love ~their Lusband truly, ' thoy Lbecome bis active aid, Lia convinced condjutor in thp dolicato but Inestimable labor of maln- tnln]nq, in all itu strongth of origin, of dovolop- g toits fullost growth of perfectuosy, the first object of their united lifo—Joint happluons, nd yet enm‘{)los goom to indicsto that fro- uently women do not possess the faculty of un- umllndh:?' the profound utility of this orafty haodling of their lives ; when ‘once they havo really graapod it thoy are capable of contributing to the reuult with ovon more power than men ; but their appreciation of the necossity of tho offort 1s ofton sluslish, aud, a8 & xulo, thoy havo, t’l’!‘m draggod tn It olthor by ontreaty or nocos- sity. Lhe gonoral tondency of wives—in Franco as elsowhore—iu to rogard 8 JAPPINESA A8 A VESTED TIQNT, 88 o natural fact, ns a pornanont condition, o8 o solf-pufticing, solf-mnintaining stato, which onght to go on and last hocauso it han onco bo- gun, Most of thom violoutly rovolt tho first timo they aro anked to own that mnrried happi- nows mny bo, on tlie contrary, and by lis vory esmonco, tho most ophomoral of all short-llved crontions, They tnko .man’s love a8 & proport: aud o duo; thoy fancy that it Is tho husband's duty to keop up thnt Jovo without any spocial | ald from themsolyes ; thoy let thomuolves o loved, but thoy do not bolp lovo to Jast; ns Johnsou sald, ** thoy know how to mako nots, but not Low to mnko cagen.” In cnses such 08 thpso—and, unfortunately, thoy consti- tuto tho majority of oxperiences in all lnnds— thore s small hopo of permanont contont- mont ; if the husband {u ignorant enough—as indood tho grontor past of husbands Are—to viow tho caso oxnotly as tho wifo dooss—to imagino that ho can lenve the future to take care of iteolf, and to allow tho oarly rush of mutun! satisfnotion to strugglo to its and, with- out providontly preparing, in good time, tho olomonts of the scoond nct of married life, thon ki roaches tho usual anllnnsn and dignppoint~ mont in ignoranco of the causes which have produced thom, and onds by rogarding thom as a notural consequence of matrimony. But if ho i6 thinking man, if Lo bas givon 8omo of his attontion to a colculation of the conditions noc- ongnry for the conservation of home dolight, thon he docs indoed suffer if ho finds himselt tied for all life to & woman who Is ineapable of hol, ““{‘ him to ottain, by muiual Inbor and mn{lm watchfulnogs, that Tare but admirable xosult,—pormaniont &0 Insronelog Joy in max- ringo, In Franco thoro aro cortainly a good man people who riso to the highor views,—who lool on marriage as a sorious ocanYufion, ‘which ro- :l\drun nlmurh&ng lholl};l\t,—\\' o connolessly on leavor to improve its form, and to lift it conso- uonces and its products sbovoe tho lovel of hum- um oxlstoncos, And . OFTEN THEY BUCCEED, Now sticcoss, in such n case, implios that they. distill, from contnct with onch other, a dogreo, on oloyntion, a thoroughnoss, a perpotuity, anc » roality for happinoss whioh loss ablo aud loss caroful manipulators of homo lifo are incapnblo of producing. 'Thoy show us whnt skill and sol- enco can olaborate from ordinary sources ; they show us tho hel;fht of satisfaction to which wo arc capablo of olimbing, in tho rolation betweon man and wifo, if we will but rnfnrd that rolation a8 & plont to bo sodulously cultivated, and not o woed to bo left to combnt unaided for ex- istonco, Many an oxnmple might bo givon in support of this rough indication of what marriago may ho whon it 18 rightly un- dorstood. In the ligher ranks of I'rench so- oloty there are men who morit to bo called pro- fossors of tho ort of happiness; who bave an- alyzod its ingredionts with carefnl fingors and scrutinizing oyos; who havo consummatod thoir oxporionoe of means and onds; who, liko able doctors, can apply an immediato remedy to tho daily difficultios of home lifo; whoso practico ia worthy of their theory, and who prove it by 1waintaining in their wives® hoarts and in their own n porounial nover-weakening Rontimont of gratitudo and love. Dut, alaa! theso cases are oxcoptions. Most Irench poopls content thom- solvos, liko thoir neighbors in other countries, with rumbling carclosely through marriago, malt- ing no ot to improve it, and not even sus- peeting that it is capablo of improvemont. And o, thauks {0 tholr light, laughing naburas, thoy gonorlly leop ' cloar of gloom. Thoy bring into married lifo tho bright choorl- ness which is o frequontly an attribute of their raco; they stavo off worry by insoucianco; they support annoyancos with™ a coolnoss whleh in thoir caso is not indifferouce, but which, to an unpracticed foreign oye, looka o singularly liko it, that it s difleult’at first fo fix tho point whoro calm pationce appears to end, snd in- differonce seens Lo bogin. Thore are, howover, contradictions in abund- ance to this rule of quietly supporting caros. Frenchmen havo sometimes in their churacter 80 many of tho faults which clsowhore aro sup- posad to be the property of women only, that they are cnpable of growing fidgoty and uorvous to asearcoly cradible degreo; and wos to tho unlucky wifo who stumbles on a husband of that speciosl ho wonrs her out with tonzivg. Gontle and nffoctionato s tho mon ordinarily arc, there nre somo smong them * who aro absolutely intolorablo at home, Luckily, they form an infinitely small minority ; othorwise it would bo nonsonse to protend that Fronch marringes, on the wholo, aro happy. Tho evidenco which osn bo col- lectod by listoning to opinions, including ill- natured scandal In all its forms, tonds cortainly to show that, nccording to the improssions of oach other, most Fronchmen are singularly FORDEARING TOWARDS TIHEIR WIVES ; thoy do not make the most of them,—that effort is limited to tho rare oxamples which were al- ludod to just now,—but thoir habit is to troat thom with much softness, with constant conpid- eration, with dofercuce’ and_courtesy. _They generally como togother, in the origia, without Tuch possion, or, iudeed, much love; 'the con- ditions under which thoir marriagos are arrnnged make that fact easily comprehensible; but