Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1868-02-21
rheor, Of Spiritual wives.

lkTOm 1l1ou NO" oooA'l
Tho higher theory of spiritual wives
may be stated in a few words. The
common notion of a legal union be-
tween man and woman is an act of pair
ing for life. At the altar we promise to
take each other for good and i'll, for
better and worse, engaging before tho
world to dwell together, cleaying one
to the other, aud to mono else, until
death shall part US. What do we mean
BY these large words? That we take
each other for life, and for life only?
That the bargain made in time is only
good for time? That the affections and
the ties which bind them cease with the
grave? In short, do we mean that mar
rage is q temporary bond which has no
part in our eternal life? This is the
usual teaching Of the schools; and in
oil those countries where the church
still reigns and rules, this view of the
marriage VOW is never ~impeached by
adverse decisions in q Court Of law.
Tho vow is for life, and for the whole
Of life. II It lasts until the grave, II
ends with tho grave. The Latin maxim
is, "once married, always married. y
"What God has bound lot no man put
asunder," says the Western Church.
The husband shall be to his wife, the
wife shall be to her husband only, until
death shall break the seal aud tear tho
record. So far runs the contract, and
NO farther. Death only makes men free.
Now: this theory of a marriage VOW
being good for life, and only for life, is
more than simply unsatisfactory to men
and women of o certain type Of mind;
It Is absolutely repulsive. Husbands
who care nothing for their wives, wives
who caro- little for their husbands, may
learn to bear 1t. When there is no rich
estate Of love, no subtle y%earning, no
blended life between the two sexes, they
can look forward to the grave rs to an
end of their welded bonds, if not with
ardor, yet still with agony of soul. But
then, as the mystics say, in such n case,
there has been no true marriage, either
first or last. Such unions they allege,
are only partnerships in business and
estate. Two properties, perhaps, have
been made one; two family lines may
have run into n stream; q dull and
legal act having been solemnized with
religious forms, and beautifed by orange
blossoms and bridal benedictions. Snch
an affair of trade, It is alleged, may end
most 6tly with tho hearse and shroud.
But when . marriage Of true hearts has
been blessed throughout by love, as
well as by the priest; when two young
souls have grown n in feeling, in de-
sire, in aspirations; then the thought Of
husband or wife v ceasing to hold
that dear relation to the other is hardly
to be borne. The spirit kicks against
that doctrine Of q life apart. oven when
the promise Is that IL shall be passed in
q brighter and better world. Love,
wanting no brighter world, refuses to
admit the thought of a separated life.
To true mates marriage is not for the
time now only, but for the time to come.
Carnal ideas have no dominion in the
sphere of love. Once bound to each
other, true mates desire to be always
bound. Love seeks no change aud
why, II love is eternal, should the union
which makes It visible end with the
greater sleep2S Men, it is alleged, who
have found their mates on earth can.
never fall back into such a view. To.
their eyes wedlock is u covenant Of soul
with soul, made for all worlds in which
there is conscious life; for tho heavens
above no less than to the earth below.