The sun., 1902-06-01
The Divorce Question.

A letter from the Rev DIR. MClLvAIS.
of the Baltimore Prcsbytery. printed
elseshere on this page, seems 10 assume
that we made the mistake Of supposing
that the late General Assembly COM
ml'tcd the Presbyterian Church to the
saCramental doctrine Of matrimony by
appointing a committee to confer with
an Episcopal committee on the general
subject oi marriage and divorce
Actually. we made no such mistake
and no such inference was even sug-
ges,qi bv VS.. our point was that as the
tpisCopa. Church seemed 10 be tending
toward the eventual acceptance of the
sacramental view. II the Prrsbyterians
should follow it, lead so far as II had gone
already they might be asked IN the future
u g. with II - the farther extreme.
This. a. We said also. they could not do
without giving up a feature distinctive
of Professionalism from the time ~ the
Reformation. The extreme Protestant
attitude ~ marriage at this period is
Indicated in the tractate on the subject
of divorce addressed to Parliament by
ions MILTON. IN which he argued tha,
inherent incompatibiltv IL n perfectly
just reason for divorce
Even Il the Presbyterians do no more
than follow the Episcopal Church, and
also the Judgment of the Baltimore Pres
bvterN. IN restricting divorce to adultery
only, they will abandon position early
taken hv the ReiormerS, that wilful
de>crtiun also constitutes n sufficient
cause for divorce. The Westminster Con-
fr~son allows divorce for both adultery
and de>crtion
In England the theory Of the indis-
soluhilitv Of matrimonv long prevailed.
nomlnallv. though divorces bv private
acts Of Parliament were ohtainable in
consistently and uniu~tly. because of
th. great cost involved Tho result
WI. tha, in isjsa Divorce Court was
established and the disSolubilitv Of the
contract ~ marriage legally and fully
recognized The English not, how
ever, makes, on physiological grounds.
grossly immoral distinction he,ween
the husband and the wife. While the
husband NAV secure a divorce for adui-
terry simrlv tho wife cannot get il with
out proving that the husband has added
20 adultery very odioIs crimes In this
country the EniScopal Church allows d-
vorcc for adultery 10 either party to
n marriage but the legislation Of our
States. with tho sole exceptions Of New
York and South Carolina. adds dcsrrtiun
,rnnars.1l,s ,t inr Ia.
intnlcrahlc hardship. A. everybody
knows. 100. the practice in our society
most influential in fashion s,istains 'his
liberalitv of divorce legislation. even
where that society shows conventional
respect "a the Episcopal Church in other
matters; and the great majority of
divorces in this country are obi aimed bv
wives for other causes than the single
cause to which DIR. MCILvAIN would
have the Prcsbvterian Church confinc
divorce.
" is thi4 so-callcd free divorce
which has stimulated tho movement 10
combine tho Protestant Churches in
opposition through the means of COM
mon agreement To give ecclesiastical
sanction To divorce for the single cause
oni, Tho tendency 81 tho Episcopal
Church, the leader IN the movement
and a Church at present remarkable
for its growing influence. Is toward tho
sacramental view ~ matrimonv. or. NJ
least. the party in il which il most pow
erful j. proceeding dcs,gnedly in that
direction, On the theory that the only
cfectual way to got rid ~ the divorce
scandal is to 90 back to the pre- Rrfor-
nation unanimiiy in making mitrimony
indissoluble for any cause save death.
But n the pllicy Of American legisia-
tior Is to treat marriage a. a dissolub.e
contract. would even such ecclesiastical
unanimitv be Of any practical avail in