Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-02-26
CELIBACY IS NOT SACRED.
The Rev. Minot j. Savage Gives His
Views Upon Marriage and Love.

The Rev. Minot j. Savage Gives His
Views Upon Marriage and Love.
The Rev. Minot ]. Savage Of the
Church Of the Messiah preached ser
mon yesterday on Love and Mar
riage." He took the general ground
that all should marry, barring of
course. the diseased, criminals and
those who have not the means to sup
port family. In opposition to the &C.
clesiastical dogma that there is some
thing sacred about celibacy, DR.. Saw
age said:
I care not what councils, bishops,
churches, popes may have enunciated
the dogma. Let me say 1t 'reverently
and without being misunderstood II I
may; I cannot have any reverence
whatever even for the far-famed and
eternally exalted virginity Of Mary.
To place virginity, celibacy, after the
conservation and noble service Of faith
erhood or motherhood seems to me to
cast a slur upon the father or the
mother, and to impugn the wisdom and
the goodness Of God, who has ordain-
ed the fact that this distinction Of sex
highest to the lowest and has made 1t
and beauty that are.
Speaking Of the grounds and condi-
tions Of a true marriage, DR.. Savage
said that the first, last and universal
condition ought to be that intangible,
indeflnable thing which is called love.
OF marriages that are not based on
love he said:
I am aware Of the fact that whim,
fancy, passion and many other things
are sometimes mistaken for love. I am
aware that there are marriages for q
hundred reasons; marriages Of con-
venience, as they are called. There are
people who marry for money, both men
and women; there are more frequently
perhaps in the Old World than here,
people who marry out Of family con-
siderations or for the sake of bringing
together two estates, landed or what
not. AS this country gets older,
though, and large fortunes are estab-
lished, the temptation Of this sort Of
thing here becomes more and more.
But I do not believe that marriages of
this sort can be too forcibly branded
for what they really are.
If a woman gives herself to man
for money, I for one cannot see any
distinction, on account of the large
ness of the price. 1t Is not marriage
when you marry for money; 1t Is a
bargain, a bargain in which you sell
the one thing that Is most sacred IN
manhood or womanhood: 1t Is not mar
riage If it becomes matter OF con-
yenience. If a woman marrieS for a
title or for a home or for anything but
love it is not marriage; 1t Is really that
unmentionable thing that we look upon
with such supreme contempt
Dr. Savage declared that in any
true marriage there ought to be alb
solute respect for the inviolate person
ality Of each, and in celebrating this
principle he said:
I do not believe that a husband has
any business to break open letter that
Is addressed to his wife, any more than
he would have to go into merchants s
office down town and tamper with his
mail. I do not believe that his wife has
any right to interfere with the cor
respondence of her husband; If they
are married, really, and love and trust
each other, there Is no need of 1t; and
If they are not, then 1t only leads TO
more mischief and makes matters
worse than they already are. Respect
each others individuality. If you find
you cannot live together properly, In
mutual respect and love, then separ-
ate.-New York Sun.