2146 lines
109 KiB
Plaintext
2146 lines
109 KiB
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33 page printout
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Reproducible Electronic Publishing can defeat censorship.
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**** ****
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This file, its printout, or copies of either
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are to be copied and given away, but NOT sold.
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Bank of Wisdom, Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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The Works of ROBERT G. INGERSOLL
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**** ****
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IS DIVORCE WRONG?
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1889
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By Cardinal Gibbons, Bishop Henry C. Potter, and
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Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll.
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________
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The attention of the public has been particularly directed of
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late to the abuses of divorce, and to the facilities afforded by
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the complexities of American law, and by the looseness of its
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administration, for the disruption of family ties, Therefore the
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North American Review has opened its pages for the thorough
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discussion of the subject in its moral, social, and religious
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aspects, and some of the moat eminent leaders of modern thought
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have contributed their opinions. The Rev. S. W. Dike, LL.B., who is
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a specialist on the subject of divorce, has prepared some
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statistics touching the matter, and, with the assistance of Bishop
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Potter, the four following questions have been formulated as a
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basis for the discussion:
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1. Do you believe in the principle of divorce under any
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circumstances?
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2. Ought divorced people to be allowed to marry under any
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circumstances?
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3. What is the effect of divorce on the integrity of the
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family?
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4. Does the absolute prohibition of divorce where it exists
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contribute to the moral purity of society?
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Editor North American Review.
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INTRODUCTION by the Rev. S.W. Dike, LL.D.
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I am to introduce this discussion with some facts and make a
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few suggestions upon them. In the dozen years of my work at this
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problem I have steadily insisted upon a broad basis of fact as the
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only foundation of sound opinion. We now have a great statistical
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advance in the report of the Department of labor, A few of these
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statistics will serve the present purpose.
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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1
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IS DIVORCE WRONG?
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There were in the United States 9,937 divorces reported for
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the year 1867 and 25,535 for 1886 or a total 328,716 in the twenty
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years. This increase is more than twice as great as the population,
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and has been remarkably uniform throughout the period. With the
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exception of New York, perhaps Delaware, and the three or four
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States where special legislative reforms have been secured, the
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increase covers the country and has been more than twice the gain
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in population. The South apparently left the movement later than
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the North and West, but its greater rapidity there will apparently
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soon obliterate most existing differences. The movement is well-
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nigh as universal in Europe as here. Thirteen European countries,
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including Canada, had 6,540 divorces in 1876 and 10,909 in 1886 --
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an increase of 67 per cent. In the same period the increase with us
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was 72.5 per cent. But the ratios of divorce to population are here
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generally three or four times greater than in Europe. The ratios to
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marriage in the United States are sometimes as high as 1 to 10, 1
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to 9, or even a little more for single years. In heathen Japan for
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three years they were more than 1 to 3. But divorce there is almost
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wholly left to the regulation of the family, and practically
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optional with the parties. It is a retransferrence of the wife by
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a simple writing to her own family.
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1. The increase of divorce is one of several evils affecting
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the family. Among these are hasty or ill-considered marriages, the
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decline of marriage and the decrease of children, -- too generally
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among classes pecuniarily best able to maintain domestic life, --
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the probable increase in some directions of marital infidelity and
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sexual vice, and last, but not least, a tendency to reduce the
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family to a minimum of force in the life of society. All these
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evils should be studied and treated in their relations to each
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other. Carefully-conducted investigations alone can establish these
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latter statements beyond dispute, although there can be little
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doubt of their general correctness as here carefully made. And the
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conclusion is forced upon us that the toleration of the increase of
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divorce, touching as it does the vital bond of the family, is so
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far forth a confession of our western civilization that it despairs
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of all remedies for ills of the family, and is becoming willing, in
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great degree, to look away from all true remedies to a dissolution
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of the family by the courts in all serious cases. If this were our
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settled purpose, it would look like giving up the idea of producing
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and protecting a family increasingly capable of enduring to the end
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of its natural existence. If the drift of things on this subject
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during the present century may be taken as prophetic, our
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civilization moves in an opposite direction in its treatment of the
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family from its course with the individual.
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2. Divorce, including these other evils related to the family,
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is preeminently a social problem. It should therefore be reached by
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all the forces of our great social institutions -- religious,
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educational, industrial, and political. Each of these should be
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brought to bear on it proportionately and in cooperation with the
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others. But I can here take up only one or two lines for further
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suggestion.
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3. The causes of divorces, like those of most social evils,
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are often many and intricate. The statistics for this country, when
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the forty-three various statutory causes are reduced to a few
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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2
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IS DIVORCE WRONG?
