The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-09-18
TALMAGEON DIVORCE
THE EASE WITH WHICH II 70 &C.
CURED 10 pEPLoREp. .


A Timely Discourse ON the Marital
Relations and Frequency With
which Marriage Vows Are Broken.
Uniforn Divorce Laws Needed.
Copyright Louis Kiopsch. 1891
WASHINGTON, Sept. 17.-Dr. Tslmage in
this discourse discusses question of ma
tional importance, which is confessedly
as difficult as 1t is urgent. The text is
Matthew XIX, 9. "What therefore God
hath Joined together let not man put
asunder."
That there are hundreds and thousands
Of infelicitous homes in America no one
will doubt. II there were only one skele.
ton In the closet, that might be locked
up and abandoned, but In many home
there Is skeleton In the hallway and q
skeleton in all the apartments. "Unhap-
pily married" are two words descriptive
Of many a homestead. 1t needs no or
thodox minister to prove to a badly
mated pair that there Is a hell. They
are there now. Sometimes grand and
gracious woman will be thus incarcer-
ated, and her life will be n crucifxion,
as was the case with Mrs. Sigourney, the
great poetess and the great soul. Some
times q cOnsecrated man will be united
to fury, as was John Wesley, or united
to a vixen, as was John Milton. Some
times, and generally, both parties are to
blame, and Thomas Carlyle is an intoler-
able grumbler, and his wife has pun
gent retort always ready, and Froude,
the historian, pledged to tell the plain
truth, has to pull aside the curtain from
the lifelong squabble at Craigenputtock
and 5 Cheyne row.
Some say that for the alienation Of
all these domestic disorders Of which we
hear easy divorce is good prescription.
God sometimes authorizes divorce as
certainly as he authorizes marriage.
have just as much regard for one law
fully divorced as have for one lawfully
married. But you know and l know that
wholesale divorce is one Of our national
scourges. l am not surprised at this
when l think Of the influences which
have been abroad initiating against the
marriage relation. For many years the
platforms of the country rang with talk
about a free love millennium. There
were meetings Of this kind held in the
Academy of Music, Brooklyn; Cooper in
stitute, New York; fremont temple, Bos-
ton, and all over the land. Some OF the
women who were most prominent in that
movement have since been distinguished
for great promiscuosity of affection. Pop
ular themes for such occasions were the
tyranny of man, the oppression OF the
marriage relation, women's rights and
the at1inities. Prominent speakers were
women with short curls and short dress
and very long tongue, everlastingly at
war with God because they were created
women, while on the platform sat meek
men with soft accent and cowed de-
meanor, apologize for masculinity and
holding the parasols while the termagant
orators went on preaching the gospel OF
free lore. That campaign of about ~
years set more devils into the marriage
relation than will be exercised In the
next so. Men and women went home
from such meetings SO permanently con-
fused as to who were their wives and
husbands that they never got out of the
perplexity, and the criminal and the
civil courts tried to disentangle the HAD
of woes, and this one got alimony, ana
that one got a limited divorce, and this
mother kept the children on condition
that the father could sometimes come
and look at them, and these went into
poorbouses, and those went into an in
sane asylum, and those went into dis
solute public life, and all went to de-
struction. The mightiest war ever made
against the marriage institution was
that free love campaign, sometimes I'M
der one name and sometimes under an
other