The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1899-06-02
THE FAMILY.

Unusual prominence has been
given of late to social scandal in
New York City, in which woman
of great wealth, whom her husband
had divorced for the scrIptural
cause, was almost instantly married
to her paramour. The whole affair
is so disgusting that We should not
allude to it were it not symptomatic
of that increasing disregard for the
sanctity of the marriage tie which is
one of the greatest perils of our
American civilization. We are not
prophet of evil. Nor do we wish to
eXaggerate either the actual or the
possible dangers of the times in
which we live. Scattered far and
wide over this vast republic there
are millions of pure and beautiful
homes in which the love of husbands
and wives, of parents and children,
is an abiding glory. Such homes
are the very citadels of virtue and
religion. IL the dark day shall ever
come when they are overruu by the
unhOly influences that are abroad in
the world, then farewell, long fare
well, to all our greatness.
The very conception of marriage
is that it is based on mutual respect
and affection, and that it is to be as
permanent as life. Any other
theory robs it of everything that
makes it worthy of admiration, and
puts it on a level with the mere mat
ing of brute beasts. To sneer at
such views as sentimental is to show
an utter incapacity for appreciating
what is best and highest in our
earthly existence. When you strip
away mans sentiments from him,
what do you leave but a more high
ly organized animal, whose gift of
nationality is an added means of
procuring sensual qualification?
How any woman with the least
trace of de"ency left can look into
the faces of her children after she
has deserted their father for a more
congenial partner, passes our COM
prehension; and how any man above
the level of brute can deliberately
put away the wife of his youth for
the sake of second union is like
wise mystery into which we can
not enter. Even when the law of
the land lends its sanction to such
abhorrent proceedings, they are
none the less hideous and offensive
| in the sight of God.
The waning of early love is a
, signal of danger in the household.
, More frequently than otherwise the
husband is responsible for it. He
} becomes absorbed in the pursuit of
business and ceases to give himself
to his home as he once did. Or ii
may be that, in awful disregard OF
the vows assumed before the altar
he plunges into life of profigacy
In the former case he is gravely re.
miss in duty; in the latter ne is
. guilty of almost objectionable sin
: 1t Is no wonder if he succeeds in
= wearing out the trust and devotion
that were once his. The wonder
! really is that it takes so long fol
him to succeed in the task. III
q rarer instances it is the wife whose
: narrowness of view, or pettishness
8 of temper, or lack of appreciation
= chafes the marriage bonds till they
+. are rent asunder. Very rarely, in
3 deed, is it the case that she casts
: her womanliness to the winds, anC
: quite throws off the high and holy
obligations which she has voluntari
: ly assumed. If women were, on tn,
average, of as low moral grade al
men, society would speedily go tC
pieces with a crash.
1t may be that this editorial will
reach the eye of some that neeC
: warning. If so, we beg them not t.
!. turn away from it with a fiippant o.
l impatient word. There are tel
9 thousand husbands and wives VIII,
q are beginning to draw apart in thei
:. aspirations and plans and purposes
}, and to whom the holy memories o
a other years are but as a fading
= dream. Ii they persist in following
y the paths upon which they have en-
Y tered, increasing alienation is a
!, certain to some as the grass IL t,
s. grow out of the earth. Before the,
@ have gone too far, to retrace thei
= steps, they should turn back an,
: seek for a better way. Even if the
care little for their own fate, the
y should remember the debt whic
j. they owe to their children. Th
v bitterest and most unwholesom
:, recollection that can be planted i
# the mind of a boy or girl is tn
Y recollection of home without love
u without magnanimous fOrbearancC
: without human dignity, and full c
d mean jars and discords; aud tn
C worst of the matter is that nothing
d can root it out. Through all tn
Il coming years it will live to be tn
20 death of Joy, to paralyze faith, an
IS to make nobility and greatness c
a. n =