New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-08-02
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. Nv, and last.l
MARRIAGES


of one of the most active and thoroughsong 'eunae
apostles in our day of Free Divorce or rather ('or
she is more logical than most OF her co-workeFs) Oh
no marriage az all, but unbOunded license under the
carb of "Iudisi iusl Sovereignty Hers IS tle usuai
story of the legal union of pair every way uHsuted
TO and manipulating with each other bee nnns IN
rssbpess folly and falsehood, aud ending Gas wasJus)
ia hatred disgust and wretchedness. For II Mar
rage be the sacred and holy thing we e.teem It, then
those who reckessly profane and disgrace II deserve
to sufer-to suffer more than is necessarily ihvoNea
in unmarryng themselves the next week ana eacn
marrying some one else the week aftef IL Mar
riace be indeed something nobler and higher 'nan
what Gibbon forciby terms "a sansent soeet! OIL
profit and pleasure" then those who rush into II IS
If il were not-wbo cover with its legal mantle their
icpobe impulse Of ambition syarlcc leyity or lech
ery deserve to lay thereby the foundation Oh ne
long repentance. ..u
In the case we are now meditatins, woman OF iuIi
age. and very far from being simpleton' married
man whom she had known but a few weeks VINO was
every way unattractye and 10 her especially disagree
,ble-married him. as if insane, because promise 70
do so had been extorted FROM her IN an in'
considerable moment by well-meanng but most
msiudging mutual friends There was no rominFie
usion ON the one side no studied deception on the
other-there was not the usual excuse OF paren
t,l interference and virtual constraint-but gar-
inn VI 6,l wsnton counterfeiting of marriage where
no essential marriage existed or could exist under tho
influence of motives too paitry to be considered
not too shameful to be avowed. If such sscrese ala
not invoke evil on the head of its perpetrator then
Marriage could not be the Divine institution We
believe it.
:. But if there were no real marriage, there
q. can he no relation instituted, no Obligation I'M
"posed say many. But that by no means ioi-
lows. A villain attempts to ruin contemplated
r;,;r, under the cloak of sham msrrisye
but is duued himself and real marriage ceremony
nercormea bv some competent persOn-the law holds
the lbertne to his engagement though he never IN
tended to contract any. The State as wei as the
Church saws .You must take each other for better,
for worse" because neither State nor Chureh eau
determine beyond mistake whether that true copjusal
affection which should precede and sancty marriage
does really and recprocay exist. State and Church
therefore unite in imposing the most searching test
of affection they have been able to devise Having IN
no manner urged or fastened the meditated union,
they virtually say to the candidates VINO present
themselves to invoke their sanctions" We cannot
surely say whether you are or are not one IN heart
and soul but you know whether such is or is not
the fact if you have really aud earnestly sought TO
know If you are, then you will not hesitate TO
pronounce the vows which bind you irrevocably
Ito each other; if you not, there Is yet time TO
draw back and save yourselyesfr from untold guilt aud
.msery Let there be no assembling in this mo-
mentous crisis, but speak the truth, or abide the
lifelong penalty of falsehOod' So they do, and so
they should
Take from Marriage this element ofperpetulty and
II will become the convenient cloak of all manner of
lechery and fraud to an extent far exceeding augh
which this country has ever known. Now, the liber
tine who does not hesitate to I'll the ears Of his vic
tim with oath on oath Of eternal consistency and alb
sorbing devotion shrinks back from the church-dOor
in alarm one perjury more or less has no terrors Tor
him. but not so the States penalties for bigamy and
SOciety's maledction There are many who Will
readily promise marriage to obtain their end to one
who will really marry. But make marriage easily
dissolube and it will be easy and as safe to marry
as to promise; why not? Say you that the Liberty
of Divorce should be limited and hedged about-that
Divorce shall only be decreed on the prayer OF the
injured party; then the villain who tires of one he has
obtained under the cloak of marriage has only to treat
her JadIy enough to mpel her to apply for Divorce,
and his end is obtained If neglect, deserton inf
delty do not suffice he has but to add beating stary-
ing until his victim will gladly be rid of hun on his
own terms.
No-the integrity of families, the training of chill
dren, the very existence of a vlrtuous and orderly
community rest on Indissouble Marriage as their
foundation and must be shaken if not pr0strated by
its removal There are cases in which looser rein
would mitigate individual sufering but the relaxa-
ton would cause ten woes for every one it might
cure Thousands marry iDconsiderately hazardOusly,
sordidly sensuay now, in spite OF the fearful pen
altes ever displayed before their eyes, they would
be tens of thousands if it established that they
might throw off the yoke whenever they felt or fanced
it irksome. To attempt to redress the suferngs OF
individuals who have married unworthiy by allowing
Liberty Of Divorce, is equivalent to obyiang tyranny
by abolishing all government and letting every
do what he will.
The real evil s, as we have said, that many marry
heedessly or unworthly. But for this, there would
not be one unhappy unien where there are now
thousand. This is the point of danger, and to this
the attention of philsnhropsts and reformers should
be directed. The illusions, the concealments, the
mutual deceptions which too often precede and
induce false marriages. should be sternly reprobated,
and the freest inquiry, the most searching observa-
walton, with respect to the education temper, opin-
iOns faults and virtues of those cultivating each
Others society with view to marriage, should be
reciprocdy practiced and insisted on. And they
should be above the weakness which shrnks from the
al hra. oN af