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classes, show that 20 per cent. of the divorces were based on
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adultery, 16 on cruelty, 38 were granted for desertion, 4 for
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drunkenness, less than 3 for neglect to provide, and so on. But
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these tell very little, except that it is easier or more congenial
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to use one or another of the statutory causes, just as the old
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"omnibus clause," which gave general discretion to the courts in
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Connecticut, and still more in some other States, was made to cover
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many cases. A special study of forty-five counties in twelve
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States, however, shows that drunkenness was a direct or indirect
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cause in 20.1 per cent. of 29,665 cases. That is, it could be found
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either alone or in conjunction with others, directly or indirectly,
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in one-fifth of the cases.
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4. Laws and their administration affect divorce. New York
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grants absolute divorce for only one cause, and New Jersey for two.
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Yet New York has many more divorces in proportion to population,
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due largely to a looser system of administration. In seventy
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counties of twelve States 68 per cent. of the applications are
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granted. The enactment of a more stringent law is immediately
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followed by a decrease of divorces, from which there is a tendency
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to recover. Personally, I think stricter methods of administration,
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restrictions upon remarriage, proper delays in hearing suits, and
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some penal inflictions for cruelty, desertion, neglect of support,
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as well as for adultery, would greatly reduce divorces, even
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without removing a single statutory cause. There would be fewer
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unhappy families, not more. For people would then look to real
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remedies instead of confessing the hopelessness of remedy by
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appeals to the courts. A multitude of petty ills and many utterly
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wicked frauds and other abuses would disappear. "Your present
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methods," said a Nova Scotian to a man from Maine a few years ago,
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"are simply ways of multiplying and magnifying domestic ills."
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There is much force in this. But let us put reform of marriage laws
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along with these measures.
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5, The evils of conflicting and diverse marriage and divorce
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laws are doing immense harm. The mischief through which innocent
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patties are defrauded, children rendered illegitimate, inheritance
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made uncertain, and actual imprisonments for bigamy grow out of
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divorce and remarriage, are well known to most. Uniformity through
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a national law or by conventions of the States has been strongly
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urged for many years. Uniformity is needed. But for one, I have
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long discouraged too early action, because the problem is too
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difficult, the consequences too serious, and the elements of it
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still too far out of our reach for any really wise action at
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present, The government report grew immediately out of this
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conviction. It will, I think, abundantly justify the caution. For
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it shows that uniformity could affect at the utmost only a small
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percentage of the total divorces in the United States. Only 19.9
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per cent. of all the divorced who married in this country obtained
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their divorces in a different State from the one in which their
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marriage had taken place, in all these twenty years, 80.1 per cent.
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having been divorced in the State where married. Now, marriage on
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the average lasts 9.17 years before divorce occurs, which probably
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is nearly two-fifths the length of a married life before its
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dissolution by death, From this 19.9 per cent. there must,
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therefore, be subtracted the large migration of married couples for
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legitimate purposes, in order to get any fair figure to express the
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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3
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IS DIVORCE WRONG?
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migration for divorce. But the movement of the native population
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away from the State of birth is 22 or 23 per cent. This, however,
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includes all ages. For all who believe that divorce itself is
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generally a great evil, the conclusion is apparently inevitable
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that the question of uniformity, serious as it is, is a very small
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part of the great legal problem demanding solution at our hands.
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This general problem, aside from its graver features in the more
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immediate sphere of sociology and religion, must evidently tax our
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publicist:s and statesmen severely. The old temptation to meet
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special evils by general legislation besets us on this subject. I
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think comparative and historical study of the law of the family,
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(the Familienrecht of the Germans), especially if the movement of
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European law be seen, points toward the need of a pretty
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comprehensive and thorough examination of our specific legal
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problem of divorce and marriage law in this fuller light, before
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much legislation is undertaken.
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SAMUEL W. DIKE.
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**** ****
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Reply of
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Cardinal Gibbons.
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However much men may differ in their views of the nature and
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attributes of the matrimonial contract, and in their concept of the
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rights and obligations of the marriage state, no one will deny that
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these are grave questions; since upon marriage rests the family,
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and upon the family rest society, civilization, and the highest
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interests of religion and the state. Yet, strange to say, divorce,
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the deadly enemy of marriage, stalks abroad to-day bold and
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unblushing, a monster licensed by the laws of Christian states to
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break hearts, wreck homes and ruin souls. And passing strange is
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it, too, that so many, wise and far-seeing in less weighty
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concerns, do not appear to see in the ever-growing power of divorce
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a menace not only to the sacredness of the marriage institution,
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but even to the fair social fabric reared upon matrimony as its
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corner-stone.
