The Tupelo journal., 1910-04-29
DIVORCE COURT

By REV. AUSTEN DE BLOIS
Pastor Of First Baptist Church
Chicago

Blessed are the pure in heart.-Matt. SIS
Americas men are the cleverest
and its women the most beautiful in
the wide world.
The American democracy glories in
its wealth and In it's power. But when
wealth and power, without culture, an
cestry or wit, enter the d%rawing-room
they are apt to be ridiculous. So
Americas ~aristocracy Is the laughing
stock of the elder nations of the
world.
The fur trader, the railway brake
man, the dry goods dealer and the
butcher are following good and honest
occupations. When these men, by
their rugged persistence. mount the
ladder OF success and amass their
millions we congratulate them heart
lily.
But when the sons and daughters of
these men attempt to create an exclu-
sive fashionable society they are a
spectacle for gods and men.
There is an unacceptable charm
about the very name of a man who is
the descendant of a dozen generations
Of gentlemen.
Heredity has bred grace and dignity
and elegance. Even the ~'prodigal
sons" and "ne'er do weels' of the Eu-
ropean a~ristocracy quite easily capti-
vate and capture the fairest daughters
of our new-made millionaires.
But we, thank God, live in a democ-
racy; SO there is a pathetic mixture
Of the tragic and the comic in the ex-
trayagant o~stentation of some of our
rich American business men when
they try to be Understandable.
We could forgive these people, how
ever, and smile at their strenuous ef-
forts to initiate the ways of those who
are ito the tanner born" if they
would be respectable.
They initiate the vices not the vir-
tues of their models across the sea.
We cannot expect them to be intellec-
tual. We have ceased to expect them
to be religious. But we have a right
to demand that they be decent.
The indictment against too many
of these prominent club men" and
capitalists is that they and their Of
spring are ~unclean.
According to recent statistics more
divorces are granted in Chicago than
in any other city in the civilized
world. This is u shame.
The greater shame is that these d.
vorcees march merrily through the
courts, choose their new partners al
ready arranged for, and sweep through
the portals of the church of God de-
manding it's sanction for their newly
formed and d%espicable unions.
/ have come to the conviction that
the minister of Christ should take the
same stand that his Master took in
reference to this matter.
The attitude of the Roman Catholic
church is admirable. 1t is better to
be too strict than too loose in all
questions of morals and especially in
this question, which so vitality affects
both public and private welfare.
Gods highest gift to man is relig-
ion, his next noblest gift is a home.
Both these gifts are the product Of
Gods great love.
The SQUIRE of religion is love. The
mystery and glory of the home is love
also. In religion and the home are
the seeds of civilization.
Outside the pale of Christianity the
home is the highest expression of the
union of the visible and the invisible.
The home is a reminder Of Eden, a
foretaste of paradise.
A true home gives bewitching
|.glimpses beforehand Of the pure joys
Of heaven. Before men found God or
their fellows, before they became
clearly aware of their own infinite
destinies they began to build homes
for themselves.
When in the first rough cave man
formed his first rude dwelling place,
architecture was born, family life be-
gan, the home was created.
Thus as architecture is the mother
of the arts and sciences, so the home
is the first parent of all institutions,
civil, political and ethical, which
serve to incarnate the spirit of invis-
ible law.
His home, however humble, is a
kingly mansion and his life a dream
of joy. When he comes home at eve
ming time and shuts his door he shuts
out the world, with its worries, its
trials, difficulties and perpIexities. He
shuts in the highest happiness that
the human heart can know.
But when the house is shaken,
when divine love yields to the on
slaughts of devilish lust and lees the
soul, when the protecting armor of
honest faithfulness is broken or un
buckled, the ruin of a human life has
begun.
This debauchery is altogether too
frequent and fragrant among the idle
rich. A dismal pleasantly in one of
our comic weeklies recently recorded
the following: He-"Mrs. So-and-So is
we'll connected, is she not?" She
ooh. yes; she has been temporarily
connected with five of the leading
families of Chicago"
It is a relief to remember that i'm
pure and unwholesome people, both
among the very rich and among the
very poor, are In the minority. Think
OF the thousands Of happy homes in
our city!
Think of the multitudes of children