The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-01
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND d.
VORCE

The address of Bishop Potter of New
York, at the Protestant Episcopal Dioce-
san Convention last Wednesday. has arous-
ed anew in that state interest in the ques-
ton of divorce. A close reading of the ad
dress fails to make clear the exact mean
ing Of the bishop, but he seems to favor
action by the church that will absolutely
prohibit the remarriage of divorced per
sons, the innocent as well as the guilty
parties. In the course of his address, re-
ferring evidently to the marriage of people
in New York city society that recently took
place in Connecticut--a marriage in which
one of the parties. the woman. had been
divorced only few hours before her re-
| marriage--be said:
But, meantime, the whole subject mas
gained a new ASPECT from events to which
[ need not more particularly refer here
which have undoubtedly awakened in all
sober-rnnded Christian people a profound
sense of alarm; and the consensus Of opin-
ion among them as TO the necessity of leg
islatlon which shall prohibit the remar-
riage of divorced persons. under any cir
cumstances Whatever, has greatly WIDEN
ed and deepencd.
Il am by no means sure that such a con-
clusion is not the wisest that we may reach
at present; for undoubtedly 1t must be
owned that in the face OF such n danger
as threatens US, the only safe course mus,
be to prohibit absolutely that which, while
it might be permissible If we could always
be sure that 1t had a scripturai 1usufca-
ton for il. is only wrong and evil when
that Justification. existing in fact, exists
only because 1t has been frauduiently OBJ
tanned"
After all, would not Bishop Potter be do
ing society and the Episcopal Church
real service by coming out boldly
and declaring that it is the duty of
chat church to take the necessary steps for
preventing the remarriage Of divorced per-
sons by its clergymeu? Such action, as
far as the Episcopal Church was concern
ed would amount to a declaration against
divorce The church would then tolerate
only separation.
II might seem to be a hardship on the
innocent party TO a divorce not TO be per
mitted to remarry, but as a matter of fact
is there an innocent party? Gu this point,
in commenting on Bishop Potter's address,
the Rev. DR.. Morgan Dix of New York,
says: I'VE hear a great deal about the
unfairnese Of forbidding the innocent par
ty from marrying again. But is there any
innocent party? Is the woman innocent
whose folly, vanity and stupidity are at
the bottom of all the trouble? These wo-
men are anxious after admiration, fond of
nattery, and are frequently seen with men
other than their husbands. Then, when the
inevitable comes, we hear about the inno-
cent party Purity in women begets purity
in men in every case"
The Rev. Mr. Dix says that the House OF
Deputies of the General Convention ARE
coming to the conclusion that 1t will be de-
sirable to modify the cannon of the gen
eral churches so that no persons who have
been divorced for any reason whatever can
be married again by an Episcopal clergy
man"
When the Episcopal Church takes that
step it will do something that will go
long way towards doing away with the d.
vorce evil. The Catholic Church is not an
noyed by divorces and the evils that grow
out of Them and in South Carolina. where
there Is no divorce law, the people seem to
be as happy as they are in states where
divorce are so common that they do not
even excite comment.