MARRIAGE IN JEOPARDY.

Observer, Volume 1, Issue 16, 25 December 1880, Page 136

MARRIAGE IN JEOPARDY.

The condition of marriage in any country is said to be less a test of morality than it is of the general prosperity of a people. Buckle's idea was that the marriage rate is regulated by the scarcity or abundance of the harvest, and a later social economist lias stated that the weather is a still more potent factor in the question. The complaint, however, in England and the colonies of late years has been that this is not a marrying age, and that the young men are "not on the marry" in America. Statistics prove that marriages are now contracted much later in life than formerly, and the cause undoubtedly is not only the severe competition in every branch of art, science, and industry, but the general habits of extravagance and luxury. Marriage has become more expensive than it used to be when young couples "married for love and worked for riches." The converse of the maxim is now adopted. The excuse of young men in these days is that they cannot afford to marry ! In some countries there has been such an alarming decline in the marriage rate, that it has given rise to a fear that it would soon become altogether absolete, or be replaced by a system which ix by- no 'means a desirable or healthy substitute. In Victoria especially this danger was lately regarded as so imminent that the public statist, Mr. Hayter, deemed it his. duty to investigate the subject. He iinds that whereas in 1554 there were 14' OS marriages for every thousand inhabitants there are now only s'Gl. On the face of it this looks alarming. If in a quarter of a century the number of men and women who marry in the course of a year has fallen regularly from 2S to the 1000 to 11, how long would it take to abolish matrimony altogether ? In polygamic countries the marrying power is enormous, and fearfully expensive. The marrying power of Christian nations is regulated by love, covetousness, desire of social position, and often by accident. A French cynic says: " Given juxtaposition and marriage follows." But it would puzzle all the Social Science Congresses in the world to strike out an average rule from the many complicated causes which regulate marriage. Mr. Hayter shews that according to the number of marriageable men and women in Victoria the marriage rate is maintained, and there is no cause to fear that the population will not be maintained. The greatest number of marriages was in 1554, during the period of the diggings, when there was a large influx of males, and the female population was below the average proportion. That period must have been a perfect paradise for matrimony, for we find that no less than one in every four single women within the age Avere married within the year. That is on the hypothesis that matrimony itself is paradise, as it ought to be, though there is reason to fear that it is often the reverse. In New South Wales the marriage rate is half as high again as in Victoria, and in New Zealand it is higher still. This is due to the fact that efforts have been made by means of immigration to bring the sexes as nearly as possible to an equality, and younj? women arriving in New Zealand are buoyed up with the confident expectation of receiving a proposal of marriage from a wealthysquatter or lucky gold-digger as soon as the vessel lias cast anchor. If the hope is not often realised, no moderately good-looking woman need remain long in a state of spinsterhood. Whatever fears may be entertained on the population question in some parts of Europe, as for instance France, we have no apprehensions on that score in New Zealand. On the contrary, there is something in the climate which is peculiarly favorable to the production of babies, and the social conditions are such that any couple with moderate thrift and industry can set up housekeeping on their own account. The young ladies evince a decided partiality for matrimony, and as for the widows, they aye quite competent to take care of themselves in seeking for husbands. Though fools spuni Hymen's gentle pow'rs We who improve his golden hours, By sweet experience know, That marriage rightly understood, Gives to the tender and the good A paradise below. So sings Cotton, and from our observation of the marriage state, we are disposed to conclude that, on the whole, Cotton is right in the main, though there are many deplorable exceptions.

OLD FATHER CHRISTMAS. Not with the light of the blazing fire, Not with the holly and mistletoe hough, Not with the snow rising higher and higher, Conies Father Christmas to welcome us now, But with crimson flowers, and odorous showers From gardens of roses he hinds his brow. And he nods his head to the fair young girls — "Laugh, dance and sing," he says, "my darlings ; "Brush up your close-cut ambrosial curls — "This is the season for meeting i'rince Charmings ; " This is the time for the valse's gay whirls. "Hey for the picnic ! and ho for housewarmings !" He smooths down the brow of the paterfamilias, Opens his pockets, and lightens his heart, Turns to broad laughter the smile supercilious, Bids all unneighbourly feeling depart ; Who ever heard of a man turning bilious After the crust of the Christmas tart ? To the hard-worked lawyer he brings repose From court and client a brief respite ; And surely the worn-out teacher knows The blessed boon of the Christmas night — Rolls, classes, exams., and all his woes — For one short moment forgotten quite. ! He sends the bank clerk to the springs of Waiwera, Where hot baths and cold baths and salt baths abound ; Where Sam Jackson descants on the prime solfatara, And the lawn tennis players fly over the ground ; Miss G— m singing Scotch songs, or "Eileen Alannah," While the laugh, and the jest, and the bottle go round. And he says to the wealthy, "My sons, think not "only "Only of lov'd ones, the blest, and the dear ; "Give kindly help, and kind words to the lonely, " Sick, in the hospitals, refuges drear ; ' ' There as they lie, forlorn, reft, and bemoaningly, , . „. . , "Give them a taste of your good Christmas cheer. "Make your lives blessings— live not for the present "Hot, dusty highways of commerce alone, " Snatch a brief moment from toiling incessant "To think on the future, the past to atone. "Make others happy, and Time will be pleasant " When Christmas, and summer and sunshine are gone." So a health, three times three, to the Christmas King, Old Father Christmas, hail him with fervor ! Sing him a blythe song, young and old sing, Rich and poor hail him with equal ardor, Sweet time of blossoming i sweet time of carolling ! Christinas we keep thus in the OBSERVER !