New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-04-23

brsvIsy-I shall deal directly and only with the
vital matters Of difference between ~.
| j. Yea ray, 81 believe in Marriage" ! say,
Yen do rot Ysur presesse Of doing 30 Is q decent
| ful evasion, If not = oosscjous fraud or course,
there is something you call Marriage In which Jou
believe; but challenge ycur assumed right to use
words OF established aud upeqalvocal messIns In a
sense quite opposed 10 that meaning. Let Us See
| then, what Marriage is. Here is Webster deo.
milton:
manner: Tn. &c, Of IN ting ard fer Es
~.seti ,h. ,a nron Of ma ssd JsrLG hay-,.
ospnss; ssih ev and rshtss' By .hss 70. <res i.s
Nv. ,eseii.r sri.d ,fecI sIe sSsr'J IL death 'AAl
'spsrsis tasI.'
So also Worcester:
"hEaeE: The sc: Of nSryiar Of urins ~sr ana VIC n
| an for h''
This, and this only, is Marriage, according 10
the understanding and consent OF ali Cirisiendom;
and this you do not uphold nor believe In. Not OF
course, that you would object TO the Perpeiuaticn
Of ore of your marriages. but you utterly deny sEy
moral and e1ecrste Any legal impedimen. TO the
dissolution Of q marriage whenever the msrried
pair or one Of them, shsll see ct TO desire ,uch
dissolution. You urge eryepiy DAILY TRIBUNE,
April l6) that I" the Legal grounds Of Divorce be
eco enlarged as 10 annul & certain marriage Gus
| tom which permits 9 man ard woman perma-
" reniy to ALLEVIATE to each other, by mere act
of will the control Of their proper person." that
You would obviate such tragedies as the Sickles-
Key affair "by permitting to no man or woman
" any permanent tenure Of anOtber's person which
sis not yitslized by tas! others unceasing con-
| sent" You every much admire the character
"of" your " friend and neighbOr, Bob Powell,
"~ho, being most happily married to Cynthia Rey.
" nolds is disposed 10 eIecrate the Rev. Dr..
Hawks for having united them in the bonds Of
illegal matrmOny, and bids Cynthia tear up every
" upholy covenant that slenstes you from your
90 self, or makes you mine at any moment but By
your own enforced, immediate gift" &c, &c.
need not multiply citations; but you know that
you have written Of Love, Marriage, Divorce, 10
this spirit and to this end for years. You know
further, that can discern no practical, 10 sub
,tsntial difference between your doctrine and the
undi,suised hbertines declaration,
an love you 20 long ., I'm abs.
And swear for no longer than thii"
And that / do most solemnly believe tina. the up.
shot of all your fine phrases if once generally &C
cepted would be prevalent RIGHTEOUSNESS and de-
pravity, eliminating at no distant day in social dis
solution and the calamities Of SOdom.
OF courte, / understand that this is al very
"stupid" in your estimatioD butyou know better
| than to stigmatize it az "artifce." am just as
stupid and Just as nsincere in the premises as tho
entire Christian world, with the exception Gf it
be an exceptiOn) Of yourself and few hundreds
ike you. We believe that you have no moral night
to speak slightingy of the ayowed FreeLoyers nor
assert any essential difference between your doc
| trne and theirs. They can cant mpretentlously
| as you upon OCCASION; they are as sincere and
homes. IS you ever were; they can talk as sbly If
not as sonorousy of Divine sanctions and the
enforced suppression Of hOneet natural want" Of
"contending not for the lesser but for the greater
"sanctity of Marrisge," and any desirable amonnt
of such rhetoric. i suppose there must be per-
sons who think this very fine and very conclusive
though to NY mind there was never q brass watch
palmed off for gold by Chatham street suffer
more utterly and palpaOly bogus. do not pro-
pose 10 waste words upon it. The natural instinct
Of every pure mird furnishes its proper antidose.
H. But protest against your attempt to ignore
tue t1hJkltu Va yOuA 6iS~s~' '-~
city of marriage" You have no right 10 assume
any superiority over them. There is no particle of
| ground for assuming that they form the unions
which you term Marriage in disobedience to or dis
regard of your Divine law. A youth and maiden
in Hsyti become acquainted; they are pleased
with each other; their regard rpens into positive
and peculiar affection; they desire to become
united the consent of parents and friends is freely
given; and they surrender themselves to esco
| other, and thenceforth form one household. There
10 no shame, no self.reproach, no consciousness oil
wroDg, on their part or that Of either OF them,
| none in the society around them. Probably some
of these live together continenty and lovingly TO
the end Of their days, though the far greater num-
Der do not. challenge, then, your assertion that
what you cal Marriage lacks in Haytl either I" that
"purey outward and legal recognition" or that
intensely and exclusively spiritual ratification ="
which you demand for it. The recognition is
| found in the fact ths. this man and this woman
| live together, treating each other for the time
and desiring to be treated BY their neigbbOrs as
| Zone hesh:" and as 10 the spiritual ratifca-
ton" what do you or can you know about it,
II you venture TO say, Il cite in proof tas! they
"were never truly married, the fact that they
ultimately separate, you give up the whole
matter in controversy. And if you do not find
your proof of this lack of spiritual ratification
in their subsequent separation, you cannot ind it
at all.
III. Your assumption that, under the Hayten re-
CINE, there are no poisOnngs no stsbsnss, no pros
1 -. IL al