love docs grow up between them in mnoarly eve cngo, and thoy ond by fooling for encl othor othor an_attachmont quifo os ronl, as thorough, and as dosp, a8 we find in coup: trios whoroe othor systoms aro in use, It is far from cnay to discover ronlly unbappy marringos in Franco; here and thore ara isolnted instan- cog, ovident to every ono, for thoyhave torminat- ed jn voluntary sopuration; but tho testimony of socioty, aud patticularly of the women, who aro not more charitablo fowards each othor in Franco than thoy are fo other lands, in no way indicates any muléiplicity of fallures. Tho im- possibility of divorce oreates a strong motive for mutual concossions, with the objact of soothing away neperitios, and of rondering obligntory compauionsbip supportable, if not_agrocabls, As for abgoluto infidelity, on either side, 1T 18 NOW BO BARE that it is ofton possible to look round a large circle of intimate acquaintance without boing ablo to point out oue oxample of it. This assor- tion may soom nbsurd ond falso to that largo group of English people, which, thongh in total ignoranco of the facts, grows up, lives, and dies in the contrary conviction —buk the nssor- tion is etriotly, litorally true. Tho mar- ringe-tio is vigorounly' folt in France; Husbands snd wives cleayo thora to oach other, and do not now seek for illicit {!oys, whatover somo of thom mny have done in e gono by, Indood, they polut to England at this moment ag tho country which produces iml ably the largost amouut of conjugal irrogu- arity, and quote in P:anl, with Ditter justice, tho shameloss dotails of tho Divorco Court which are given in_our nowspapers. We have rown sccustomod to this odlous publioity ; nbit blinda ua to its dangors and its mdecenoy ; but if wo could hiear foreigners talk about jt—if we lnew tho improssion of disgust which it ero- atos in Frauco, whero tho rare onsos of co-ro- spondoncy aro troated criminally, and are al- wayd pleaded with closed doors; whure Lus- bands do_not recelve money-damagos for their wife's dishonor—wo should " porhaps Lo lod to Tacognizo that, in this question, we do_not offer o eatinfying_spoctaclo fo Europo, and that we hinvolost wll right to throw stones at others, Wo are unablo to judgo oursolves on such a sub- joct; wo must submit to the vordiot of lookers- on; and & vory painful one it i forus to sup- ort. E But if the Frenoh are loss atiackablo than wo aro on this olomout of tho workings-out of mar- ringo, thoyaro open in another direction to a founded imputation, to which allusion has boen alrendy mado, and which i almost graver still, bocause its application, instead of being excop- tiona, is univorsal, ‘T'hoir marringos TRODUCY BUAROELY ANY OUILDIEN, Toro discussion is uecless ; horo difforunces of opinion cannot oxist; hore projudices cannot apply,—for the fnct is proved by their own oflicial roturns. Boforo tho revolitlon of 1780 the population of France amonnted to about 24,000,000, wud the annual numbor of birthe was about 970,000, At this moment tho population {a about 37,000,000, aud the avarago unmber of births is only 950,000 por sunum. In other words, though'tho p?]pulnl(nn {8 one-half Inrger than it was o bundred yoars sgo, it bogota abuo- lutelv fowor childron now than then. Tho })mnnut yearly Dirth-rato in France fs tho lowost u tho world, In Gormany it reprosents 1 in 25 of tho ontira populution, In England it is 1 in 80, in TFranco it 1s only 1 in 89, And it must bo borue {n mind -that this diminution doos not ro- sult from nny falling off in the proportionate rato of marriage, which, as has bheon stated, keeps up ity {)lnco of comparison with othor countrica. Itis wololy brought about by the: willlul rofusal of married pooplo to beeomo fathors and mothers, as marriod pooplo do olse- whare, A toploof such a nature s awlward to dissect, but it constitutos one of tho saliont factsof tho subject, and 1t could not bo omitted without loaving n groat gap in tho discussiony it forms one of tho striking foatures, aud it nec- ossnrily exorclses an important intluonce an the opluion to e formed. ‘Tho rojeotion of pater- n!ty 18 & consoquenco of TIE EXOESHIVE PRUDENOE with which the entiro #nbjoct s handlod by the Tronoh ; they do not muiry unless they think thoy can afford it; they do not have children unloss they think thoy can Inno way affcets tho “attecl aud wifo; It In 1o way dlnlolshes thelr affeotlon for thofr ohildren, when they have them. On tho contrary, tholr family tondornoss is domon- etrativo and excomsive, as has beon ropoated many tmos throughout tLoso sloichos of tholr homo lifo, ~But tho moro exiatonco of this roro- Into unwillingness to bave ohildren places Tranco in o.low position before Eurapo, and aufxgnnts ravo doubts s to tho moral valuo and oflicacy of o systom which, whatovor bo Its mor- its nnd itd*qualitios, whatover bo tho happinass whioh it produces, rosulta in g0 fingrant o noga- tion of thio firat, objoot and firat duty of mar- ringo, It may porhaps bo donfod thnt it forms an inheront part of tho ontiro schomo; it may porhaps bo arguod that i fs on ncoidont, a tom- lmrnry tendoney ; it mnf porhnpa bo urged that ho genoral organizatlon of married lifo in TFranco should not bo leld rosponsible for it; but to such objootions it may bo fairly answored, that tho tondonoy in quostion, fnatond of na- suming & tomporary nu]mut has gono on ateadily Fn(nlng strongth for o hundred years ;' that dur- ng tho prosont goneration its dovelopnient las colncidod with an iucrosse of woalth, which muihz, nppnmnt‘lry, to hiayo brought about an ex- sotly opposito effeat ; and thnt 1t {s, consequent. 1y, quito ronsonablo to regard it as a definitoly sdopted poliay. 