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God instituted in Paradise the marriage state and sanctified
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it. He established its law of unity and declared its
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indissolubility. By divine authority Adam spoke when of his wife he
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said: "This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she
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shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Wherefore
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a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife:
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and they shall be two in one flesh." (Gen., ii.,23) But like other
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things on earth, marriage suffered in the fall; and little by
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little polygamy and divorce began to assert themselves against the
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law of matrimonial unity and indissolubility. Yet the ideal of the
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marriage institution never faded away. It survived, not only among
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the chosen people, but even among the nations of heathendom,
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disfigured much, 'tis true, but with its ancient beauty never
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wholly destroyed.
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When, in the fullness of time, Christ came to restore the
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things that were perishing, he reasserted in clear and unequivocal
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terms the sanctity, unity, and indissolubility of marriage. Nay,
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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4
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IS DIVORCE WRONG?
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more. He gave to this state added holiness and a dignity higher far
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than it had "from the beginning." He made marriage a sacrament,
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made it the type of his own never-ending union with his one
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spotless spouse, the church. St. Paul, writing to the Ephesians,
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says: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church,
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and delivered himself up for it, that he might sanctify it,
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cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life, that he
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might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or
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wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without
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blemish. So also ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.
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. . . For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and
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shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh."
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(Ephes., v., 25-31)
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In defence of Christian marriage, the church was compelled
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from the earliest days of her existence to do frequent and stern
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battle. But cultured pagan, and rough barbarian, and haughty
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Christian lord were met and conquered. Men were taught to master
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passion, and Christian marriage, with all its rights secured and
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reverenced, became a ruling power in the world.
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The Council of Trent, called, in the throes of the mighty
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moral upheaval of the sixteenth century, to deal with the new state
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of things, again proclaimed to a believing and an unbelieving world
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the Catholic doctrine of the holiness, unity, and indissolubility
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of marriage, and the unlawfulness of divorce. The council declared
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no new dogmas: it simply reaffirmed the common teaching of the
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church for centuries. But some of the most hallowed attributes of
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marriage seemed to be objects of peculiar detestation to the new
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teachers, and their abolition was soon demanded. "The leaders in
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the changes of matrimonial law," writes Professor Woolsey, "were
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the Protestant reformers themselves, and that almost from the
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beginning of the movement. . . . The reformers, when they discarded
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the sacramental view of marriage and the celibacy of the clergy,
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had to make out a new doctrine of marriage and of divorce."
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(Divorce and Divorce Legislation," by Theodore D. Woolsey, 2d Ed.,
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p. 126.) The "new doctrine of marriage and of divorce," pleasing as
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it was to the sensual man, was speedily learned and as speedily put
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in practice. The sacredness with which Christian marriage had been
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hedged around began to be more and more openly trespassed upon, and
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restive shoulders wearied more and more quickly of the marriage
|
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yoke when divorce promised freedom for newer joys.
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To our own time the logical consequences of the "new doctrine"
|
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have come. To-day "abyss calls upon abyss," change calls for
|
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change, laxity calls for license. Divorce is now a recognized
|
|||
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presence in high life and low; and polygamy, the first-born of
|
|||
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|
divorce, sits shameless in palace and in hovel. Yet the teacher
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that learned not to speak the words of truth in bygone ages is not
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silent now. In no uncertain tones, the church proclaims to the
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world to-day the unchangeable law of the strict unity and absolute
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indissolubility of valid and consummated Christian marriage.
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To the question then, "Can divorce from the bond of marriage
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ever be allowed? " the Catholic can only answer NO. And for this
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No, his first and last and best reason can be but this: "Thus saith
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the Lord."
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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5
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|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
As time goes on the wisdom of the church in absolutely
|
|||
|
|
forbidding divorce from the marriage bond grows more and more plain
|
|||
|
|
even to the many who deny to this prohibition a divine and
|
|||
|
|
authoritative sanction. And nowhere is this more true than in our
|
|||
|
|
own country, Yet our experience of the evils of divorce is but the
|
|||
|
|
expedience of every people that has cherished this monster.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Let us take but a hasty view of the consequences of divorce in
|
|||
|
|
ancient times. Turn only to pagan Greece and Rome, two peoples that
|
|||
|
|
practiced divorce most extensively. In both we find divorce
|
|||
|
|
weakening their primitive virtue and making their latter corruption
|
|||
|
|
more corrupt. Among the Greeks morality declined as material
|
|||
|
|
civilization advanced, Divorce grew easy and common, and purity and
|
|||
|
|
peace were banished from the family circle. Among the Romans
|
|||
|
|
divorce was not common until the latter days of the Republic. Then
|
|||
|
|
the flood-gates of immorality were opened, and, with divorce made
|
|||
|
|
easy, came rushing in corruption of morals among both sexes and in
|
|||
|
|
every walk of life. "Passion, interest, or caprice," Gibbon, the
|
|||
|
|
historian, tells us, "suggested daily motives for the dissolution
|
|||
|
|
of marriage; a word, a sign, a message, a letter, the mandate of a
|
|||
|
|
freedman, declared the separation; the most tender of human
|
|||
|
|
connections was degraded to a transient society of profit or
|
|||
|
|
pleasure. " ("Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," Milman's Ed.
