New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-03-22
The Law. Policy and Reason Of Marriage and
Divorce.


find nearly every Legislature besieged Win speclA
Applications Or divorces End with propositions ~
/ soosening Of the bonds Of Marriage generally o
rendering divorce rnO-e fscile than II 10" .. IN
Kentucky We see that the Legislature has j2si
mad. sr.s Of eross liceu SDusness 1ffOye marriage
! ior rather the results Of such also Publishing
wife or husband az a dese-ter from bed and board.
/ land we believe hsbit1al drunkenness, likewise
good ground Of divorce. In tns State there have
been and still are strenuous efforts 10 make hop Less
INSANITY wirUl desertson, &c sufficient cause Of
Divorce. The current on every side sets IN that
direction We ere therefore not surprised al the
I tenor Of the following cornmunic alton:
Mr. AND MRS. FORREST
| To TIE Editor Of The TyiINsss
The marriage relation is Justly admitted 10 The
State Of Sew-York 10 be civil con.rscL requiring 10 allies
isuon Of ary Of -er magistrate when entered into nor
for most II all legs parposes even the presence Of
witness provided tie parties i've together a. husband ana
wife fact be acknowledged before competent VII
nesses Why. then, when MI snd Mrs Forrest have %
thoroughly agreed upon sepaTson h' appears ron le'
statement Saturdays TriSHHe she'll Society tafouga an
unjust and tvrapn,csi law say: "No one OF y0u n1si
Commit crire first, (sdultery. SCI ard then you may DC
! separsted One we will allow TO contract ms'rnony
again bu, tie other snd probably the one mos; hkey
ain In he easel we Will allow TO msrr-ahoush we
cannot thus snnsie the natural instincts that chiefly m
Gel u. 10 union punish open and what we cor
! s.der unlawful ocncupseebcs, which, ia many Gases
would be he consequence of The absurd Introduction
such are tie predcanents into which Judges as Trey
understand and administer law, pgs5 their unfortunate
fellow creatures who have been guilty OF an erroneous
choice IN the matrimonial lottery The immortality and IL
consistency OF such cssron decisions to nothing Of
their tyranny and Injustice 10 scandal to The
perfection ofumsn reason law mas been devoa.y char
aelerzed "For every wrong here IS remedy" says
maxim OF the perfection and for the ntosrsbe
Of compelling couple live together ne man and wife
they nd themselves Incapable Of promoting esch
ohers happinessa chief end, understand II, Of mar
dsge-aboUgh hey can agree upon the terms Tor snnung
their marriage vows with much uHalimy they enter
Cd upon them hink the remedy IN this country eSs- In
ne United States Consultation forbiddng State 20 pass
laws iInp sirng the obligation Of contracts
The parties finding the marriage contract hey have en.
tered into destructive OF their deafs. interests 81 human
beings agree to cancel H. they would any other mutually
Injurious contract entering into such new engagements as
TO them nav seem adapted sid 10 the pursuit Of hap
piness II they have uniTammele1 right TO enter
into mutual contract, It justly involves an unirAn-
meed night uuiualy TO cancel H. however It may be
denied by an ignorant or iyrsnnical majority. admit
Society has night 10 desigus some reasonable pub
lie snhentcston Of lhete important acts and that the
interests Of children, II there be auy 10 TIE case and
OF pecuniary Liabilities to third parties should al he
properly cared for With such qualifications the mutual
dissolution of the ought be esteemed az hono
bic the rsina union Thatpuhic morality and private
happiness would be promoted by such course have no
doubt than have Of the political axiom thai cleo
i've institutions are better than despouc hereditary govern
nent by right divine.
The points brought forward susceptible Of strong md
pointed Illustrations but have forborne account Of
their obviousness snd the limited space you aoI for
such discussion merely throw The suggestions 10 IL
duce serious and women 10 examine the ziGHr ot
society compel two dsscnan individuals 10 I've together
10 torment or 20 retire unnatural which indeed,
pecuniafy or other elrcumsts onen render next to I'm
possible When lac question u light Las been settled The
UTILITY Of con1emning uDeougena souls to boud-
age productive Of tho beres results occasionally even q
he crime oi murder-insy be taken inoconsdersuon ".
Remarks
The argument Tor Conservatism is not SO easily
stated in words as that for Radicalsm,- indeed,
its force often consists in considerations not appre-
cisble by its antagonists. Our strong conviction,
however that on this point the Conservative posi-
ton il the true one impels US 10 attempt hurried
and partial reply to the foregoing.
Anybody can prove his conclusion If you allow
hitn to assume his premises II is quite true Inst
Marriage is in one OF its aspects civil contract,
bat we can by no means admit that II is only that
1t s quite true that one object Of Marriage is the
happiness OF tie contracting parties but il is not
the sole object, much less is that the only point to
be res srded in prescribing the legal conditions,
character and limitations Of Marriage. II it were,
we do pct see why Society or the State should
cuncern itself with the matter at all Conceding
]. WIS premises, we perceive no sufficient reason
for any such institution as legal Marriage. Two
persons of different, sexes like each other and
choose to live together, or to maintain sexual
| intimacy without living together. Wei they do
So on the understanding that, whenever either Of
thcu can do better or sees it ioT any TO ter
inmate the arrangement il will be at al end. Al.
lowing this TO be the reasonable and enhghtenc 4
idea Of Marriage, we do not see why 1t needs any
authentication and We think the State might be IN
better business than meddng whit The parties,
to-. we should presume, though not afflicted with
excessive .queamisbness, would prefer 10 keep il
as quiet as possible.
Our idea Of Marriage is radically oiseren, IRON
this We detest the teachings Of Benthsm and ms
followers with regard to it, and reject their Free
Trade theories with regard Rhke 10 Goods, Money
and Marriage We incline 10 regard all great
questions from the Social OF Universal opposed
to the Individual stand point and our first inquiry
with regard to proposition is not how It's accept
Snce VIII affect Tom, Dick or Harry in some sup
posed case. but how it viii permanently affect The
entire community. And in this Ugh; our strong
conviction is that facility Of Divorce leading newt
ably to its frequent occurrence, tends directly
and powerfully to generate hccntiousness demon
slizslion and ruin. Gib6on mo puritan disce7s Il
the facility Of Divorce under the laws and usages .
Rome when Of the hight of her grandeur SRC
power, principal cause o; her swiftly succeeding
corruption and decay. What the state Of morals
among her people wss, the poets Of the Augusta
age abundantly show. Gibhon in substance Sairni
that the sentiment Of ChAstty-of Female Homo
lis necessarily undermined snd extinguished b,
frequent Divorces II would be easy to cite sban
dan, and more complete testimony from ilustrioui
Morshsts and Divines. but prefer 70 res, on ties
timcny which viii not he imPeaohed as fanstics
or dictated by creed
IL.