Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1902-01-23

IOf this divinely instituted and mOSi
perfect Of all possible forms of human
government There could be nC
stronger proof Of the sacredness Of thu
marriage relation than the fact that
both in the Old and New Testament il
is made the symbolof the relation be.
tween God and His church. The
ichurch Is most beautifully represented
as the "bride Of the Lamb. . Such be
ing the sanctlty Of the marriage re-
lation, how sinful are all the schemes
of matchmaking on the part of par
ents, or Others, for purposes Of flnan'
cial gain or family distinction M
marriage can reasonably be expected
to be happy that is not founded upon
the affections, regulated by prudence.
There isno more prolific source Of un-
happiness in our country than the
commercial idea of marriage that
prevails IN the higher circles OF socie-
ty. The sale and barter Of immortal
souls through the greed and ambition
OF ungodly parents is the crying sin Of
our age and country, Coming nearer
home, and to be as brief and practical
as possible, there seem to be fathers
and mothers, even in Mexico, Missouri
who are more anxious for their daugh-
ters TO shine in society with the view
of contracting paying matrimonial
ALLIANCES than they are that they should
be useful members of the church to
which they belong. What a low con-
ception is this of the sanctlty OF the
marriage vow, and what a sinful APP
plication Of parental duty.
Herein lies the source of the bitter
est unhappiness, resulting In innumer-
able cases Of divorce and suicide. III
mated marriage is the cause of un-
ending domestic unhappiness and
leads to degeneracy in society and the
ultimate downfall of the state.
A happy marriage, where mutual
love and trust prevails, is the most
beautiful picture this world can ex-
hibit to mortal eyes. An unhappy
marriage without these, is a hell anti
cipated on earth. Such being the
origin and sanctity of the family, its
intimate and important relation to the
church and state is readily seen by
every rejecting mind. 1t is the fOun-
dation of both, and as is the solidity
OF the foundation, so is the permanan-
cy and symmetry Of the superstrueture
in both. Trace the history of the
downfall OF nations ahd you win find
the origin and explanation In the pol
luted family life of that nation. This
will hold good In every test. did not
understand the history of the down
fall Of Rome till visited the exhumed
ruins Of Pompeii and there saw pict-
ured the impure and disgusting life Of
those Romans in the days of her great
est corruption and exhaustion. In
what striking contrast was this with
the Rome OF the noble Lucretia, who
thought it better TO die than to be dis.
honored; when chastity was reckoned
as a cardinal virtue; when sons we're
brought up honorably, and daughters
virtuously.
France has never been the same
country since the enactment OF her
divorce law by the National Assembly.
Within three months after the enact
ment Of these laws there were In Paris
almost as many divorces registered as
marriages; and in the whole Kingdom
there was registered upward Of twenty
thousand divorces within a year and a
half.
May God save America from such a
record as this, and keep away from our
home and family-llfe all the evils that
tend to disintegrate and destroy it.
The nations life depends upon the
individual home-life OF her citizens
All reform TO be successful and perma-
nent must begin i'm the homes Of the
people. Whether in the church or
the state, the fireslde is the reformeF's
true hattie ground-here reverses are
suffered, here victories are won. {"
rhe family is the best school OF relig-
ion. We would not detract anything
from the Saeredness and usefulness Of
the ministry. The public ministry is
Gods chosen agency for the eyangeli-
zation OF the world, and this holy Office
should be held in the deepest reyer-
ence. "But the father was a priest
before there was a priestly order, and
he was a king before there was a
nation" ParenthOod means both
fatherhOod and motherhood. Perfec-
tion Of humanity is found only in the
union Of two While the father is the
divinely appointed head of the family,
all the duties enjoined upon the
parenthoOd Of the father are equally
obligatory upon the mother; and
neither can relegate to any third party
the religious instruction Of their
children.
The law laid down by Moses has
never been repealed, but is as Of bind
ing force to-day as when spoken by