Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1870-03-16

'NNN''' w wv lii''N NN"N'''b - ~
: Scripture, who joins them together
What God has joined together
not BY speaking to them in an aud
Bile voicc-not by laying his bapC
visibly upon their clasped hands, b
which they symbolically pledge I
each other mutual love and fidelity
but 10 tho fact that they have entere
His institution, which from Him, an
by The force Of its own nature, CAV
them marriage-the relationship {
husband and wife, which can be d,
rived from no other source. By tn
mysterious and moulding power /
the institution, the man rises into th
character of husband, and the We
man into tho character of wife, O
the ground of the mysterious fact
that the two are thus made con
flesh"
Thus much for the origin and ma
ture OF marriage itself, as from Go,
and involving in its own nature a di
vine estate.
II. The next point is, that mar
riage, being of this divine and objec
tive character, constituted and mad
entirely by the Almighty, and not il
any sonse by the feelings of the par
ties or by anything that man, legis
latures or courts, can or may do, i
lies entirely beyond and above all hu
man legislation and control,
This must appear evident from
what We have already seen to be il,
own nature. II il is an institution Of
God il God formed it, and gave ils
laws, laid down its conditions and dc
terminei IFS limits and powers, then,
what right can man have, whether in
the form Of king, parliament, legisla-
ture or court TO come in and seek 10
change, modify or limit its character
1t is a principle universally acknowl-
edged in all Christian countries, that
God is the Supreme Ruler, aud that
the institutions which he has establish
ed stand entirely beyond the control
OF man /; that man, in no capacity in
which lie can be placed, singly or
leagued in thousands, can have the
right to change or modify even the
least essential feature connected with
them for If man can change what
God has made, to suit his mind, then
il is no longer Gods institution, but
mans, and then, too, God is no longer
The sovereign, even over that which
lie made, but man. 1t is not difficult
to zee the mon,trous absurdity which
this would involve, and the absolute
paganism, il not something worse, in
which it would plunge the world.
Legislatures may enact laws to
guard, protect, and legitimately car.
ry out The divine law OF marriage, but
they cannot change the Institution IT,.
sell, or modify any essential part Of il
or its requirement: " What God has
joined together, let no mdnpnt dsunder."
Can man, By legislation, change the
time or character of the seasons p
Can he make day out of the night, or
night out of the day. Is it possible
to say TO the fire thou shalt not burn,
and 20 tho water, thou shalt not
drownl Can he say to the tide, Stop
thy ccasclcss heaving and rollingi-
Has he power to change or modify the
colors Of the rainbow, or determine
when il shall or when il shall not ap.
pcarg Can he change the type of the
seed that is sown in the ground, so
that ii win produce, specifically, a har.
vest different from its own nature p
Has he power, in a word, over any Of
Gods institutions, TO change theirchar.
acter or condition their eficcty Plain
~, man here, is utterly helpless. Just
so in the case Of marriage man can
neither make nor unmake it (nor in
any way modify it) it is and remains
lust as God made it.
In this view now, we cannot but
direct your attention 10 great evil
which has grown, and which is con-
tnuing to grow and increase from the
absence OF true Christian faith in
regard TO this subject.
BY the laws OF our own State, mar
riage las been dragged down from its
high and sacred position, as a divine
ordinance, and is made to stand upon
a fat level with the common human
ordinances Of the land. 1t is called u
"ciyil contract" such as one man may
enter into with another in relation to
n tract of land, a house, or n flock of
sheep.
Now where does there exist any
right 10 the Legislature or elsewhere,
not TO say anything of the power, TO
reduce high and holy institution of
God to The low and miserable concep-
tion OF a human contract, as though
the bargaining of two persons, mau
and woman, had the effect, or could
have the effect, to give them the char
actor OF husband and wife!
We are proud to call ourselves n
Christian State This phrase is on
the tongue of all, and some become
quite cxaspcrated when this charac-
ter is, in the most gentle way, called
in question, and yet here, in our stat
ute laws, standing from year to year,
we can, aud do ractcaIly and un.
blushngly, deny ono of the most radi.
cal aud fundamental Institutions, Of
God, which affects society more deep
ly than any other, by turning il inIo
mere human civil contract,
Some apologize for this by saying
that marriage involves the idea ofpror-
cry, which must be guarded and pro
tcctcd w legislation. This is true,
and al well. too, so far as this idea Is
concerned; but this property could be
guarded by law without converting,
or rather prostituting. marriage itself
into The nature Of n human civil con-
tract ltis this that we call paganism,
AID which rightly deserves tho name,
apologize for it as we may,
Again, il is said that it is not the
design Of The law, in calling it "civil
contact" 70 reduce the whole of II
to this charactcr--only that feature
in il which looks to property, &c.
But let US examine this form of tho
apology only slightly. What the Leg.