The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-03-02
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE.
CARDINAL GIBBONS PRE- CHES ON
TEE SUBJECT

Separation Without the Right to Re-
marry the Idee of the Church Unless
Reconciliation is Possible-A Warn
ing to the Advocates of Suffrage for
Women.
BALTIMORE, Nd. March cardinal
Gibbons to-day preached his annual sermon
on Marriage and Divorce" During his
remarks he narrated how Pope Clement
VII. refused to sanction the divorce Of
Henry VIII. from his lawful wife. Catha-
rine Of Arragon. and how Plus VII, when
solicited by Napoleon, refused to annul the
marriage between the emperor's brother,
jerome, and Miss Patterson, who were
married in Baltimore by Archbishop Car
roll in 1903. He continued: christian wives
and mothers, what an immense debt of
gratitude you owe to Christ and his church
for your emancipation and the dignity
which you enjoy in the christian common
wealth. II you are no logger the slave Of
mans passions, like the women of Asia, but
his peer aud equal; if you are no longer a
tenant at will, like the wives of the pagan
Greece and Rome, but mistress of your
household; if you are no longer confronted
by usurping rivals, like Mohammsdan and
Mormon wives, but if you are queen of the
domestic kingdom, you are indebted for
this position to the church, and especially
to the sovereign pontiffs, who have vindi-
Gated your honor when assailed by lustful
men.
WOMEN AND POLITICS.
81 said you are queen Of the domestic
kingdom. If you would retain that empire
shun the political arena, avoid the rostrum,
beware of unsexing yourselves. If you
become embroiled in political agitation the
queenly aureola that encircles your brow
will fade away and the reverence that is
paid to you will disappear. II you have a
vain ambition of reigning in public life
your domestic empire will be at an end.
DIVORCES ON THR INCREASE.
1.-THE subject of divorces is invested with
painful interest in our time and country.
There are more divorces legally granted In
the United States than in any other chris
tian country-more, perhaps, than in all
other christian countries combined In the
space of twenty years, according to official
statistics, from 1857 to 1886 inclusive, 1850, 600
divorces were granted in the United States
that is to say, two thirds of l.
100000 persons were legally separated
during that time. The number of divorces
has steadily increased since that time, and
beyond all proportion to the general in
crease Of population. Divorces are granted
on the most himsy pretexts, and throughout
the country divorce courts are established
which are very appropriately called 'di-
vorce mills since they grind out divorces
with such rapidity and crush out happiness
from the domestic roof.
THE MISERY THEY CAUSE.
"Let the imagination picture t. itself the
number of homes made desolate by this de-
stroyiug angel; the number of husbands
and wives whose hearts are crushed and
whose spirits are broken; the number of
children that are cast upon the world bereft
of a fathers protecting arm and of a
mothers love, who dare not cling to one of
their parents without arousing the jealousy
and hatred Of the other.
SEPARATION VERSUS DIVORCE.
"But is it not cruel and heartless to COM
pei husband and wife to live together who
cannot so live in peace and who are entirely
estranged from one another? l answer
that the laws of the gospel do not oblige
some persons to dwell together if there is no
hope OF reconciliation between
them. They are allowed to live
apart and to obtain divorce from
bed and board. But, you will insist, is it
not cruel and unnatural to condemn such
persons 10 life or forced cellbacy after they
are separated7 Would it not be more merci-
full to permit them to enter into the sacred
nuptials and enjoy the society of congenial
partner in marriagee
MERCY Tb GOOD ORDER.
"You speak of mercy to the separated
couple; but is no mercy to be shown to the
peace and good order of society! Is no
mercy to be shown to the gospel of Christ :,
which upholds our society? All laws are
made for the common good. and every law
has its personal Inconvenience. If you
abrogate the law because of its
incidental annoyance, you undermine
all legislation. 1t is on that prin-
ciple that the atheist objects to the
observance of Sunday when he would pre-
fer to work. and that the saloonkeeper OBJ
jects to the closing of his store when he
would rather sell. 1t is better that one man
should suffer than that the whole nation
should perish. Better, far better, that in a
few individual cases divorced people should
be forbidden to marry than that the foun-
dations Of the sacred edi6ce Of society
should be undermined"