0w, Whatovor bo the valug, in political econ- omy, of the principle of ‘* OLNQUMAPEGTION IN MATRIAGE" with which Malthus hos nasoclated his name, thero nro but fow of us who can look at it with n}]pmblflnn from a moral or a social polnt of viow ; and though ho himsolf, if ho worg still alive, might be ensely gratifiod to find that an ontire nation iy roalizing his idoas on the lnrgoat ealo, wo, who in the caso are but slmple critios of tho rosults of marriod life in tholr nat- ural and habitual form, may bo_allowed to view tho mattor otherwise. Abstract thoories about movements of population, and about proportions botweon_ demand and supgly, can never bo got into tho hoads of peopla who rogard marriage as wo all do, no}, only as an inatitution destined to Eivo orsonal contontmont to those who profit y it, but, quito as much, aa a link betweon suc- cossive gonorations, How, then, can wo help racolling, with a,good_deal of roally folt Qis- gust, from the insuficiont use of marriago which da ovidont in Franco? And yob, strong a8 this fooling ‘may be in us, it rust’ not lead us to oxaggeration, Tho rulo is Eruvnd by the figuros which kava hoon quoted 3 thore is no doubt about its application in the mojority of cases ; but thore aro excoptions in abundanco: tho wholo nation Is not Infected; thoro aro atill in Franco a good many puo)ala who trust in Gad, snd notin Mr, Maltlius, That too intolligen Englishman 8 not, howover, the inspiror of Tronch possants_ in tho mattor; scarcoly any of thom have over heard his name; thoy oxocute whot ho advised; thoy work out hiu teaching, but without knowing what ho taught, Their motive I8 individual, not national; fl.\e{“hlvu no idon that thoy are practicing politfoal philosophy when they tell you, as they do, that il faire 1a soupo avant do fairo I'onfaut.” The - excoptions are, ham:)u{, sufficiontly nu- morous to givo some liftlo brightness to a pic- ture which would otherwiso bo 8o dark, Thoro aro, horo and thoro, Jarge families in Franco, and nowhero can moro admirable illustrations of pure home-life bo found than thoso thoy offor, It is, porhaps, cepeciallyin THE UPPER S8ECTIONS OF SOCIETY that those examples ave to bo found ; tho &rad- ing and working-classes have, erdinarily, so lit- tlo roliglon, and 8o littlo clevation of moral con- viction, that thoy abound tho other way; and, n8 they constitute thomaes, it is thoy, almosl alono, who havo brought about the decline in tho progress of population. It s, therofore, not unjust to say, in principlo, subject _of course to roservation on both sidos, that tho highor ranks are now multiplying in France more rapidly than tho lowor strata. This l;rogruns i8 of courae im- porcoptiblo matorially, but, in its degroe, it cer- tainly exists. . Anothor, but & very different question, which it is worth whilo to look at, is the iniluence of socioty; or moro oxactly, of BOCIAL, RELATIONS on the rosults of marringe, Evidonce upon it {s yory plentiful and onsy to colleot ; for we have but to listen to tho talk whon bLalf-a-dozen peo- plearo togothor. Whatever be the class which wa observo, wo find on this head a goneral similarity of sotion aud offects. Notwithstand- ing their great loyo of home, Frenchwomon live o good dosl with cach _other and ‘with men ; thoir form of life is so froe from the restric- tions and tho obstacles which we impose upon ourgelvos—thore is gonerally so much liborty and facility of vieiting st all hours of the day ood evening—that the contact betwosn nc- quaintances attaing s lruq’nuncy of which we have no idea, In tho higher clagsos somo fow husbands go to clubs, or live somo- what In thoir own rooms; but such casos are ox- coptions; with them, na in_tho middio groups, busbands_are ordinarily with their wives, nce company them whorever thoy can, and share thoir friendships aud their distractions. With 80 ominently sociablo o race it i natural thot this should bo #o, and the_disposition is con- firmod by the original conditions of marriago, which always—ns much asposslble, at leasi— provide for the maintenancoe of family connec- tions aftorwards, ‘Cho Fronch do not rogard marriago u4 & stato in which two peoplo aro to bo tied up by thomsolves; they view it as an aesociation, Which should in no way affect the habitual contact botween tho partios toit and thorest of tho world outside. Of coirve, in practico, overybody remains frao £o soloot hif or her own'system of existence, Thera aro ox- amplos, and b good many too, of married people who stop at home, ¢ qui viveut en sauvages,” au their neighbors say of them; but they con- stitute the oxceptions—the rulo 18 THE OTHER WAY. The focility of moking visits, and walking about alone,” and }!Diufi to parties without u chaporon, ia proper to all girls who marry, whoj- evor be their country ; the French have no mo- nopoly of it. It is not therofore as an act of freodom that newly-maryied Frenchwoman go into socioty ; they do it bocause they like it, be- couse their lusbande-like it, becanso It g tho Lisbit of thoir nation, Tho {des that mairisgo confors any special liborty on Frouchwoman 18 mosft orronoous; they havo neither moro nor less of it than women possoss elaowhore ; it is, how- over, comprohonsible that the contrast between that! dnfiruu of liborty and the oxtromo rosorve in which tho girls are kept (which we perhaps should do well tomitate) should haye provoked smongst ‘usthe falseimpression thata Fronch wifo acquires a groater emancipation than any other Europesn wives enjoy. 8he romains bound by the uuni- vorsal laws which regulato tho conduct and the aub attitude of womon; wsho obiaing no peoulior rights ; she shnkos off no cliaius ; - sho does but ain the position and the power which enable Eur todischargo the dutics which devolve upon hor, Foromost amongst thoso dutios is the ob- ligation to maintain her ocial placo, Sha likes thio obligation ; it costs her no effort to dis- chnrsln it 3, ond, in most casos, sho would annoy and disnppioint hor busband if sho noglocted it. Bo thoy go about togethorand amuse thom- #olves, ns & right and propor thing te do ; © IT 18 ONE OF TUE OBIECTS for which thoy are married. In limite such &4 thase it can scarcely bo al- loged that tho habit of social intercourso, highly developod though it bo in Frauce, constitutes & dunger for homo poace. Thero aro crowds of mnrmdpooldn thoro who never stop at hLome, whose life 18 almost exclusively passed with othors ; but if thoy all like it, there is no harm in that'; it is only whon ono sido is discontented with the practice, whilo tho othor willfully