Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1895-04-04
WHOLESALE DIVORCE
TERRIBLE GROWTH OF THE EVIL
AND ITS CAUSES.
secess1ty of n R,sorou. and Uni
form Law for All stntcn-A Word
to the YounE-Sturdy Blows An nc-
half of the Protection of the
HOuhehold.

to the YounE-Sturdy Blows IN he
half of the Protection of the
Household.
New York, Spe<inl-Rcv. DIR. Taimaga
chose as the subject of his afternoon
sermon in the Academy Of Music to
day a topic of national interest, viz:
wholesale Divorce" The great audi
cnce repeatedly showed its apprecia-
ton of the sentiments expressed by the
reverend speaker, and his sturdy blows
In behalf Of the protection of the house
hold against the dissolutcness of mod /
ern society were received With marked
appreciation. The text selected was
Matt. XIX, 6. "What therefore God hath !
joined together let not man put uSsun-
der"
That there are hundreds and tlious-
andS Of infclicitouS homes in America,
no one will doubt If there We're only /
one skeleton in the closet. that might
be locked UP and abandoned; but in
many home there is n skeleton in the
hallway and Il skeleton in all the apart
mcntS.
"unhappily married. are two words
descriptive of many Il household. 1t
needs 10 orthodox minister to prove to
Il badly-mated pair that there is he'll;
they are there now Sometimes a grand
and gracious woman will thus be incar
ccrntcd and her life will be crucifix-
ion. as was the case with Mrs. Sigour
ncy. the great poetess and the great
soul. Sometimes q conSccrated man
will he united to fury. as was John
Wesley. or united to q vixen. rs was
John Milton. Sometimes. and gcncr-
| ally. both parties are to blame. Thorn
| as Carlyle was an intolerable scold ana
his wife smoked and swore; and
Froude the historian. pulled aside the
curtain from the lifelong squabble at
| Craigenputtock and Five, Chryne Row.
|, Some say that for the alienation of
4 all these domestic disorders of which
we hear, easy divorce is n good pre-
scription. God sometimes authorizes
divorce as certainly as he authorizes
marriage. ] have just as much regard
for one lawfuny married. But you
know and l know that wholesale d.
/; vorce is one Of our national scourges I
! am not surprised at this when L think
of the influences which have been
abroad militltin against the marriage
relation.
For many years the platforms of the
country rang with talk about n free
love millennium. There were meetings
Of this kind held in the Cooper InSti-
tute, New York; fremont Temple, Bos-
ton. and all over the land Some of the
women who We're most prominent in
that movement have since been distin-
guishcd for great promiscuosity Of af-
lection Popular themes for such occa-
sions We're the tyranny of man, the ol,-
preston of the marriage relation. wo-
mans rights and the atfinitics. Prom
inent speakers were women with short
c1lrls and short dress and very long
tongues, everlastingly at war with God
because they were created women;
while on the platform sat meek men
With soft accent and cowed demeanor,
apologize for masculinity. and holding
the purasols while the ter1negant ora
tors went on preaching lne doctrine OF
free love.
That campaign of about twenty years
set more devils into the marr;aS" rell
ton than will he exercised by the mex,
fifty. Men arG women went home
from such meetings so permanently
confused as to who We're their wives
and husbands that they never got ou
Of their perplcxity. and the crimlna
and the civil courts tried to disentan
gle the Had Of woes, and this one go
alimony and that one got limited di
vore and this mother kept the chill
dren on condition that the father conlc
sometimes come and look at them. ant
these went into poor houses, and those
into an insane asylum. and those Wen
Al, 1,,t., "a al
to destruction. The mightfcst war eve
made against the marriage institution
. J was that freelove campaign, some
times under one name, sometimes un
der another.
Another influence that has warret
upon the marriage relation has beef
polygamy in Utah. That was stero
tvpcd caricnt1lre of the marriage rela
ton, and has poisoned the whole land
You might rs well think that you ca,
| nave an army in a state Of mortifica
, ton and yet the whole body not b
s..kcned rs to have those territorie
polygamized. and yet the body of th
nation not feel the putrcfaction. Hea
ii, good men and women Of America
that so long ago as 1862 n law wa
pissed by congress forbidding polys
. amy in the territories. and in all place
; where it had jurisdiction. Twenty-fou
, years passed along and five admins
trations before the first brick wa
knocked from the fortress Of libcrtin
ism.
Every new president in his Inaugural
ticklcd that monster with straw o
condemnation, and every congress stu
/ titled itself in proposing some plan tina
t would not work. Polygamy stood NOR
entrcnchetl, and more brazen, and NOR
puissant, and more braggart, and NOR
internal. James Buchanan. muc
abused man of his day, did more TO
the extirpation of this villainy tilal
most Of the subsequent adnlinistra
; tons Mr.. Buchanan sent out an army
and although it was halted in its work
still lie accomplished more than som
of the administrations which did notl
ing but talk. talk, talk! At last. bu
not until it had poisoned generation:
polygamy has received its death blow.
Polygamy in Utah warred agains
ta,e marriage relation throughout til
land. 1t was impossible to have sue
M .x,-f,1 sayycr Of iniOuity sending IL