The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-03-24
}NOI.. VII. NO. -

sively ~ideued aud abused IL ha, been
~ changed and enlarged in some States
a. TO destroy the sacrcdness and purity
ni the marital relations, making mar
rage a mere tenn porary arrangement
10 be brokca almost at Will. That this
II true l. only too certain The stats
ties OF divorce IN New England are posi-
lively alarming The Richmond Chri,
tiun IiCocIts, referring 10 the rapidity
With which tho New England divorce
machine operates, says
In Connecticut every scrt3,fh married
person has been divorced Such state
of society i almost inconceivahlc by the
people of South Carolina. where, in ali
the history Of that Commonwealth up
Ia the war but one divorce had occurr
ed. In Virginia n citizen who has been
discharged from the bonds OF matrimo-
ny is as rare a. an eclipse France. god
less France, even in the not and mad
ncs, of the revolution. did not equal IA
the ratio of divorce the New England
States OF to day. These are not guesse.
at facts, but citations from official re
ports
Most of the divorce occur among the
native families, and all New England Is
suffering from the curse. Hear what
Rev. Samuel Dixie, Nermontcr, said a
few weeks ago a Boston audience IN
fremont Temple
The courts are crowded with un-
happy couples, aud often the cases are
dispatched with unseetnly haste \
pastor once spoke To the Judge. in the
iull of business, one day-a member, |
think, of his church, and chief justice
of The State. Another man approach
ed. Excuse me "A moment, said the
Judge. In less than three minutes the
Judge turned To the minister and said
DO you know what | have done, |
have divorced a couple quicker than you
ter Of prosperous farmer still a young
woman, who has been divorced from
three: e:husbands, each of whom is living
aud married to another wife, while she
has lately been married 10 fourth hus.
band Ncr is this the only case Of tho
kind reported In that State Of Conncc-
ticut Two Vermon,ers deliberately
snapped wives, by aid of rhc courts
\ loung people coolly reckon on divorce IN
contract marrlags. Vermont couple
ION trial for SIX months"
agreeing to get divorce If either
party did not like Aa advertisement
in a Boston newspaper for
some time Divorce legally and quiet
~ obtained. Can pay by nstallments
Out Of seventeen cases tired at one term
of court in Vermont, in the opinion OF
members Of the bar, all but one were
Now is not this shocking aud alarm
ing? In the land of steady habits in
the very centre Of Pufitansm, where two
hundred gears ago women were put To
death because suspected of being
and people were banishcd be
cause of their religious opinions where
the most stringent and absurd Blue
we're in force, and where liberty Of con
science was not tolerated in this land
Of culture and riches, the marital reIa-
ton is brought into contempt and d.
vorce becomes trade What is the
upshot of this. Z Crime is increasing
rapidly. Said the lecturer quoted
from
''Licentlousne8s was rampant. The
number of children born yearly out of
wedlock had doubled the ratio in ten
years The destruction of unborn life
was faster than ever, and physicians
spoke with Indignation Of the wicked
practice Of some church members in
numbering the innocents. And nearly
all this increase of foul crimes is among
the native population.
The lecturer said divorce was a gen
uine ~ ankee notion that beginning
10 Connecticut it had spre al throughout
New England and INTO the West
wherever New Englanders had settled
We quote:
In the Western Reserve, compri--
ing the twelve northern counties of
Ohio, settled mainly by cmigrants who
went from Connecticut, containing, it il
said, purer New England stock than
can be found IN the entire countay, un-
less it be in parts Of Maine, the ratio Of
divorces 10 marriages was to | for the
TWO years 1878 and 1879, while in the
rest OF the State it Is to 10 Nor L.
the worst Of the Reserve in the cities
The ratio in Ashtabula county, amonga
farming people originally from New En-
gland is to s. -
A.htabula is the county Of President
fairfield. Toland county. Connecticut,
furnishes even more fearful statistics
han Ashtabula Think Of it, one di-
vorce in every eight households. What
sort Of society must there be where this
;urse rests? The lecturer says that dl-
vorce aud It's concomitants love,
naterialism, Mormonism, &c all
,pring from those who were reared
under the principles Of our best New
England" Is not this very serious
Suppose the South had
brought this accusation, how much Of
lntruth and uucharity would have been
aid at its feet. But it Is the truth aud
,omcs from thorough bred New En-
Gland man who is fortified with stats
tics aud knows whereof he affirns.'