The Irish standard., 1908-07-11
welded life
Marriage, Its Trials and Its
Trtumphs,"
The Subject of an Address by
Rev. Father Vaughan.

pulpit orator of London, England, has
5 Just concluded series of four ad-
dresses on "Marriage-1ts Trials and
Its Triumphs.' He delivered the first
discourse on June Z.
Y Taking for his text the words.
Therefore shall a man leave his faith
:, er and mother, and cleave to his wits,
and they shall be one," the preacher
.Eadwine and Paulinus addressed the
wise men of Whitby on the claims OF
Christianity, up rose a Northman and
said, $50 seems the life Of man as
sparrow flying through the hall When
you are sitting at meat at wintertide,
with the warm fire on the hearth, bus
row flies in at one door, tarries awhile
and then vanishes by another, but vino
knows of its whence or Of its whith-
err" 80 l say" continued the speak
er, "tarries for moment the life Of
man in our sight, but what is before.
or what after it, we know not" The
Agnostic attitude of the Saxon was
3 characteristic of the present-d Eng
lishman outside the pale of Christian
ity. Was not the air still vibrating
with the question. whence come we.
whittier go we?" and were they not as
sured by the leading lights of sceptic
philosophy that the question died away
without an answer. without even an
echo from the shores of the unknown?
1t would be waste of time to insist
on the Christian sacred character OF
s marriage before men with whom
Christians had nothing in common
either in religion or philosophy. Scep-
5ticism was no part of their creed. Liv-
ing as he did in a Christian country.
1t was no presumption to hope that his
countrymen still accepted. at least III
theory, Christian teaching about mar
riage. With the Divine Master tn,
disciple could proclaim. II know
whence came and whittier 1 CO." He
knew that his point of departure as
well as his term Of arrival was God.
The Christian, like the Jew. said. MY
life is not like that OF sparrow fly
ing through hall. but as that of a
pilgrim tarrying for awhile on his way
between two cities" The real diff
Guilty to solve was not the question OF
b mans whence" or whittier" bu-
about his "here" and now"
After disnssing various interpreta-
tions of mans mission on this planet.
the preacher said that for one 80 no
BILE in reason, so infinite in faculty. in
apprehension so like a god" as man.
to realize himself. to work out the
beast and the savage. and to educate
himself as a Christian. so as to de-
serve the name of a righteous man, be-
ing pure. chivalrous. brave and good.
for it was still true to proclaim with
the poet, "'Tis only noble to be good.
z VI Iue dlIly VI HldNhIIlu llIG sui
est and safest means to that end was
marriage. Were they not assured
there was no more subtle master un-
der heaven than was the maiden pas
sion for a maid. not merely to keep
down the base in man, but to teacn
high thoughts and all that made
man?
i The man who could write Il have
become engaged to girl" could add
And am learning self-reverence and
self-control.' Feeling snadly in love
was. no test of the reality of love: It
savored of passion. and there was no
traitor so cruel and cunning as pas
sion Action sprnging from feeling
was the privilege of woman; mans
duty was to ignore feeling and follow
= reason. When young man said he
was in ecstacies. he was not far from
Mysteries; both states We're sympto-
matte Of fever, in which, man being
abnormal. he was not in a conditi III
OF mind to become engaged. Let a
man remember that he married in o.
der to realize himself, become better
man, fulfilling his mission. reaping ni,
i destiny. Let him leave the flighty,
snowy. smoking room girl severely
alone. and seek for his helpmeet the
maiden in whom there was not lit
itle to reverence, admire. and venerate,
4 for to her his hearts purest love would
continue to grow, even when the fires
of passion burned themselves ou..
Love was an everlasting sun-firo
passion but lurid flame. The one
was never noble. the other never base.
Z Continuing. Father Vaughan asked:
Was it not true that man and woman
|. were in nothing alike, that it was the
]: mission of each to complete the other
{ and to be completed by the other, SO