Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1904-01-22

bHuSc. VI NOtfS< sue Wlc untrue 10 mel
husband A divorce scandal q few
years later was the result Her father
q noble Christian man OF the west. as
q result felt himself dlsgraced and re.
signed his pulpit, for lac was a minis
ter. His life was to some extent wreck.
ed. rs well as hers. You say such a
course as that 10 an extreme case? OF
course. But all evils should not Id
desplsed because they are not mon.
strous evils. The little. seemingly
harmless fiirtations during summer va.
cations or at n church picnic or In the
street car or concert hall are NIL divorce
seed paintings. You cannot trifis will
human affections I'm youth without be
Ing In danger. as an iconoclast. OF
smashing the marriage shrine when
you are middle aged. Let parents De
careful with whom their children asso
ciate. Let them beware Of what they
are allowed TO say TO others and what
others are allowed to say 10 them. II
In all well enough to talk about the
Wanted freedom of the American boy
and girl: but. for my own part. espe.
cially In reference TO the promiscuous
association OF young people and the
careless promises they are allowed to
make. ] think they have altogether too
much freedom.
Another divorce preventive: Finan-
cial expenses I'm the great majority of
bones should be curtailed and greatly
diminished. The income should not be
made TO meet the outgo. The outgo
should be contracted until there Is n
sufficient margin left for unexpected
expenses, such as sickness or loss OF
erb says. when poverty GENES In a;
the door love fliss out of the window"
That Is not true when all members are
systematically trying to do their best.
ButAwhen husband and wife go upon
the supposition that marriages are
made In heaven and then. with blinded
eyes. run needlessly into debt there Is
nearly always marital friction. The
wife blames the husband. the husband
the wife. Perpetual friction. then. on
account OF the money question ignItes
the divorce fires. Then the family altar
goes up In q Satanic blaze.
Another divorce preventive: The pu.
rincation Of the American prsss, both
In bOok>form and In periodical and In
the morning newspaper. The pestifer-
Gus trash which every day and every
week and every month. like a winter
blizzard. Is flung into our faces by the
snowstorn OF the printing press Is
enough to destroy the healthy heart
threbs OF any young person who Is al
LEVIED to read IL. am. OF course, not
speaking against good publications,
but bad publications. Go to almost
any bookstand that you see and open
some OF the books at random and read
There we find the authors make their
heroes out OF bad men and their hero
Ines out OF bad women. with here aud
there redeeming white spot TO Offset
these black characters. Broken mar
rage vows. "Childe Harold" indeceu-
cies. deceitful wives. deceiving men
these move az az ever changing kaici-
doscopc before the Fascinated eyes or
the young readers. There the boy and
the Eirl learn to call crime respectable
and q mans dishouor free lance OF
gold" A bad book worms its way into
the moral vitals and fatally poisons the
heart. The way for good people to keep
pure and TO prepare themselves for a
Christian marriage which will never
be broken this side or on the other
side OF the grave. IL for them TO live
with good people. They must work to
make men good. They must positively
refuse TO associate with the bad.
whether that bad IL found In fction or
In real life. When the newspapers OF
the United States made heroes out OF
the Chicago bandits. they placed a
premium on crime. When a bad book
eulogizes and glorifes the broken mar.
riage ring. II Is only gliding the open
door OF the divorce court. which is the
guillotine OF marital love.
When Divorce In Justiaed.
But some one asks me-. IN closing:
'sAre divorces always wrongl Should
a husband and wife be compelled TO
live together under all conditlons1"
Oh. no. The violation OF the marriage
VOW justices divorce. Christs own
words imply that. There are other
which Justify separation.
aven when there has been no violation
Of that VOW. IL would be grievous
Injustice TO enforce constant compan.
Ionshlp when one OF the parties 70
has contracted habits which
render the continued relation an intol-
cradle misery to the other. have
known such cases and have rejolced
hat the law permits the innocent party
10 be relieved OF the burden aud af-
fords protection from molestation. II
s not for me 10 say when u stage has
been reached which demands the in
terven.!on OF the law. but do contend
that IL Is a menace 10 the morals OF
The people when n contract so solemn
Ind sacred as that OF marriage can be
broken on prctexts so frivolous as those
low recognized In many states. ! pro-
lest also against the diversity OF the
divorce laws OF the different states.
which tends tn confusion and uncer-
lainty In the relation so vital as this
10 the morality and stability OF society.
My belief In reference to divorce can
be summed up In the words of Sir
Walter Scott In the case OF Ecand YER
'us Evans. Though In particular cases
be ,repugpance OF the law to dissolve
he obligations OF matrimonial eohabi.
atien may operate with great severity
ipou individuals. yet II must be care
oiiy remembered that the general hap
'iness of the married life Is secured
" It's iudissoiubiiity." My belief Ia
ummed mp In the thought that the
more people realize when they marry
hat they must marry for life the more
uturs generations will be careful how
hey marry and the more the sanctlty
4 the home Will be preserved. There |
ore. my friends. suffer almost every
Injustice for your chiidren's sake. for
he community's sake. fer Gods sake
ather than break the nuptlal bonds.
In this discussion I have presented |
or the most part. only the TEMPORAL
ide OF the divorce question. If had
poken from the spiritual side the re.
ut would have been self evident. t,os
L.