Daily inter mountain., 1900-12-21
BY Rev. Or. Albritton
)AIethodiSt.)

There is no subject of greater i'm
that of marriage and divorce. The man
ner in which married people are divorced
in our courts is one of the most dia-
bolical evils of the age. Let man and
his wife have quarrel or two and one
or the other files bill for divorce for
incompatibilty of disposition, and the
judge listens to the tale of woe and
grants the request, and the two lately
made one. are made two again.
l look at the evil as existing mainly
in the marriage. Jesus said truly. What
God has Joined together, let not man
put asunder." But how many are mar
ried whom God had nothing to do with?
Marriages are entered into thoughtlessly.
Mere children go together, and imagine
they are in love, and they feel they cam
not live if they are not together, and
the parents allow them to get married.
and soon they find they have committed
a great and grave mistake. Now. what
are they to do? The long lane of life is
before them. They are agreed on one
thng-that is. they ought not to have
married, and they are miserable in their
present relation with each other. The
divorce mill is grinding. and they put in
their grist, secure lawyer, and the
divorce is granted.
cannot indorse the teachings of the
mother church-that marriage is a sac
rament, and when a man and woman are
married there is no power to separate
them. Christ himself gave a cause for
separation. and if he gave cause that
is sufficient. While the Catholic church
takes the decided stand it does against
divorce (Which 1 think has been a bless
ing), there is law of that church, 1 am
told by good authority. bearing on mar
riage and indirectly on divorce, and is
not generally known. even by members
of the Catholic church, Il is that a wo-
man, after the nuptial ceremony is per-
formed, has the right to return to her
own home alone and apart from her
husband and remain there as in maiden
hood for one month, in order that she
may for the last time reflect on the step
she has taken, with a view to reeonsid-
ering her agreement If during this time
she concludes to retract, and give hersetfs
to the service of God in religion, she is
at liberty to do so, and the husband has
no control over her. She may then take
the vows of religious order, and the
man is free to marry again. his hrst
nuptial contract being then, by the
hri;a sanction
of the church, dissolved.
This law, of course, could not have
any effect in Protestant denominations,
hut in the Catholic it may have much to
do in the matter of divorce. The Episco-
pal church is moving toward the Cath
olic, it appears to us. in appointing
committee Ito report at the approaching
convention to be held in San Francisco,
with a view of prohibiting the ministers
of that denomination to marry any one,
innocent or guilty, who has ever been
divorced.
| cannot but think this is raising the
barriers too high. The Methodist Episco-
!, pal church has the following rule: mo
| divorce, except for adultery, shall be are-
| gar,ied by the church as lawful: and no
| minister shall solemnize marriage In any
case where there is a divorced wife-or
/ husband living. But this rule shall not
be applied to the innocent party to. "a
divorce for the cause of adultery, nor to
divorced parties seeking to be reunited
in MARRIAGE
Marriage is sacred institution. and
| should be we'll guarded. The home is our
bulWark of strength. One husband, one
wife-no more-and this union of hus-
band and wife should be entered into
| only after careful and serious consider.
ation No life is happier than that of 8
| well-mated pair. 1t is Gods will they
should be happy. On the other hand, nj
life is more miserable than that of a
nismated man and woman-a veritable
hell upon earth. Such mating God has
had nothing to do WITH Shall they con-
tinue in this relation, when happiness is
entirely out of the question? Let common
sense and sanctified reason answer this