con- tinuea it, that it grows fnto an obutacle,” This caso oxlets, bf courss, but It is ruro: most TFrenchmon and women like saciety too much for eithor of thoin to shrink away from it. T'his constant contact with othor pooplo hos, howaver, thoe inconvonience of provoking ‘vanities and onvies, aud consoquently of LEADING WOMEN TO EXPENGE. Thora lios, porhinps, the only serious objection to it which con be urged o8 regards jts influencoe on married lifo. * 1t cannot bo soriously eaid, bfi any ono who knows tho Fronoh, that it ub ol affoots their rogular attontion to thoir home duties, ospocinlly towardd thelr childron who are thought of aud cared for hoforo all elso; but it is not possible to deny that it tompts tho womon on to dress, and to the other rivalrics which drawing-rooms provoko. But most Fronch husbands rather lke tholr wivea to shine, aud Yook on complacently nt tho offect whick thoy produce, and at the triumphs which thoy sohiove, The assoclation botweon theu fu gonorally intimato enough for ench of them to find gatisfaction in the othor's glories, even if thoy take only tho tiny form of » Buccoss- {ful gown, 8o, if thoy can afford i, tho addl- tional ontlay which fs8” induced b{ much going out, does not becomo o sourco of diffioulty bo- “fween thom, Whoethor 1t doos thom “‘K good, whetbor it aids them to really love enoh other | bottor, whother it clovatos thoi viows, may cor- tainly bo doubted; but ay I nmuses and con- tonts thom—as it givos thom o common objoct In lifo, uuch ea it ik—wo may adwit that, with their ideas, they aro right to Lold to it. Xvon in the tradiug classos thore Is » good donl of this sooking for soclely, in & small way. ‘Ihore, bowever, tho wife uum\'ly ABSUILON B 0= sition of & peouliar kind, Bho does not visit 8o muok with her husbaud at night, but sho iy his companion throughout the day, wherover tho naturo of his ocoupation makes it posniblo that shoshould remain with him ; she partioipatos in his lifo, sho eharos his caros, she helps him ab his work, At tho top of tho wcalo, tho . It | Fronoh wifois & woman of the world; at the m::‘f:"\fgf\:m” man | boltom of it sho is & drudgo, as i thu‘ cnge in | bo tho intousity of his viows, provout bis gon other Iands ; but In the lowor middle strata rho takos & spocial pitco by Lur husband's sldo,—so sympnthotio, #o cordially ronl, that to many of u ho prusonts o high ronlization of tho idoa of WIIAT A WIFE SIIOULD DB, It {s only in tho central ranks of population that we find fair averngo natlonnl oxamplos above aud bolow those ranks, both woalth anc Pfivurt{ como into play, and mtroduce conditiona of oxistonco which diminish thoe tonching valuo of the olassos which thoy influonce. Dut in the bourgeoisie, which constitutes in ita various dogroos so largo aun clomont of tho TFrouch natfon, wo find tho unadul- toratod typo of Franco, It is thoro that wo should look for tho sponking signs of & gon- oral stato; and if theso signs are cheering, it thoy indicato muccass, It thoy testity tlnt satin- factory ends nro ran.ofuul, wo may surely conclude that good onusos aro ab work ; aud we may, con- sequontly and mfl{, arrive at the opinion that, whatever be its faults, tho aystom {a not all bad, and that, on tho contrary, it renders possiblo & form of homo unity poculiar to the race, It ia not by mere comparison with the rosults obtained slaswhero that we can safoly judgo this question. Each Funpln Lias its own special noods, its own spocial moans of salisfylng thom. 9"“ mnny of us aro disposed to positivoly dony it tho thorough ononoss of existonco, which js g0 diatinctivo & charactoriatio of marricd life fu tho Fronch middle and trading classes, is, in roality, & morit. The subjeot lns boon many times disoussed from the Eng- ligh point of viow, nnd it las boen ammly alloged that tho nbsorption of women to the Lourly dotalls of thoir husbands’ lives involves moro disndyaniages than advantages, 1t has boon '({P“cd froquently that it loavea no time for tho dischargo of the duties which spe- cially dovolve on womon: that it diverts their thoughta to subjects which aro foroign to thoir naturos; that it londs thom to noglact their ohil- dren., But aro these objoctions founded?, Aro thoy noemuhl‘!lv, if not ontirely, & product of *tho widely difforont habits undor which welive ? And, ovon if thoy aro basod on fact, do they ox- prom & Just and sorious criticlsm of conditions of ome lif6, which, from tho widoly oppostto prace ticonin which wo grow up, wo orounable to appreciate with fairnoss?. Suroly it may bo urged that overy act whick fortifies the tio be- twoen man and” wifo is not only rospectable in thoory but DESIDADLE IN PIACTIOE. Buroly o true sppreciation of the rolative values of tho difforent sorvices which a wifo can render, of tho difforent joya which sho can provoke, can bo moro strlotly roachod by tho husband hime golt than by distant lookors-on, who, unconeclously, = porbaps, bring ail thoir own prejudices into the disenssion. T, then, we find, ns we distinctly do, that tho French thomsolves proclaim the ‘morit of tho ad- funotlnn of tho wifo to her husbond’s labors ; £ wo noo that the association which is_ontailed by marriage s rogarded by them as spplicabla Tiot only to rontimontal ends, but to the practi- cal detalls of lifo 88 woll; if womon, as a conse« quenco of this view, sit by the sido of ‘mon in ofticos and shops, instead of loaving them to work through the dny alono,~wo ought, in jua- tioo, o ackuovlodgo uot ‘only that tha por- gons directly interosted must be better able to docide than we are, but, furthermore, that such congtant presence, such consatant sy'mplth{ of object aud of lhnuiht, must tond to” strengthen tho bond between them, and must nugment their friendship, On this Eolutl thorofors, wo may admit that the Frenoh habit 1s o wiso one. A8 BEGARDS INTELLEOTUAL FROGHSS, marringo ordinarily leads tho French to nothe ing. The notion thatwife and husband may usefully holp each other on such o road seoms not to enter their heads, unloss, in spocinl cases, whoro the acquiromont of knowledge, or its dis- tribution_to others, constitutos