The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-01-23
THE WIVES Side OF IT.
Mr.. Westall on Divorce,
Old and NeW-Mr. Kom-
merS On the Home.

The Rev. Henry A. Westall rave a dis
cour,e at the First Universalist Church
last evening on the subject Of "Diyorce."
Taking for his text Matt. ", 81, SO. begin
ming with the words. "Whoevcr shall
put his wife away etc., ne said
Our Saviour here refers to3Deut. xiv.
/, which states that a..man nay put away
his wife when he hath found some un-
%cleauness in her. This passage was diff
ferently interpreted by the two great
rabbinical schools. The school of Sham
mai understood the word 'uucleanness' in
an ethical sense, but the school Of Hillel
construed it literally. 1t is needless to
say that Jesus sympathized with the
former. According to Hillel, a man
might put away his wife if her breath
was foul, or she diversified his food; and
Rabbi Akiba, Il learned disciple of the
same school, said that ii a man saw an
other woman handsomer than his W
wife, he might put her away, because the
law said, sit she find no favor in his eyes,
"But there was u point upo which
the two schools were agreed, and that
was, that the husband alone had the right
of divorce. The law was evidently
framed and interpreted expressly to suit
him. And what wonder that men were
quick to take advantage of It Thus JOS
ephus coolly remarks in connection with
the record of some important event in the
history of his nation:-sAbout this time |
put away my wife, who had born me two
children, not being pleased with her man
nels.' He does lot think 1t necessary to
tell his reader what the reason was, but
probably it WINS trivial enough. And.yet
this lax law, thus laxly interpreted. the
learned rabbis claimed had been given by
.TnhoVah Ia NogeS
VITAL SOCIAL REFORM.
"It Is a Significant fact that one OF the
first reforms which Jesus sought to ac-
complish was the strengthening of the
marriage bond by reducing the number
of causes for which it was dissolved. He
allowed divorce for one cause only, and
the guilty party was forbidden to marry
| again. In our day there is a class Of re-
formers who demand that we shall re.
turn to the Gospel rule: but they seem to
forget that 1t is one-sided aud cannot be
enforced. For, whereas it allows the in
nocent husband to put away his guilty
wife, it does not allow the innocent wife
to put away her guilty husband.
Adultery is certainly a grave offence
against the moral law, and whoever conl-
mits it. husband or wife, should be brand
ed with infamy. But although the
gravest, it is not the only offence against
the purity and peace of the home.
f1aUtIudl uTuuh6uueSS, Wu6u uu6 udU1u
has been formed after marriage, and ex-
IRENE cruelty, which nearly always ac-
companies it, are both j~ustiiable causes
for legal separation. So is any other
crime punishable for a term of ten years,
or for life. in the State Prison.
0 MUG REFORM"
"There is another class of refOrmers,
who would allow absolute divorce for no
reason; but history fails to show that the
cause of social purity has been promoted
by any such vigorous measures. South
Carolina allows no divorce for any cause,
and vet in that State. c~oncubinage has
always been winked at, ii not approved by
public opiuion. Not only is adultery in
dictable,' SAYS a writer, but the legisla-
ture has found it necessary to regulate
by statute nov large a portion of his
property Il married man may leave to his
concubine.'
1.-The difficulty with most of our re-
formers is that they proceed upon q false
assumption, namely, that divorce is in
itself an evil, whereas it is n remedy, poor
and clumsy enough, no doubt, but the
best that human wisdom has thus far
devised. The real evil against which we
should wage unceasing war, is that false
and superficial conception of marriage and
life in general, which makes divorce
necessary; aud The remedy for
this is not more stringent legiala-
tlUu, Uut u octloi ihoA uainiuS
respecting the duties Of men and women
as members of society and as heads of
the family. AS has been said, Make it
as nearly impossible as human deficiency
will allow to marry wrong, aud we make
it all but unnecessary TO ask If divorce is
right
"There Is much truth in this sugges-
ton. Certain it is, that divorce is nearly
! always the logical outcome of a hasGy aud
d marriage.
'.Therefore-and this is the conclusion
of the whole matter-let us teach our
| children who are to be the men and wom-
en- of the future, and upon whom will
| rest largely the solution OF the problem,
to search and try their hearts prayfully
before they make a choice, which must
mean either n blessing or a curse as long
as they shall live"
Wives, RIchts and Duties.