Neither the East nor France has attained the goal
which their institutions point to; for that is happiness. The man is
not more loved by the women of a harem than the husband is sure of
being in France, as the father of his children; and marrying is not
worth what it costs. It is time to offer no more sacrifice to this
institution, and to amass a larger sum of happiness in the social
state by making our manners and our institution conformable to our
climate.
Constitutional government, a happy mixture of two extreme political
systems, despotism and democracy, suggests by the necessity of
blending also the two principles of marriage, which so far clash
together in France. The liberty which we boldly claim for young people
is the only remedy for the host of evils whose source we have pointed
out, by exposing the inconsistencies resulting from the bondage in
which girls are kept. Let us give back to youth the indulgence of
those passions, those coquetries, love and its terrors, love and its
delights, and that fascinating company which followed the coming of
the Franks. At this vernal season of life no fault is irreparable, and
Hymen will come forth from the bosom of experiences, armed with
confidence, stripped of hatred, and love in marriage will be
justified, because it will have had the privilege of comparison.
In this change of manners the disgraceful plague of public
prostitution will perish of itself.
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