thie occupation of lifs, When once they havo left off schooling, the Fronch coase to study ; they continus wha! thoy eall their * education,” but they give up “ingtruction.” The two words are hero employod in’ the sonse which is peculiar to Franco—tho former momning moral and nooial tonchiug only, tho lattor implying sololy book-lesrning in its various forms, They continuo to improve themselves as mon and ‘women, as towards their soul (whon thoy think thoy havo onc) or towards tho world at largo; Dut thoy abandon tho sttempt to add to whaf thoy loarned in youth. Theso deseriptions aro, of courso, geucinl, not univorsal; but thoir np- plication is so usual that they noed not bo ac- companied by any spocial observations. With fuch views and practicos, it is natural onough that murrisge should - introduce no now idoss of action. A Lusband may push his wifo towards art, though that depends on his or bor prociivilies; but searcely ever will Iio think of leading hor to read, or of communicating to her what ho may know bimself, In quantities of drawing-rooms in Franco an opon book is nover seen ; in some of thom eoven newspapers are exceptional ob- joots, This does not refor. to tho higher classes, Whoro, froquently, thoro does oxist somé desire for now facts; but tho wont of books on tho tablos of the bourgeoisio creates a oheorless blank which no profusion of plants and flowors can fil up, Bome- times ono obsorves two or threo statoly volumos in rod moroceo, which evidently are nover laoked at, and probably linve nover boon road ; all they do is to confirm the thought that their propriotors look to other people, and not to print, for fresh impressions, But conversa- tion, whatover be its merit, whatever be the clever usos mado of it, doos not roplace reading as n doveloper of knowledge ; all it does is to onablo us to uso knowlodgo lf ‘we have it. In this direction French married life is AR INFEGIOR TO OUR OWN. OQur women road; our men gonerally fool some sort of intorost in what their wives are learning ; and without protonding that marriago is, with' us, an aid tostudy, it i8 Bo cortainly when we ‘compare it to what ocours in France. Music, on the contrary, is more genoral in Fronch housos than in ours; art is moro keenly folt aud moro naturally utilized. Thero mar- ringo sorves an end, for it is particularly aftor marrisge that Tronchwomen attain tho skill ‘which distinguishes them in sll tho forms of indoor adornment, which means tho daily ap- plication of the hiome shapos of art. T'o this tho husbsnda coutribute a_good denl; in this thoy holp their wives. But, whatever bo the valuoe of such action, whatovor be the addi- tional attraction bostowed on bome by this com- ‘mon effort toadd charm to it, tho absonce of tho higher tondencics of intolligence implies an inferiority of object which {s one of tho woak points of tho entiro system, 'Tho sontiments find full satisfaction in most Freuch marringos —tho affootions aro contented—family dution are attontively and evon eagerly performed—homo in docorated, o far as tho purso nllows, with the wise ambition of rondoring 1t moro seductive; but thore is Little culture of the intelligence, an tho pleasuros which that culturo is capablo of pm]luuing in marrisge are rolatively unknown, Even in the country rending doos not assumo an important placo” amongst tho accupations of tho duy; thoro ismoroof it than in tho towns, but not enough to justify tho statemont that it conatitutes an elemont of life. As thero, is loss society in tho chateau and the village than in the contres of population, wivas have to look for something olse than gossip to enable thom to pags their hours, Homo carcs sbsorb a considerabloe portion of thoir time — visits to tho .gick and ‘poor, which fow women of tho better ~ sort mnogloct, contribute to omploy it; .but reading soldom bo- comes a constant object, oven whon it raina, The Revue des Deux Mondes, or the Correspond- ant, sccording to the apinions of the houso, and translations of u fow Euglish novels, constituto tho hebitusl limit of femalo study. With all their inventiveness, tho Fronch have not discov- erod that roading is not _only tho ,most natural, but also the most nseful of home occupations ; #0, 28 & rulo, their marriages do without it. {hero in ono more point toglance af, What {g the influence of NELIGION on married lifein Frauce, and how doos marriago influence the practico of roligion ? Tho solution of such & quostion depends on Earannd opinion in evory onto, but it is not, porhaps, impossible to givo a proximately corvect rapl{ to it a8 0 wholo, I\l rrench ohildren bogin by faith; many of the girli prosorvo it, most of the boys abandon it, in varyiug degrcos on both sidcs, Tho result is, that whon a man aud a woman como togethor in mm&uxiu. tho woman frequont- 1y bolioves, the man habitually does not. “Thoy t{mumm protty often ‘start in lifo tolerably completo divergence on o gravo subjoct, which, it thoy thought aliko upon _it, would sorve, on (ho contrary, to creato & further tie helwoon thom, But there (s abundant evidence to show that this divergenco oxercisos but suall offact on tho sen- timents of wife and husband towards each othior, and oven Ihat tho divergence itsolf s often more apparont than roal, It wo apply to the botter sort of women for information, wo sro gonorally fnformed that thofr husbands leave them nlono, do not interforo with their charge of their roligious duties, and even, in cortain cases, accom| mng’ thom to church asn mndtor of proprioty. he oducnted olassesit is raro to moet with men who aro sotively hostile to religion, Many of them #ny that they rogard it as o worn-out monns of clvilization, a8 an ununecossary compliontion, as abar to progross j but, whatover thoy may say in words, scarcoly any of thom go beyend pas- givo indifferonco in aots, No simpler or more onclusive proof of this can be adduced than the with » 10t that one hardly ovor soos & father, whatevor from making his first communion, Full of in~ orodulit; a8 {ho majority of ihem oro, the uppor ¥ronch lno{. in spite of thomaolvos, & ort of vaguo rospook for what thoy bolloved . as boys. owover comploto Lo their losa of falth, thoy unconsclona. 