The American. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1857, 1857-11-04


balefu in its influences SO calculated for the pro-
pagaton of sin and misery, and prolific OF so many
burdensome responsible ties to the human familyy
Sir, philanthropy shudders at the thought of its
perpetuity.
Sir, like all other vices the vice of marriage has
its manifold allurements, and these alllrements
are but the bats OF Satan to win men and women
into the snare of matrimony, and once caught they
are the ready workers Of his sins--the propagan-
dists OF his iniquities This matrimony is the
parent Of vices, this
"vice is monster of as frightful mien, aa
AS to be hated needs but to be seem"
But, alas! for the instability Of our deprayed
natures-it tempts us as the serpent tempted Eve,
"For seen too oft familiar with its face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace"
have shown. sir, how utterly at variance and
obnoxious TO good morals Is the married state and
that it is even contrary to those laws enacted by
the wisdom OF Congress for the government OF
this District. / will now proceed to show that it
is in direct opposition even to the mandates OF tn.
Scriptures. The most wise, the most eloquent,
the most learned of the apostles in particular
emphatic manner, has placed the fiat of his in,
unctionthe denunciation Of his anathe mas against
their unsanctifed-their unholy marriage state.
Sir, will give you the text, chapter and verse,
which place the veto upon this corruptiDg insti.
tuition. He at the teachings of whose wisdom the
most learned sages OF antiquity we're won't TO listen
with the most profound silence and solemn atten.
ton; he at whose eloquence monarchs quailed
and judges on the very justice seat renowned
their Judgments; he upon whose philosophy the
most powerful of all Christian associations was
formed, and has existed through centuries and
centuries and continues to exist, exercising a
powerful control upon mankind, heather and
Christian--an institution which at one time
swayed the empires, states, and sovereignties Of
all Christendom; he from whose texts, every
Sabbath, in the Christian churches of every sect
throughout the world, sermons preached for
the confirmation of the believer and the CONVEX
sion Of the skepic; the apostle from whose sacred
principles Ignatus Loyola founded the order of
the Jesuits; the apostle who turned pale Agrippa
and made Felix tremble-the apostle Paul
denounced the married state in lst Corinthians,
18th chapter, commencing with the Sad verse, MS
follows: ts#, a. .
"32. But would have you without carefulness.
He that is unmarried careth for the things that
belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
33. But he that is married careth for the
things that are of the world, how he may please
his wife. Ez a. "s], saH
34. There is difference, Also between wife
and q virgin The unmarried woman careth for
the things Of the Lord that she may be holy in
body and in spirit but she that is married careth
for the things of the world how she may please
her husband. '
'35. And this speak for your own profit;
not that may cast snare upon you, but for that
which is comely, and that We may attend upon
the Lord without distraction"
40. But she is happier if she SO abide after
my judgment; and ! think also that have the
spirit of God"
Thus saith Paul; and long before Paul, the
wisest man that ever lived, even Solomon-who
had the largest experience of marriage of any
man OF whom We read in history, sacred or pro-
fame uttered his denunciations drawn from long
practical experience and sanctiied by wisdom
grown hoary with years. In the bitterness Of
his heart--in his venerable age, with his hun
dreds of wives about him. he was forced to ex-
claim
"All is vsnity-vanity and vexation Of spiritp
Apart sir, from its immortality, lis illegalty
and the sinfuness Of it, the married state should
be avoided, as placing both men and women in
the most ridiculous attitudes, to provoke the jest
and the rdicule, the caricature and the sarcasm,
of depraved aud revengeful malice Though it is
state emipently calculated to awaken pity and
call forth the benevolence of the philanthropist,
yet large portion humankind look only at the
folly and criminality which have produced it, and
consider II just punishment for those who have
wilfuly placed themselves in such a miserable and
unhappy state The gallows OH which the male
factor suffers, the gives that fetter the felon,
the stocks, and the whipping post, have all been
made subjects of jest by the heartess, who forget
the pain and suffering Of the victims in the ridi-
cule excited by their positions. So it IL with
those in the married state-we forget their tor
mems and miseries, and are only mindful of the
ridiculous position TO which they have heedlessly
reduced themselves -
Fabulists, painters, ard poets, have all cxer-
-cised their wits upon the folies, absurdties and
misfortunes, of married life. Esop, in his fable
Of the fox who had lost his TAIL makes him advise
the other foxes TO cut off theirs also as the mar
ried man, having lost his liberty, advises matri-
mopy TO his friends The mastery works of
Hogarth replete with ridiculous caricatures of
the marriage state. Shakspeare's wit teens with
Illustrations Of the foies and faults of husband
and wife, and bis pages are filed with taunts and
sarcssms on the silly wight whose lot il is
"To suckle fools and chronicle small beer"
The common jester makes il the sport Of his
bufoonery; and the clown in the ring and the
harlequin on the stage make il food for mirth and
laughter. The professional joker finds in il an
unfailng topic, and the pcnny-a-liner CLEANS from
it the material
"To point a moral or adorn tale"
There is happy illustration Of the folly of mat
rimony in a recent story:
A little tailor knocked at the gates of Paradise
and asked admittance. St. Peter demanded il he
had been 10 Purgatory.
"No," replied he, but I've been married"
"Ob," said the Saint, you've been maj ried,
have you-then you certainly come in"
Next appeared burly alderman, with good
fat capon lined" He, too, asked admission.
"Haye you been in Purg,tory?" inquired the
Saint
mo" quoth the Alderman, "but I've been
twice married.
Twice married." echoed Peter. SECT you
gone, sir! we want no fools here"
The perverseness Of human nature is awful in
the extreme. That which Is strongest prohibited
is most coveted; that which is most severely
punished is soonest committed. Eve ate of the
forbidden fruit, and lost Paradise 10 her and her
heirs forever-that Paradise which was truly
Heaven on Earth, where marriage was not-for
what priest or parson performed the ceremony for
Adam and Ever None there was marriage
in Eden, else il had not been Paradise. II was
not until our first parents were driven forth
70 toll and live by the sweat Of the brow that Cain
was born--the first responsibility for their sin
the first murderer.
Marriage was not decreed between Adam aud
Eve until after their fall punishment for their
transgresslons; and its crimes, its cares, and its
responsibilities, from generation to generation,
have been visited upon men who, ike Adam,
LII - he . /. =