Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1888-05-11
Some Startling Truths About Divorce.

Rev. Albert II. Studebaker. pastor
OF the First English Lutheran Church
of Baltimore, has been giving some
startling facts in regard 10 what he
calls the divorce abomination." Be
low will be found extracts from two of
his latest sermons on the subject:
Mr.. Studsbaker selected as his text
that part of Ezra's prayer in which he
prays God TO have mercy upon Israel
because Of their sins against Him in
their defiance Of His law "a TO marri-
age. the result OF which was land
unclean with the filthiness OF the peo-
pie and with their denominations,
which have filled il from one end TO
another with their uncleanneSS
Can less be honestly said today
asked the speaker. We denounce
Greece without mercy for its low views
of marriage and divorce, point To her
list Of impure public men, and tell the
tale of how the people prayed 10 pub
lie prostitutes in their temples and
cheered nude courtesans at their les
tivals We declare the immortality Of
Rome TO have been horrible when.
under the influence of Grecian teach
ing. modesty and chastity and marri-
age became subjects of general rldi-
cule
1T would be we'll were we To re-
member that America, as Mr.. Cook
says. is in the gristle yet. Ii makes
one tremble To think what we will he
when our government is half rs old as
theirs. if this terrible drift with which
our first century closed is allowed To
90 ON. There is too much glass III our
own social structure TO permit much
stone-throwing.
How far has this divorce abomina-
tion filled our own landg To what
extent has facile divorce made legal
polygamy possible among usf 1t Is "A
little over IA hundred years ago that
laNity Of opinion on the sacredness ot
the marriage relation paved the way
for successive legislative enactments
whereby divorces were made easier OF
procurement, until to-day the scrip
tural law on the subject is we'll nigh
lost sight of
1T was within this century that
President Dwight sounded IA note OF
alarm because there was then one di-
vorce to every hundred marriages.
What would he say in view of the fact
that from 1866 TO 1880 Connecticut
granted one divorce To every eleven
marriages. Take Vermont. Where
it granted one divorce 10 thirty-three
marriages i'm 1861, there were granted
In 1873 one to every fourteen. New
Hampshire, with all Insignificant in
crease in population, granted nifty per
cent. more divorces in 1873 than In
1870. In 1870 Rhode Island had one
divorce for every eighteen marriages;
in 1872, one TO twelve; in 1874, one To
ten; i'm 1879. one to nine. Massachu-
setts. i'm 1860. had one divorce TO every
ffty-one marriages; in 1873, one To
every twenty-one.
You cannot fail TO understand what
these figures portend 10 social disor-
der. And they are taken from New
England because there alone are OIL
Tho
ment has just walked up 20 what all
this means and to-day has its agents
searching the records Of the courts OF
every county in the United States, and
hopes TO have statistics in hand by
December next. Reliable, though un
official. statistics from other sections
Of our land are OF the same ominOus
character For many years Ohio av-
eraged one divorce to twenty-five
marriages; now it Is about one to sew
enteen. In Chicago, in 1873, the ratio
OF divorces to marriages was one to
ten: in 1879 it was one to nine, and in
1880 one 10 eight! st. Louis and San
Francisco had almost as unfavorable
a showing.
But how is it at home, right here
in Baltimore' While we are not as
bad as some others, we are bad enough.
The marriage licenses in 1882 number
ed 3. 5sG; in 1888, 1873; in 1894, 3,77l; in
in 1895, 1890; in 1885, 4,104; in 1887,
4.331. Our Circuit Court considered
16l applications for divorce in 1892;
161 in 1888; 2O2 in 1894; 175 in 1885; 2lG
in 1886. and 205 in 1887.
AN addition TO these figures shows
that the suits for divorce have aver
aged one-twentieth Of the marriages
in the past six years alone. In these
six years 654 divorces have been grant
ed-j93 rincul0 and 81 meHId. Less
than ten per cent have been dismiss
ed. and the remainder are pending
More than twice as many cases were
pending at the clbse Of 1887, AZ com
pared with the close OF 1882. There
are eight causes for divorce in Mary
land. If there are deducted from the
above total OF marriages those Of per-
sons from without the city. who come
here 10 be married, and the marriages
Of Catholics, whose position as 20 di-
vorce Is well known. the showing il
black enough for Baltimore. a. 10 her
ratio Of divorces 10 marriages.
Thine was when the very word di-
vorce was odious. and when domestic
infelicity was not a general subject Of
Jest. That time has passed Men and
brethren. Christian citizens and pa
triots. we are going the wrong way!
1t is time TO call halt"
The statistics given the preceding
Sunday evening had startled many
- a n