The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1870-03-24

rlages than are at present seen | viii
admit that there is more than one unior
that ought to be, and should be- abroga
ted. No one can deny that great wrongs
great cruelty is practiced in some instan
ssces. No doubt there are some wives-and
also some husbands subjcct to mental
and bodily torture land there are some
instances OF great parental cruelty and
| hardness. And Ia the marriage relation
| [ do not deny that tire civil powers may
lawfully interfere. Bot to set the prtnci
pie of divorce on any lower ground than
this--to maze what should be rare ex-
ception thing Of common occurence-or
SELVES on the smallest provocation, would
be, equivalenS 10 burning down hous,
because pane of glass had beer broken,
or to demolish a eltv because here were
one Or two cases Of dangerous epidemic
disease Within IT'S wallis How many a
dne edlfice would then be Destroyed |!
How many fair and stately city would
be demolishedf Then would come again
apon society night and chaos, whose dark
expulsive swirl would submerge eivilizl-
tFnn They raay talk of some fine and
delicate natures who would clasp their
SainIties and float out into innncuous eth
err OF purer life. But the law of marriage
is set against the mass If seethihg desires
aRd furious passions, which, without it,
would transform society into rab}Ae of
Genus ask you ii we should palaer the
Christian doctrine of marriage bond.
for some .attenuated metaphysical notions
off affinity, some, '~free-love" theories,
wDuld there not be cruelties and iecon-
gruities and miseries still? YES and
many more evils that we cannot imagine
Here stands the, simple concrete fact :.
Christ proclaimed the sanctity of the
marriage bond, and named one sin which
could justify divorce. | know that in
another text he said that that condition
off sin was to be .foiand in the infhmed
desires of the heaut and the efforts of the
imagination; and therefore it is said that
state of the heart exists, then divorce is
justifable. But who is to judge Of the
heart9 If the marriage bond is to- bel
dissolved upon every access of the wick
edl feeling, we should have divorces like
the changing OF our clothing, and new
unions like the new spring bonnets. The
case which the EAord put is easy to bel
understood; andl in that single case is
divorce allowable. and then not change
of partners. To put the marriage bond
on any other basis would be social ruin
and domestic chaos. But now let me say
a. word in regar& to these incongruities
aud miseries. Pain and misery are fre-
qrently incident to all conditions Of life i
and probably thesewho think themselves
n.isera bic in the married state would be
miserable in any condition, and those
who are wretched, would be wretched
anywhere BEh would observe that
find in such cases something worse than
shis; find hele another proof of the
Significance an6 value of marriage. There
fare things in lie which, once done, they
are irrevocable > there are steps which,
once taken, there is no way back SO let
1t be with maraiage. Let men and women
reflect well before they undertake its res
possibilities. Let them know shat it is
a serious step forward in life 1t is a
boundary line, over which having once
crossed you aay not recede. Let it be
something less than this, and Id looses all
of its sublime Significance, If in this
matter we make a mistake we Must bear
it. 1t is one of those things of which,
having once done them, we must bear the
consequences. We must suffer for our
own mistakes. Let marriage be this and
let all the evils and inconglylities be we'll
considered beforehand / have no OBJ
lection to the doctrine Of "affinitiesp
when it operates at this point Let the
doctrine of "afinities' he considered in
the first place, but not IN the tenth or
twentieth. Let us give due attention to
this matter of "affinities" at the proper
time, and then we shall not have SO many
asking how we are to remedy the evils,or
trying to abolish the Christian institu-
| ton Of marriage One source Of these
evils is to be found in hasty marriage. |
don't deny that there may be such a
thing as love at first sight; but do say
that, if real, 1t will grow all the more
strong by short delay. The sentiment
may turn out to be amere fancy. Mind
am not censuring early marriages; they
! are to be approved Of 1t IS more natural
for young persons to form union than
after they have been drifted about the
world, and seek marriage only rs a des-
perate resource Almost AL the noble
education of marriage must be lost in this
long delay [ don't censure early, but
censure hasty, marriage. raise my voice
against these sudden determinations
and think indissoluble marriage would
be proper warning to those who would
enter rashly upon the bond. Let them
know that it will golden bond Of joy or
an iron fetter. Think what you are about
to do if you assume the condition by
which two souls become one, having one
earthly destiny, one common sphere of
pleasure or sorrow until commissioned
death snaps the tie.
The preacher then addressed himself
to the other points of his discourse, and
concluded with a powerful warning to