The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-07-28
JOURNAL" JUSTLY SCORED
The Rev. E. L. Stoddard
Points Out It's Hypocrisy
and DepraVity.

The Rev. E. l.. Stoddard, rector of st.
Johns Episcopal Church., on Sunday last
in an issue of 'St. Johns Bulletin ex-
pressed himself as opposed to clandestine
marriages and advised the young menand
young women of his parish if they must
be married in opposition to the wishes of
| their parents to elope in a manly manner
and make their marriage known at once,
not conceal it for weeks or months. The
Evening Journal" last evening accused
him of advocating elopement. In reply
he has written the following open letter
to the "~JournaI,:-
Dear Sir-Your editorial in the Jour
nal" of July q, accusing me of advocating
Opponents, is one of the worst specimens
of journalistic degradation which ] have
seen in a long time. No one knows better
than you that I rave advocated no such
thing. No one acquainted with the ordi-
nary use of the English language could
have drawn such an inference from my
two articles in the Bulletin. In those
articles / tried to show the unfortunate
results of clandestine marriages, especially
to the woman, and to Urge the young
people of our city to stop the long ana
disgraceful catalogue or those wno fave
run away to be married and told Oh II
long afterward.
Blu the question arose: if the parents
oppose the marriage, may not a clan
destine one be permitted? My answer
was NO. I wrote that in nineteen cases
out of twenty the parents We're right IN
their opposition, and of course my impli-
cation was that they were to be obeyed.
But everybody except the editor OF the
Journal knows of very rare cases Where
parental opposition is not only unreason-
able but brutal. What is to be done under
such circumstances? In such a case, l
say, do not run away and be married
secretly. but if you feel, after taxing gooa
advice. that Won must leave your father
and mother and cleave unto your wire,
at least do 1t in an open. manly way ana
tell of it at once. Now, Tor q paper 70
write an editorial, quoting only half OF
what / said, and purposely missing my
real meaning, and then accusing me OF
advocating Opponents and advising young
people to disregard the advice OF lhel5
parents. is to merit the title "depraved
Journalism which | used in my first sem
tence.
But this is not the worst. A elandestine
marriage is also an elopement, but an
elopement of the worst kind. Yet it is this
very Journal" to which l refer IN that
part of my article which it did not quote;
as the paper which for years has excused
elopements and clandestine marriages and
turned the affairs into good jokes. Never
have / known it in such matters to give
our young people kindly counsel, warning
or rebuke. Only a day or two g i
smoothed over and made light OF the last
occurrence of the kind
Yet when a pastor seeks to restore mar
riage to something of its hign ana holy
position. and of two evils urges his young
people at least to choose the lesser. this
paper hastens with pious horror first to
misrepresent him and then to rebuke ITS
own MISREPRESENTATION. If the Journal
had only mounted this moral ho~bby-horse
a few years ago and given our young
people the admirable advice which 1t now
offers one of their pastors, it might have
saved its own reputation as well as that
of many a misguided boy and girl.
(Signed) e. l..
.July %. 1893.