Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-03-07
For the TELEGRAPH.
THE DEGRADATION OF MAR
RIAGE.

is willing TO traVel lnTOugn lhe villages
and corners of the country, and lecture fol
the purpose of degrading Christian mar.
riage, of disseminating her immoral ideas
and OF gathering up few ill-gOtten dol
lars, can be regarded as the friend of heI
sex, or the friend of morality.
Yet such women are busily engaged
travelling over the by-ways of the country
endeavoring to leave such ideas Of mar
riage on the minds of their hearers, which
if followed out, would subvert the present
order of society. But whether Free Low
ers" have better system of marriage 10
offer, than the one they so sneeringly and
bitterly denounce, should be carefully ex-
amined by every friend of truth, honor
and morality.
Such lecture, by such woman, was
lately given in the Town Hall of Rock
Greek. The ground taken by the lecturer
was, that "The air is filed with the frag-
ments of exploding institutions; and
Christian marriage is exploding faster
than all else. And therefore the marriage
law of the past, could not be the mar
| riage law OF the future" Misery, as a
rule, is the result of Christian marriage;
happiness is the exception. The cause of
| this is largely due to the cruelty of the
| Christian law OF divorce; and to the fact
that women are not free to choose the
fathers of their children" The remedy
for this state of things is, since the door
into marriage is as wide as humanity, the
| g h.a mid
necessity"
The ideas, and words. as nearly as could
be, were taken down from the speakers
lips; and to all of this we sternly object
1t is not true that everything is explod-
ing. There seems to be general exple-
sion of dishonest railroad companies, of
dishonest treasurers, of dishOnorab!e rings
and of wicked men and women in gener-
al; but nothing good and true and sacred,
has exploded or is gurng to explode. Nor
is there any more tendency to break
down Christian marriage to-day, than at
any other time; and it is maliciously false
to declare that misery is the result of
Christian marriage, and happiness the ex-
ception.
1t is impossible for virtuous person to
see where the oppression of the Christian
law OF divorce Is, as 1t is stated in Matt V,
80. 1t frees the honorable wife from an
adulterous husband, and frees the honor
able husband from an adulterous wife.
The oppression of this is not easily seen.
There is another cause for divorce, stated
in the Scriptures, which the lecturer SEEM
ed to be ignorant of: Cor. VIII: 10.
Here, again, it is difficult to see any op-
preston or cruelty. If husband leaves
bis wife sufficient length of time, and
shows his intention clearly, the wife may
rightfully seek a divorce. And so with a
deserted husband. Nor is there any cru
city in the fact that Christianity recOgniz-
es only these two causes for divorce-adul-
terry and desertion. The law of Christian
marriage does not compel married parties
to live together; and it may be better, in
some cases, for the parties to separate than
to live together.
But suppose that the door out CT mar
riage, was as wide as necessity, which
simply means that any one may be di-
vorced aOheR they please, and as often as
they please-would that be a remedy for
unhappy marriagesi This is the point to
be considered This Priestess of Free
Love declared that easy divorce would
prove the sovereign remedy. She declar-
ed that men and women should be free 10
marry and unmarry, as they felt it needful.
She admitted that the second marriage
would be as likely TO prove unhappy as
the first, the third as the second, and the
fourth as the third. But there is no other
way to find out the true marriage law"
The wickedness and madness and false
ness of such ideas, ought to be their am
pie refutation. What would be the social
standing of any man or woman who had
been married and divorced three or four
times? The degradation of such con-
dition of society, would be awful. And it
is evident that free divorce" would be no
remedy for unhappy marriages, because it
does not touch the cause of unhappy mar
riages; but i. is plain enough that easy d.
vorce would greatly multiply such mar
riages.
The causes of unh, ppy marriages must
be looked for in the notices which lead to
marriage. When people marry for a
home, or a support, or money, or conven-
ience, or passion, or through anger or re-
venge-as many do-the result is inevita-
BILE; disgust and misery must follow. But
divorce is no remedy for this; and it is
simply outrageous to say that the results
of such marriages, Is the regular result of
Christian marriage.
II such lecturing women have any mo-
tive above disseminating immoral ideas
and making few dish0nOrable dollars,
let them turn their attention to the causes
of unhappy marriage, and vividly portray
them, and warn the young of the conse-
quences of marrying under wrong mo-
tiVes, and so diminish the amount of suf-
ferlng from such causes. The field is
unoccupied-let honorable and pure wo-
men fllit But in no case can woman
stand before promiscuous audience and
denounce the Christian law of marriage,
without losing all claims to honorable
wOmanhO0d
1t is neither reasonable or decent for a
woman to attack Christian marriage in a
Christian community, and adduce such
authorities as T. Pillsbury, A. ]. Davis,
Wright, rockingham. &C., in support of
her immoral ideas; especially when she
had taken an unfair advantage of her au-
dience, by making an unexpected assault
on Christian marriage in her last lecture.
Nor is it reasonable or decent for woman
to come into Christian community, and
indulge her bitterness and lnfdelity, in
ieprs and filings at Christianity, and in
chasing the Lord Jesus Christ with Plato,
Mohamet, Socrates, and other dtUine men,
Let the evils of society be fairly and
Justly exposed by any man or woman who
has the ability to do it, in language truth
full and chaste. They will be listened to
with interest and remembered with re-