Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1868-11-25


divorce may be decreed for sundry speci-
fed causes, and fer any other gross be-
havior and wickedness in either Of the
parties, repugnant to and in violation Of
the marriage covenant A similar law
was passed in Connecticut in the year
lS40."
In our own State restrictions exist
which render much more difficult the
dissolution Of the marriage tie. A di-
vorce UinCulO may be obtained for
adultery or abandonment for three years,
or for any crime which by the laws Of
the State renders a marriage null and
void ab initio; and divorces meRSd ct
hOrO for cruelty, excessively vicious
conduct, abandonment and desertion.
As TO the remedy, DR.. Woolsey con-
sidcrs that it lies in the teachings Of the
Christian Church in it's various fOrmsa and
names, and in a discipline over its mem
bers when they transgress the Christian
law. But, then, there are very many
outside the pale of the Church whom it
cannot reach, ard, besides, a system Of
legislation diverging from the principles
Of scripture in the matter Of divorces,
brings Church and State into collision
The General Episcopal Convention,
which lately met in New York, recog-
nized this difficulty in dealing with the |
subject and refrained from going beyoad
a prohibition of its ministers from cele-
brsting marriages judged TO be in viola |
ton of the Christian law. But suppose
all the churches to act upon this rule,
there still remain the evils of injudi- |
cioas legislation, which lower the general
tone Of society, and are the only guide |
for large part of the community. What
reforms in legislation are demanded, |
however, is a question which DR.. Wool
sey confesses his incompetency to answer,
except by certain suggestions which we
give in brief, promising that he may be
correct when he anticipates that the
States will continue to allow latitude |
which the Church cannot approve:
But there are many points within that |
limit in which the greater part Of our ex.
isting laws may be aiyantageouSly re-
formed as,
l. By the provisions that the aduIter-
ess and her paramour shall be forbidden |
to marry each other, and that the guilty |
wife-perhaps also the guilty husband
shall be forbidden to marry any Per
son, at least until the death Of the inno-
cent partner.
2. Adultery ought to be visited with |
the punishment which the laws now |
attach to it, but which is almost never
inflicted.
8. Where the blamewOrthy party is
allowed to marry again, there ought to be |
some limit of time within which such re-
marriages should be made unlawful.
1. Separation q meRSd ct tbOrO, as
substitute for absolute divorce, is liable
to severe objections, yet for inferior Of
lenses it may be used as a temporary ex-
pedient, to be turned, after a lapse OF
time, into divorce with liberty of remar-
rage, If no reconciliation shall have been
effected. 1t seems also desirable to have
it in our laws for the sake Of the CathO-
lies, for whom the civil and the eCclesi-
astical law concerning divorce are brought
into tolerable harmony.
B. Divorce ought to be granted only
for specific and determinate causes, and
it is inexpedient to leave much discretion
in the hands OF the judge.
6. Is it necessary to spend many words
in urging the revision OF the laws OF
those States to which persons DESTROYS of
obtaining disOrce resort, in order to es,
ca the stricter legislation Of the States
where they had before resided. Why
should some States be byword in the
country as the harbOr of discontinued
husbands or wives, as injuring justice in
other parts Of the United States
Or need we more than advert to the
Importance of a reformation in the pro
cedure in divorce cases, to hasty judg-
ments on &C Parte evidence, to the de-
lects in giving notice and the like?
In regard to the provision which is re-
commended, that where the blamewOrthy
party is allowed to marry again there
ought to be some limit of time within
which such marriage should be made
unlawful, it has the sanction of results
under a similar provision in the code
Grille, the effect Of which seems 10 ap.
pear in the fact that in the Rhenish pro
vinces Of Prussia, where this law is in
force, only seventeen such divorces oc-
CURED in thirty>Six years, and in q
, population OF more than two millions,
The remedies referred to under the sixth
head are indispensable to any radical re,
T form throughout the country. So long
) as one State remains where, tC
5 the shame of the moral sense o
7 our people, disseminated husbands and
- wives in other States may find a reSor
, for divorce which they could not find il
a Canada, nor even in Mexico, SOutl
J, America, or in any country in Europe, S
s long will any revision of the divorc
+, legislation in other States fail ofits effect
: The subject is one Of vast importance
e 1t Involves point Of the most vital INC
o ment in social morality, and if the stand
o ard of Judgment and feeling in regard
its san Titles is not raised and embodie
e in appropriate legislation, the effects uPo
lie the virtue and happiness of the Peopl
T. and even upon their liberties, cannot b.
y be what they have always been in tho.
E. nations where the sacredness of the ma
al rage tie has been disregarded.-Batt
te more Sun.
OF General Grant is reported by ST. LOr