1y retaln, in mnost onsos, o numimnnt of hionl- tating deforenco for roliglon which malros it difft- oult for thom to tako upa strong attitudo about it towards tholr wiyos, The rosult is, that the: distanco botwoon thelt rospectivo viows, how- ovar considerable it bo, iy not unfrequently bridged ovor by IUTUAY, FORNEARANORS AND CONOESSIONA | 50 that, really, no practical dissontmont arion, and no home difffeulty results from tho want of community of faith, ~This sort of nogative con- tontment e, howovor, possible only in cases whore 1o passion is displayed on elther sido upon tho subject ; whon husbands and wives arooagor in the matter, whon thoy sot activoly to work to convort onch othor, then they gnnnrall{ ond in worry, But if fllu{ aro pationt, and waif for the offoct of all tho Influoncos whiok tho conatant contact of marriod lifo places at thoir dl?nul, thon, not unfroquently, thoy do ond by conyeralon—that is, the conver slon of tho husband; for, though thero aro ?flanmlou of mon who aro lod by thoir wives to aith, thore Is hardly a woman to bo found who bas boon lod b! hor husband to lufidelity. Thoso considorations apply mainly to the up- por classes. The case prosents s difforont an- oct it wo examine it In tho sirats wharo social- om 18 ot work, Thero tho dosire to root out all religion 1is rosolute and activa; there wo find that many husbands uso tho powor which mar- ringe gives thom to destroy faith in tholr wivos ; tho oxcoptions aro, however, numorous, even in tho towns. 1t i naturally vory diffoult to arrive at any rollablo figures ‘on such & subject ; but it scoms to rosult from private ob- sorvations made by tho clorgy, and oxtonding ovor many yonrs, that sbout ono-tonth of the ontire {mpuhuon of Franco goes to communion at Eastor, which ia tho test of Ostholio practice, It seoms, furthormore, that, on that ocoasion, the women aro about EIGNT TIMER AR NUMEZNOUS A8 THE MEN. 8o that, uniting thoso two caloulations, and al- lowing for tho numbor of young children, whoso ago oxcludes them from participation in thoact, it would n;&pon a8 if about ong-quartor of the ‘womon and about ono-twenty-fifth of tho men discharge {hia obligntory roligions But it muat bo ropoated that theso avoragos opply to tho mnation a8 whole; the proportlons are of course much higher smongst tho educated, and lowor atill smongat tho working olasses, Theso figures show (even if thoy bo only npprux‘mntnlfi‘ cor- root) liow limited 1s tho influcnce which tho ractico of roligion is oxeroising on married lifo n Franco; and a8 tho averages are cortalnly not improving, it may bo inforred from them that marrisge i8_not now. siding the progress of roligion, Tho Freuch are growing out of faith, 08 out of tho other conviotions which the: lonnorl{ ‘possossed ; and even marringe, with all its subtlo mosns of action, does not appear to bo lending them back to it. 1t from considoration of the soparate’ phasos of tho subjoct wo turn back to it a8 5 whole and reonow its elemonts in their rolation to ench oth- or, we flud oursclves in tho presence of CONTRADIOTIONS ‘which, at firgt sight, do not scem easy to racon- cile, and which might induco us to auppose that the question can only bo safely judged in its isolatod ocloments, and not in its entiroty. But, mnotwithatanding the conflicting nature of the evidonco, notwithstanding the hostility of the main facts betweon themselves, it ought not to be {mpossible to disentangle the opposing detalls from oach other, and to resch & general im- preusion, ‘Wo find that marringos in France nro sur- roundad by poculinr obstacles, hoth poreonal and Yogal ; that ndividual prodilections form but o small olement in their origin ; that antocedont attachments aro not considored lndisYanubla H that tho precopt ¢ inorease and mumYl y " is nob admitted aa & binding Inw. Bo far the systom looks unhoalthy, according to onr appreciation of what marringo should be: On the other hand, wo 800 that the French marry rather more than wo do; that in ninoteen cases out of twenty, the lovo which did nat oxist boforehand growa ‘up aftorwards ; that thore {8 littlo matorial mis- ery rosulting from imprudent marrying ; that soparations aro rare aud divorce impossible ; that Ironch Lomes, in almost every rank, arc onorsily attractive models of %um]enu!fl snd duty. indnoss ; that, in cortain caser, the pursuit of ‘mutual happinoss fa based on thoories and prac- tices in which tho highest forms of ekill aro euc- cosstully employed ; that children, fow though they be, aro foudly chorished ; that the associa- tion botweon man and wife assumes, in tho lowor middlo classes, an {ntensity of partnership for which it is nof easy to find a paralicl elsowhoro ; that roligion, if it does no good to marriago,” cannot be srid to roally suffer harm trom it, In endenvoring to cstimate the real boarings on onch othor of theso two differont categories of {ncts, we may remnin convinced that French ‘porents interfore too much in the marrying of thoir sons and daughtors ; wo may rojoct a8 in- sufficiont_and illugory, from our poiat of viow, ¢ho argumonts which thoy invoke in favor of that intorvention; we msy point with unan- sworablo_logio to tho relativoly childless fire- sidos of Franco as evidonco that, whatover bo their lovo for children, the French shrink pur- posoly from hnvinfi thom ; but, with all this bo- Tore us, wo are obliged to ovn that thoy do EXTRACT LARGE RESULTS from matrimony., Tho love of home, which wo obsorva so univorsally smong thom, is, in itsolf, & proof of tho oxistence of nttraction’ betwoon man aud wifo; and atérsction implios sympathy. This sympton should suffice aldne to remove all resgonable doubt na to the reality of the affeo- tion whicly unitos most Fronch familios. But it affection is & consoquonco of marringe, it sooms to follow that tho systom on which morriages aro Dased cannot bo o very bad one for thaso who use it. A somowbat singular argumont may bo em- ployed with reteronco to the childron; the moral ‘wrong of avoiding them cannot booxplalned away ; but, when thoy do come, thoy are tenderly chor- ished, and sid’in strongtoning the bond batwoon their parents. If, then, as ia incontostably the caeo, the gront majority of Fronch married peo- ple love each other and their offspring, it may not unronsonably bo doduced therefrom that the diffleultios and"contradictions which scem at fixgt sight to rosult from the opposing clomonty of the pogition, do not bring about the effeots which, with our idess, we should expoct thom to produce. . Questions such as_theso dopend a good deal on tomperament. Tho French are not erganized a8 Wo aro ; thoy diffor from us in the composi- tion of their charactor, and their tendoncies to & degreo which it is acarcoly flonsibln to realize withont closo comparison. 