osed marriage among us, the right of
permitting or forbidding it, in council. We can't even fall in love with
each other, without being bound, under penalties, to report it to the
Elder Brother; who, in his turn, communicates it to the monthly council;
who, in their turn, decide whether the courtship may go on or not.
That's not the worst of it, even yet! In some cases--where we haven't
the slightest intention of falling in love with each other--the
governing body takes the initiative. 'You two will do well to marry; we
see it, if you don't. Just think of it, will you?' You may laugh; some
of our happiest marriages have been made in that way. Our governors in
council act on an established principle: here it is in a nutshell. The
results of experience in the matter of marriage, all over the world,
show that a really wise choice of a husband or a wife is an exception
to the rule; and that husbands and wives in general would be happier
together if their marriages were managed for them by competent advisers
on either side. Laws laid down on such lines as these, and others
equally strict, which I have not mentioned yet, were not put in force,
Mr. Hethcote, as you suppose, without serious difficulties--difficulties
which threatened the very existence of the Community. But that was
before my time. When I grew up, I found the husbands and wives about me
content to acknowledge that the Rules fulfilled the purpose with which
they had been made--the greatest happiness of the greatest number. It
all looks very absurd, I dare say, from your point of view. But these
queer regulations of ours answer the Christian test--by their fruits ye
shall know them. Our married people don't live on separate sides of the
house; our children are all healthy; wife-beating is unknown among us;
and the practice in our divorce court wouldn't keep the most moderate
lawyer on bread and cheese. Can you say as much for the success of
the marriage laws in Europe? I leave you, gentlemen, to form your own
opinions."

Mr. Hethcote declined to express an opinion. Rufus declined to resign
his interest in the lady. "And what did Miss Mellicent say to it?" he
inquired.

"She said something that startled us all," Amelius replied. "When
the Elder Brother began to read the first words relating to love and
marriage in the Book of Rules, she turned deadly pale; and rose up in
her place with a sudden burst of courage or desperation--I don't know
which. 'Must you read