Page:The Truth about Marriage.djvu/27

Rh accepted on the spur of the moment, there are plenty of others. Why be serious about it? It is old-fashioned to take such things seriously.

And yet, as we have seen, marriage is the most serious thing in the world, the most important step in life, affecting human society as well as individuals for time and eternity.

It has always existed, as far as human records go, and it has always been entered into with much ceremony and consideration.

It seems right to question many customs and traditions that have become embedded in the life of the nations. For example, the Chinese did right to question the custom of binding the feet of their little girls and thus deforming them for life. We think they did right to dispense with their once cherished pigtails.

It is certain that we did well to dispense with the universal practice of dueling.

We are doing well to question the wisdom of war.

But those things are destructive, and marriage is constructive. It is inherent in the nature of man and indispensable for the conservation of human society, yes, and indispensable for human happiness as dueling and war are not. Rh