From the Peterſburg Intelligencer.
MATRIMONIAL LOTTERY.
On the 21ſt day of December laſt, I was paſſing through the ſtate of South Carolina, and in the evening arrived in the ſuburbs of the town of ——, where I had an acquaintance, on whom I called. I was quickly informed that the family was invited to a wedding at a neighboring houſe, and on being requeſted, I changed my clothes and went with them. As ſoon as the young couple were married, the company was ſeated, and a profound ſilence enſued—(the man of the houſe was religious.) A young Lawyer then aroſe, and addreſſed the company very handſomely, and in finiſhing his diſcourſe begged leave to offer a new ſcheme of matrimony, which he believed and hoped would be beneficial. And obtaining leave he propoſed:
That one man in the company ſhould be ſelected as preſident; that this preſident ſhould be duly ſworn to keep entirely ſecret all the communications that ſhould be forwarded to him in his official department that night: and each unmarried gentleman and lady ſhould write his or her name on a piece of paper, and under it place the perſon's name whom they wiſhed to marry; then hand it to the preſident for inſpection, and if any gentleman and lady had reciprocally choſen each other, the preſident was to inform each of the reſult; and thoſe who had not been reciprocal in their choices, ſhould have their choice kept entirely ſecret.
After the appointment of the preſident, the communications were accordingly handed up to the chair, and it was found that twelve young gentlemen and ladies had made reciprocal choices; but whom they had choſen remained a ſecret to all but themſelves and the preſident.—The converſation changed and the company reſpectively retired.
Now hear the concluſion. I was paſſing through the ſame place on the 14th of March following, and was informed that eleven of the twelve matches had been ſolemnized, and that the young gentlemen of eight couples of the eleven had declared that their diffidence was ſo great that they certainly ſhould not have addreſſed their reſpective wives, if the above ſcheme had not been introduced.—☞ Gentlemen under 20 and ladies under 15 were excluded as unmarriageable.
You will be pleaſed to let the public hear of this ſcheme, and I hope it will be productive of much good, by being practiſed in Virginia.
A Married Man without Children.
The weak spot in this plan, we imagine, would be the difficulty in keeping the blanks entirely secret.