River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1910-04-28
1 DIVORCE COURT /
\ ARISTOCRATS I
\ By REV. AUSTEN DE BLOIS
U Pastor Of First Baptist Church
l Chicago

/ The American democracy glories in
it's wealth and in its power But when
wealth and power, without culture. an
cestry or wit, enter the drawing-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 man who is
the descendant of dozen generations
of gentlemen.
Heredity has bred grace and dignity
and elegance. Even the "prodigal
sons" and meier do weels' of the Eu-
ropean aristocracy quite easily capti-
vate and capture the fairest daughters
Of our new-made millionaires.
But we, thank God, live in democ-
racy; so there is pathetic mixture
of the tragic and the comic in the ex-
travagant ostentation of some of our
rich American business men when
they try to be ultra-fashionable
We could forgive these people, how
ever, and smile at their strenuous ef-
forts to initiate the ways of those who
are 'to the manner 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 Off
spring are unclean.
According to recent statistics more
divorces are granted In Chicago than
in any other city in the civilized
world. This is our 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-
handing it's sanction for their newly
formed and despicable 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. It 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 source 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 reminder of Eden, q
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
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, it's
trials, difficulties and perplexities. 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 fees the
soul, when the protecting armor of
honest faithfulness is broken or I'M
buckled, the ruin of 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
well connected, is she not?" She
"Ci. 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
who are being taught the ways of vir.
tue by fathers who hate lechery and
who love truth and honor, by mothers
whose hearts are as pure as the sun
light of heaven.
Divorce is rampant in America II
is steadily increasing.
The Fulness of God.