The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1904-04-08

another state, got a divorce and mar
ried a third wife. The marital disease
With him by this time was becoming
chronic But now neither the first nor
the second state where he used TO live
recognized his third marriage as legal.
/ Time passed. and this husband Of
many wives died. What was the re-
suit! Each Of his former marital COM
panons inherited the property Of the
dead man which then existed in her
own state. BY law shat man in three
different states left three different
wives, each legal wife in her own
state, but Illegal in the other two
states. Such is an instance Of the
ridiculous and infinite absurdities ex-
isting between the conflicting divorce
courts Of our land. But there must be
a legal change. The divorce question
/ will never be dealt with as it should be
so long as a married woman living I'm
/ New York city can go and spend a few
weeks in western state and then take
train and go back to her old home
another mans WIFE, Concerted legal
action must be established between the
states. 1t is you, Christian people. to
whom God assigns the duty Of arousing
public sentiment against this evil and
compelling our national and state legis-
lators to take such action as will result
in making the marriage altar some
I fnfmNr fNlnrt a
A second breakwater TO dam back
this submerging flood Of national in
fanny: 1t is for the gospel ministers to
protest against it by practice as well
as by preaching. The pulpit cannot
speak loudly and with the voice Of
true leader unless at the same time II
refuses to become a party TO tie ma
tional crime Of easy divorce. What do
l mean by this statement? That the
minister himself shall not be a blatant
and a brutal Divorce? Oh. no. No self
respecting Christian church would al
low her minister to continue preaching
In her pulpit after a divorce escapade.
Paul writes "a bishop must be blame
less. the husband Of one wife" No
minister's life can be blameless when
he turns his back upon his first wife
for an unjust cause But / do mean
this: A minister should not Ofiiciate at
the second marriage Of a Divorce un-
less he himself knows positively that
the divorced man was not culpable in
the swapping Of the marital bonds BY
such a ministerial course public senti-
ment would be aroused against this ma
tional evil, and aroused quickly and
permanently.
We are responsible as ministers. \
legal divorce. in ninety-nine cases out
of a hundred. is n9t sufficient ground
for a church divorce, We must remem-
Der that the minister before the world
stands as the representative Of the
church. Why, legal divorces are often
obtained on the fimsiest excuses.
Bishop Fallows, in a scathing attack
upon this marital evil, quotes some Of |
the most absurd and triyial causes on |
account Of which men and women have |
been divorced. One woman got legal |
divorce because her husband enlisted /
In the United States navy; another be- |
cause her husband smoked and gave |
her headaches; another because her /
husband called her sister a thief; an
other because her husband did not like |
her front hair and cut part Of it of.
One husband secured n divorce be- |
cause his wife refused to sew on his /
buttons; another because he told his /
wife he had found another woman /
whom he could love better. Think Of
any minister being guilty Of such
heinOus sin as to marry such divorces
to other marital partners. II is high
time for US ministers TO band together
and rouse public sentiment upon this
question. BY our actions as well as
by our preaching we must protest
against this national crime. We must
do this because a church marriage be-
fore God and man means that the
church gives It's sanction to the union
and regards it as sacred and indssolu-
bic.
Another breakwater which may help
to rescue this country from the divorce
evil. as the Holland dikes have made
a rescued ocean bed the home for the
Dutch queens subjects, is for parents
TO train up their children to regard a
marital engagement as almost as sa-
cred as the marriage itself. Daughters
and sons should think deeply and long
before they plight troth TO any one. 1t
IS 10 teach them that one Of the most
heinOus Of sins is to trife with the
human heart. II is to teach them that
every young woman is compromised
for life who has been guilty Of engag-
ng. herself to different young men
'iust for fun" Such actions on the {
1art Of any young lady are less the sign :
IF mental and physical grace and social
popularity than Of a depraved female
heart. Yet almost everywhere we see
he future tare harvest, which shall yet ,
be gathered in the divorce courts, now
being planted in the poisonous seeds Of
hastily made and just as 3
hastily broken.
1 once heard Of a young lady who
lsed to boast that she was engaged tc
.hree different young men at the same
.ime She had in her possession three
different engagement rings. After
awhile she dismissed all three suitors |
md married a fourth. DO you won
Ter that after such perfdies her mar
led life was unhappy Untrue to heI
lance. Of course she was untrue TO her :.
husband. A divorce scandal a few ,
tears later was the result. Her father p
/ noble Christian man Of the west, as !
result felt himself dlsgraced and re b
igned his pulpit, for he was a minis d
er. His life was 10 some extent wreck /
d, as well as hers. You say such [
curse as that is an extreme caseG OF Z
curse But all evils should not be !.