Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-05-09
An Appeal to the World from
. Religious Bodies
Asking That Subject Be Given More
Careful Consideration.
Tho Evil. and Sins of Present System
Set Forth.

it's secretary, lSeS. w iuiilll L. INopeits
d. D., an appeal to the public calling
attention to several aspects of the di-
Sorcc question.
The paper is the beginning of a ma
tionaI campaign of education upon the
subject to be followed by effCrts to Sc
cure the enactment of laws in the state
legislatures and ultimately, it IS
thought. of an amendment to the con-
stitution of the United States.
The denomination which subscribe to
the appeal are: Protestant church 'i'
the United States; Presbyterian church
I'm the United States; Methodist Epis-
copal church in the United States
Methodist Episcopal church South:
Reformed church of America; fie-
formed church in the United States;
United Presbyterian church, Evangeli-
cal Lutheran church: the Baptist
church: the Congregational churches:
the Universalist churches; the Cnita-
rian churches; the Reformed Prcsby-
terian church; the Cumberland Presby-
terian church: the Alliance of the Re-
formed churches holding the Presby-
terian service.
ION behalf of the representatives Of
the II churches composing the Inter-
church conference, which, during the
past two years, has held frequent meel-
ings for the consideration of the I'M
portant subject of marriage and di-
vOrce, we have been instructed to is
sue this first general address and ap-
peal.
1T is proposed to issue other appeals.
as occasion may require, In the hope
that the influence of this representa-
tive conference. may be brought to
bear effectively upon ecclesiastical and
civil courts and Legislative bodies for
securing of better conditions and for
the deliverance of the church and the
state from impending evils.
Before any civil legislation en- be
enacted which will be operative and
quite apart from the accord which We
are seeking to secure in the marriage
regulations of the Christian churches,
must come the leavening OF the minds
Of men and women which shall lift
them toward a recognition of the no
blest dignIties of life.
First of all we plead for the culti-
walton of the grace of purity; for the
careful guarding Of children within the
atmosphere of home by parents; and
for the realization Of the dignity of our
physical nature lifted to such high hon
or by the incarnation.
I'VE plead for recognition of the
sanctity Of marriage. We are facing
condition In our country, today, which
threatens danger to the most sacred
things. The very sanctuary Of human
life and of human love IS assaulted and
profancd. Manhood, womanhOod and
childhood, the home and the family. are
involved: and neither civil legislation
nor ecclesiastical discipline can save
them. until and unless the conscience
of christian humanity Is reached. Be
hind the monster of polygamy. behind
the spectre of the lax divorce court,
with its collusions. its corruptions and
its contagiOn. stands the sad fact of Inc
low ideal of marriage. - IS tru" that
the element of mutual consent and ti!"
element of legal contract enter into il:
but underneath and behind these. as
the sure foundation, stands the rev.
clation of Gods Holy Word. God ut
first brought a woman to Il man. one
woman to one man, to whom he shall
Clcave, so that in Gods purpose and
Gods sight they are one flesh. The
primal marriage was followed by CEN
turics of hardened hearts and laws
lowered or lost until at last christian-
ity was connected by the voice of the
Divine Law Giver with the old law
which He laid down at the creation:
'IIavc We not read that He which made
them ut the beginning made them male
and female, and said. For this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother
and clcave unto his wife, and they
twain shall be one flesh \"
Marriage is a holy thing. Marriage
is the institution OF God Himself and IS
sanctificd under the solemnities of the
old sanction by our blessed Lord. This
is the root Of the matter. Reformation
must begin here. Children must he
taught it. Young men and young
women must be made to feel 1t. Pro-
tectcd in purity. boy and girl, man and
woman alike, must be trained to look
with reverent eyes upon the holiness of
this estate; upon its mysteriousness as
something higher and deeper and
larger than can be measured or reached
by the low ideas of convenience. Of
worldly advantage, OF the qualification
of passion. or by. the light and easy
estimate of the consent of the passing
personal fancy and the mutual recog-
milton of the civil contract.
1--WE are setting ourselves earnestly
to study what best methods the
churches can adopt and what wise
measures should be asked in civil leg
islation to abste this disgrace. The
results of our study we hope to present
In subsequent statements and appeals.
But this appeal Is to the conscience Of
Christian people to cleanse and purify
the atmosphere of public opinion. and
social recognition. The fear Of legal
iZed polygamy in one state is enhanced
by the fact of unholy divorce in many
states The faces of Christian peopi,
must be set against this. The voices
of Christian people must he lifted
against this. not only to secure civil
legislation, not only to enforce church
discipline. but to correct the tendency,
to control the inclination and to con-
denim the fact. We are pleading for the
home. for the family. for the children
born and to be born. for the protcctIor
of society, and for the preservation of
the State. We ask you to unite with
us inAearnest effort, so that more and
more the manhood, the womanhood
and the childhood of America nay
make itself heard and felt, in the de-