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    MANNERS AND MORALS. 107

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    - - And Prompt Me " , Hence Plain And , ...

    of our domestic life . If Divorce Court disclosures seem to _Tbe destroying this reputation , and proving the bitterest satire on our

    pride therein , we must not forget that these divorce cases are comparatively very few , and that they represent the exceptions to the

    _general rule . Notwithstanding these spots , so forcibly brought before us , our domestic life does possess , let none doubt , a sanctity

    and purity worthy of all j > ride . Money-marriages have done what they could to corrupt this purity , but , in the main , it remains intact .

    _Mariages de convenance , execrable in theory , often in practice become hallowed and purified ; so strong is the innate domestic spirit .

    But let us not presume in this matter . The English , domestic spirit , if outraged so continually , cannot fail to die out at last .

    It is not wise to tempt Providence . The tone of our literature , with regard to domestic life generally ,

    and marriage especially , is improving . It may seem a trivial thing _i ; o notice that our novels have ceased to limit , as a rule , their

    edifying revelations to the before-marriage period ; but straws will tell the direction of the wind , and this change is not altogether

    meaningless . Novels have become a great engine of popular education , and the effect which they exercise is no longer to be ignored .

    Some very wise men have deliberately chosen that form as the medium of giving to the world their ripest experiences and opinions .

    This change , then , is worthy of notice . The lesson taught is , that the after-marriage period is not barren of interest , is not a state of

    placid , superhuman bliss , like that of the Epicurean gods ; that it has its joys and sorrows , its temptations and its triumphs , as much

    as the before-marriage period . Further , that this marriage state is the completion of all the previous romantic effervescences , the grand

    issue to which they led , and in comparison with which , they sink into insignificance .

    Kingsley has done good service in this way . Hear what his u chaste Tritonid Athene , the lover of men / ' has to say on

    marriage : — " D Dear ear un wh to o can me , no less thil than win to him thee a wife , is the not wedlock unworth of heroes and noble ; y y ;

    P Happy Girdled ure , wi , w with ho the th holiest p ure stands , t awe o be lin g e k t t b rave t o i n h e of heroes ldren self , t w he for ho like his were mother of , their and who father shall , . be ; pg

    Watches his steps with-th , e eyes of the gods ; ; and his wife and his children Move Thence Mm comes to plan weal and to to a nation do in . the " farm , and the camp , and the council .

    In many ways the signs of the present times are hopeful . There is much energy and earnestnessand much abhorrence of shams .

    , Theories are being discarded for practice . Good , honest actions are felt to be the want , not rhetorical talk about a blameless life .

    It is felt to be needful that each one should set about doing what he can , not thinking about possible perfectibilities of human nature .

    Never were there so many beneficent institutions . The rich help the poor , the educated the ignorant , the good the sinful . We see ,

    T 2

    Manners And Morals. 107

    MANNERS AND MORALS . 107

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Oct. 1, 1862, page 107, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01101862/page/35/