0 same beginnings do not nocessarily- rosult in_ tho samo onds in England- and in France. As was obsorved at tho commoncemont of this articlo, it is fair to judgo & systom ll?' its fruita ; and if 'wo Apmg that principio to Fronch mar- riagos, wo ought to own that a system which Jonds fo 8o much. fondness, to 8o much happi- 1088, to such truo homo lifo, eannot bo funda- mentslly wrong, whatever cortain of its dotails may inclino ug to suppose. ———— THE BAGGAGE-FIEND, *Twan a foroclous baggsgo-men, with Atlantosn back, And biceps on each arin pilod i1} n formidablo atack, Thot plied his drond vocation beside a rallroad track. Wialy 1o torsed tho baggage round the phttormm thero, poll-mel, And crushod (6 naught the frall band-box whorc'or it shapeless fell, Or stove the Baratoga ™ like tho fimelost egg-sholl, On fron-clads, especlally, he fell full ruthlessly, And eko the'trunk dorlsively called * Cottago by tho soa,” And pulled, and hauled, and rammed, and jsmmad the samo'vindietively, Unthl 8 yawning breach appeated, or fractures two or roe Oratraps wora burst, or ds foll off, or soma catase ropho . Orownsd Lis astanio zoal or movod bis diabollo glos, Tho ngers survoyed the wreck with diverse dis- content, And some vituperated him, snd some made loud lamont Dut wrath or lsmentation on him were valnly spent, Tobim thero eame 8 sbammbling man, sad-oged and meak, and thin, Doaring ah humbls carpot-bag with scanty stuft thiereln, And unto thiat fiorco baggage-man Lo spake, with quiv- eringolin 44 Dehold this scanty carpet-bag! X atarted a month g0, Witk dozen Sarstogs trouks, hal-box, and port- eat, 4 Dut Daggage'men aloug the routo have brouglt mo 2w s Jow | # Do caroful with this carpet-bsg, Kind sir," sald ho to The Laggage-man recelvod & with & smila oxtremely And abitly wilatlod # Mothior, ey T go ot to wwim 77 Then fiorcely jumped upon that bag, fn wild, sardonfo And #255 Shuntiess frogments fow—to b profound For ek Bt baiz contalueil s phit of nlféo-glyesrine} JThe stranger hoaved a gentlo sigh and siroked his juivering chin, And {hen bo winked with one ssd o3e, and satd, with smile sereno, “The mtufl tochock a baggsgeman s mitro-glycer- inel -—Ftunn: Clive tn the Buffalo Courfer, THE JUSTICE OF THE KING. Bomo 000 yonrn sgo, that gallant gontloman ond wiso princo, Edward, sot aut for tho con~ quest of tho 1Moly Laud, accompanied by hiu Quoen, Among tho many knights who fol- lowod tho valiant Xing wna ono namod Bir Francls D'Iesal, nn admirer of tho Leautiful Lva Claro, o young Iady attendant upon tho Quoen. Tha falr mald did not reociprocato his: attontions, but bostowed hor emilos wpon Sl Honry Conrtonsy, & young knight distinguished: for Lilsvalor and judgmont. D'Essal, jonlous. and mad with rago, detorminoed to possoss tho young lady al all hazarda, As Quoon Eloanor and Lya, with an oscort commanded by D'Eseni, wora proceoding on a pligrimago to tho Jordan, abandof his setollitos, dressod aa Arabs, sud- donly attacked thom, and carrled off the mald to tho castlo of tho Old Man of tho Mountain, Vhoro D'Essal shortly ropaired, Soon Bir Honry Courtonny heard of tho outrage, and compre- honded tho plot. o rexoued his lady-love, took. the falso knight prisonor, and hnd him conveyed. to Area for the punishment ho so richly do- sorved at tho hinnds of his brothor knights, Tho partioulary of tho awfal coromony of dograda~ tion aro thus recorded : iy Tho groat Church of Arca was thrown opon ond knighta in brillisnt nrmor, and Tomplars and Iospitallors in tho habilimonta of thoir ordors, Bishops and priosts in their sacred robos, and vaseals in thoir hollday array, crowded up tho long aislos and flilod the spaclons church, as though eagor to witness somo eplendid coromo= nial, Dut, instond of gorgeous docorntions, wainscot windows, dmgml with black, diffused s funoral gloom, and the solomn rovorhermtion of the tolling boll soomod to sound & requism over tho grave of Hopo. P 4 8ir Francis D'Eesal Lind boorrtriod in a council. of his peors and found guilty of treason to ro- ligion and knightly dovoir; aud this day, tho aunivoreary of his sdmission to the rank of knighthood, his companions in srms, tho vos. sals whom ko despisod, and all thoso actunted. by curiosity or enmity, woroe sssombled to wite noss his dogradation. Evs shuddorod st tho fato of hor former lovor, and Do Courtonsy, with instinotive’ delicacy, hnd obtainod pormis slon to absent himeelf ffom tho scons on o visit to tho Holy Sepulehro. As king-at-arms and first in rank, it was the duty of King Edward to frnnldo ovor this foarful coromony, which, by ho truo and loyal, was regarded as more torribla than dosth itself. At tho first stroke of tho great boll, tho pur- suivants, hoaving robed Bir Francis for tho Iaat timo in his knightly habilimonts, eonduotod bim from tho * Gursod Tower" towards tho church. As thoy entered thoe door, the doleful peal sauk in_silonce, snd, aftor ono swiul moment, his le)low-knigma, with broken voices, bogan to chant tho burial sorvico, An olevated stago, hung with blaolk, had boen oxectod In the contro of tho navo, and upon this: the pursuivants, whoso businoss it was to divest. him of every outward insignia of courago and. truth, placed tho culprit in full view of all tho. Vast concourso. When the chanting consed, King Edward. 