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

e such is from God. and is divine w
would not insult your Christian inte
igenco by entering upon any sue
y extended and full proof. Influence
by the light of Christianity whic
beams around us, we all acknowledg
that God made man; that male ant
female created he them; and that
subsequently, Ho Himself in the Gar
den of Eden, united in the marriag
relation, the first pair that were eve
raised TO this high and holy estate.
We all acknowledge besides this
that God made all the laws touching
this holy estatej that be gave to eacl
of the parties in il the duties whici
respectively belong TO them and tina
He established the basis on which i
rests, the conditions ofits permanency
or binding obligation, until death
shall part them, and that be als'
specified the circumstances in which
! its tie may become broken, and Tho
parties prior to this, are released.
All this we cbeerfuly acknowledge
We know il from the simple reading
of the Holy Scriptures. The evidence
as lawyers say, is primd facie. lisa
there, in form that cant be misun
derstood. We know il, moreover,
from the traditions of the past, cx.
tending back so far, that the memory
Of man runneth not to the contrary
IL was so from tho beginning. In
making this acknowledgment, we own
marriage rs an objective institution,
an estate, standing apart from men
and women, rs such as, for instance,
the institution of court, standing
apart from the people, or Sacrament,
or the rainbow in the heavens, into
which institution or estate one man
and one woman enter, in the marriage
act, aud by its own force are made
husband and wife; and we further.
more own, that this Institution or
estate, in which the man becomes the
husband and the woman the wife, is
from God, and as to its own nature
wholly and purely divine.
Now, let us reycrently pause at this
point, and see that here is something
entirely above naturc--somellling far
more than human feeling, and differ.
ent from it--somcthing infinitely be
yOnd what man, either singly or col.
lectively, can make; il is nm institu-
ton from God, and carries in it divine
power, by which man becomes a hus-
band, and woman wife.
1t is important TO mark well the
fact which we hero discover. The
fact simply that man is a man, does
not make him husband; and so also
the fact that woman is woman.
does not make her n wife. A husband
is different thing from a man simply,
and wife is different thing from
n woman simply, 1t involves a new,
superadded character in both cases,
which is not given by the affection
which each feels for the other; because
! if this were so, then it would follow,
that they were husband and wife be.
fore they entered into this Institution
or estate. This, however, is not the
case and TO live US husband and wife
prior to this, is to live in the deepest
crime However, deeply, sincerely,
and tendcrly, two persons of opposite
sexes may love each other, and how
ever closely they may inwardly stand
related TO each other on the ground
of their mutual affection, they are yet
not husband and wife, but only man
and woman, who, as marriage is con
cerned, are as far apart as the poles
which shows, with great clearness and
force, that the emotions OF the parties,
that their affection and love for each
other, however ardent and pure its
character, it docs not constitute mar
riage.
And Just so, neither can anything
else outside ofthe marriage Institution
itself, constitute n man husband,
and woman wife A thousand
! legislatures and courts all speaking
iu unison, can no more produce this
character than they can create a
pant or span the heavens with the
rainbow Man can never make what
il is the prcrogativc of God only to
constitute.
The character Of husband and wife
is given in the divine institution, and
BY the Almighty Himself through the
institution.
Here then, clearly, is an objective
Institution, established by the AL
mighty, which, by It's own nature, is
divine, carries in il laws and forces Of
mysterious and moulding character,
just us many other institutions of
God does, whether in the world OF
nature or the world OF grace. Take
the plant-tho tree you acknowledge
its informal law Of forces, and You
conccde that they belong TO the plant
as such-that God gave them, and
you cannot destroy them without
destroying the plant itself and that
by no thinking or feeling on the part
OF man can these be given to il. The
plant is an Institution Of God So
also in the case Of a Sacrament. Man
cannot make IT, Legislatures cannot
change II. It's the creature of God,
and carries in il Just that mower which
God gave il and no more.
Just so in the case of marriage 1t
is an Institution from God, with all
the laws and forces which God has
put into it. These arc great and mys
terious ms you can see already from
the very fact, that they give char
acter 10 tho man aud woman who
conc under them, with nothing else
IN The whole world could give. They
enter it as man and woman. and they
come forth from il us husband aud
wife, justified in this relation before
the whole universe Of God whereas,
without this character, thov would
be condemned with an equally broad
condemnation, as living within the
very bosom ofcrimo. On this account.
marriage is called a mystery, and is
used, as we are taught, TO represent
the relation which exists between
/ Christ and His Church, which we all