8poke in a voice that thrilled to ovory hoart: “'8ir Francis D'Esenil thou who didst receive tho sword of knighthood from tho band of tho good Bt. Lows, dost stand beforo us this day attalnt of tronson to thy God, thy truth, and tho lady of thy lovo. ~Whoreforo thy peors have willed that tho order of knightkiood, by which thou has received all tho Lhonor sud wor- ship upon thy body be brought to uaught, and thy state bo undone, and thou bo driveu forth outcast and dishonorod, according to thy bnso devorts Instantly tho Drazen tongguo from tho bolfry ratified tho fiat, and snnounced tho hour of doom. At the word, the squire with trombling hand romoved tho Lolmet, the defonco of loyal oyes, Tovenling tho palo and haggard countonance of tho rocreant knight, aud tho choir resumed tho mournful_dirgo. 'Thon ocsch pursuivont ad- vanced in his order tothe performanco of his unwelcoms daty. Ono by ono tho kuightly trap- pings of D'Eseni woro torn from hia body, and s cuirass, gronves, brassarts, and gountlote rang upon tha pavements, the horalds exclaimed : “Bohold tho hiarness of » miscroaut!” Trembling aud bont boneath tho weight of shome tha craven stood, whilo thoy smoto the oldon apurs from his heols, and broko Lis dis- gnnomd sword abovo his hond, and tho terrible roquiom watled over the perished omblens of his former innocenco. The Grand Maater of tho Templara then en- tered upon the stage, boaring a silver basln flled with tepid water, and tho horald, holding it u) oxolaimod ; ¢ Dy what namo call tmon thoknight boforo us?" Tho pursulyants snewered: ‘' Tho namo which was given him in baptism—tho namo by which hig fathor was lnown—the nameo con- firmed to him in chivalry in Sir Francis D'Esssl." Lhe horalds again roplied: * Falachood sits upon s tonguo and rulos in his hoart; o is o misoreaut, traitor, and jufidel.” Tmmodiately, the Grand Master, in Imitation of baptism,-daskod water in his faco, saying : “Henceforth ba thou called by thy rlgin namo, ~Traitor 1" ‘Then the horalds rang out a shrill note upo: the trumpets, oxpressive of the demand. “What shall bo done with the falsc-hearted kuavo?” King Edward, in bis majesty, aroso, and in o woice agitatod with the sense of the awful pen- alty, roplied: * Lot him with _dishonor and shame bo banishod from tho kingdom of Christ, lot hia brothron cureo him, and lot not tho angols of Godiutercedo for him.” mmediately ench knight drew his sword, and Xm!uullng its gloaming point againsl tho now lofonceloss D'Eeaai, crowded him down the steps to the altar, whero tho pursuivants seized him, forced him into bis cofin, and placed Lim on the bior, and tho attendant priests complotod tho burial service over lus polluted pamo and bis porjured soul. At & sign from tho King, tho bearors took up tho bior, ond all tho Vst cone grogation followod in ead nonnuumn to tho city gntos, whoro thoy thrust him out, o thing nce curéod, whilo thio groat boll from the lofty tower of the cathedral told tho talo of his g~ famy In tones of torriblo significance: Gono— ‘goué—gono—virtuo, faith, and truth! Lost— loat—Ilost—lonor, fame, and lovo!” From Car- mol's lmnr{‘ hoight toTabor’s sacred top, ench hallowed hill and valo roverbrated the awfu] knoll: ““Qone and lost—lost and gone!" and tho broezo that swopt the plasin of Eadralon cnuglé up the dlumal ochio, and woomed bugrying acrogs the Meditorranean to whisper to the ch‘liv:}ry of Europo tho:dreadful story of his dog. adation, Btung by the weight of woo that had fallon upon him, the misorablo D'Essni rose and gazod across tho plain. An arid wasto spread out bo- fore him like the prosperity of its own droary future, blackened and desolate by tho reign of avil passions. Lifo !—what had it boon to him? A foverish drosm, o burning thirst, o rostloss, unsatisfied dosiro] Virtug—honor—truth—idlo * words ; their solomn mockery yet rang in his ears, o ran—ho flow, anywhere, auywhere to flao tho hnunting thoughta that trooped like flends upon his track! Ho neared tho banks of the river: itu cooling wators, rolling on in_thoir etornal channol, promisod (o alluy bin fover and bury bis dishgqorod nome In oblivion. Ho plunged in—that anclont rivor swept away, the rivex Kishon ; sud as Lo sank to rise no more & deog volce oxclnimed: *‘So porish thine cuemiocs, Lord|"—Days of Chivairy. —_———— COME WANDER WITH ME. Tho sun hiaa gono down In an ocosn of splendor ‘That rolls its bright waves on the rim of the West ‘Tho hues of the ovo come out mellow and tender, And woodlsnd and vals in rich beauty are drost Thore aro muslo and Jove {n {he volce of the eve, And worlds of sweotness for me and for thco, ‘Whore fanoy its rose-calorod tisaues can woaved Thon Annlo, my love, wilt thou wander with e ? Como wandor with mo whore the flowera ars springla ‘Along by tho green, mossy patha of tho valo, Whero Insoct and bird Hoaven's vospora are singing, ‘And fondly Tl whiaper Jovo's cloquient tala, i oull theo freshs violota to place in thy breast, Ayl rots o plscaf Wy Tic plotsy Loir, For tliou ast, my dari 0 mald I lovo bes X8 Dt sathe violoty tho wild 080 8a fair, CGome wander with mo, and Il toll you, my Aunle, 'At far as wenk worda may my bosom reveal, Ttow fondly I prizo tico, tlie OR0 GMONG MIALY,~ How deogly abaorbig e rausport { teol Taw deop I my hoart thy beloved fauaye s Burrounded by light that no changs cau subdue; "o light that boams out from thy truth-tolling oyos Has bound mo forevar, doar Aunle, 0 you, Seo youder tha star of tho evoning 18 shining, ‘And sco how jnviling the grevn valloy loas “Lliy arim, lovo, i ming willi lovo's confidence twining, Tl liat'to thy volee,aud il gazo in thy eyes, Wil ovoperfutnod forlycs, it igurs wnisn, Ho lovingly dally with thy clust'ring hair, While doepoi the shindows o'er meadows anid green, Aud eve's changing huos look woro tonderly falr, And down from tho sfars that como bashfully peeping ‘Through Hoaven's rich curtains of golden and bluo, And up from tho valloys 80 peacofully slooping, Hhall sympliones come full of love and of you Fach beautiful flower bl find it o volce ; Each tint that beams out from yon Heaven-limned son Bball mpeak to our hearts, and bid us refoice: Thon Auule, my lovs, wilt thou wander with me? Outoaco, o,