|
|||
|
|
Vol. III., p. 236.) Each succeeding generation witnessed moral
|
|||
|
|
corruption more general, moral degradation more profound; men and
|
|||
|
|
women were no longer ashamed of licentiousness; until at length the
|
|||
|
|
nation that became mighty because built on a pure family fell when
|
|||
|
|
its corner-stone crumbled away in rottenness.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Heedless of the lessons taught by history, modern nations,
|
|||
|
|
too, have made trial of divorce. In Europe, wherever the new gospel
|
|||
|
|
of marriage and divorce has had notable influence, divorce has been
|
|||
|
|
legalized; and in due proportion to the extent of that influence
|
|||
|
|
reasons for divorce have been multiplied, the bond of marriage more
|
|||
|
|
and more recklessly broken, and the obligations of that sacred
|
|||
|
|
state more and more shamelessly disregarded. In our own country the
|
|||
|
|
divorce evil has grown more rapidly than our growth and
|
|||
|
|
strengthened more rapidly than our strength. Mr. Carroll B. Wright,
|
|||
|
|
in a special report on the statistics of marriage and divorce made
|
|||
|
|
to Congress in February, 1889, places the number of divorces in the
|
|||
|
|
United States in 1867 at 9,937, and the number in 1886 at 25,535.
|
|||
|
|
These figures show an increase of the divorce evil much out of
|
|||
|
|
proportion to our increase in population. The knowledge that
|
|||
|
|
divorces can easily be procured encourages hasty marriages and
|
|||
|
|
equally hasty preparations. Legislators and judges in some States
|
|||
|
|
are encouraging inventive genius in the art of finding new causes
|
|||
|
|
for divorce. Frequently the most trivial and even ridiculous
|
|||
|
|
pretexts are recognized as sufficient for the rupture of the
|
|||
|
|
marriage bond; and in some States divorce can be obtained "without
|
|||
|
|
publicity," and even without the knowledge of the defendant -- in
|
|||
|
|
such cases generally an innocent wife. Crime has sometimes been
|
|||
|
|
committed for the very purpose of bringing about a divorce, and
|
|||
|
|
cases are not rare in which plots have been laid to blacken the
|
|||
|
|
reputation of a virtuous spouse in order to obtain legal freedom
|
|||
|
|
for new nuptials. Sometimes, too, there is a collusion between the
|
|||
|
|
married parties to obtain divorce. One of them trumps up charges;
|
|||
|
|
the other does not oppose the suit; and judgment is entered for the
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
6
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
plaintiff. Every daily newspaper tells us of divorces applied for
|
|||
|
|
or granted, and the public sense of decency is constantly being
|
|||
|
|
shocked by the disgusting recital of divorce-court scandals.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
We are filled with righteous indignation at Mormonism; we
|
|||
|
|
brand it as a national disgrace, and justly demand its suppression.
|
|||
|
|
Why? Because, forsooth, the Mormons are polygamists. Do we forget
|
|||
|
|
that there are two species of polygamy -- simultaneous and
|
|||
|
|
successive? Mormons practice without legal recognition the first
|
|||
|
|
species; while among us the second species is indulged in, and with
|
|||
|
|
the sanction of law, by thousands in whose nostrils Mormonism is a
|
|||
|
|
stench and an abomination. The Christian press and pulpit of the
|
|||
|
|
land denounce the Mormons as "an adulterous generation," but too
|
|||
|
|
often deal very tenderly with Christian polygamists. Why? Is
|
|||
|
|
Christian polygamy less odious in the eyes of God than Mormon
|
|||
|
|
polygamy? Among us, 'tis true, the one is looked upon as more
|
|||
|
|
respectable than the other. Yet we know that the Mormons as a
|
|||
|
|
class, care for their wives and children; while Christian
|
|||
|
|
polygamists but too often leave wretched wives to starve, slave, or
|
|||
|
|
sin, and leave miserable children a public charge. "O divorced and
|
|||
|
|
much-married Christian," says the polygamous dweller by Salt Lake,
|
|||
|
|
"pluck first the beam from thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to
|
|||
|
|
pluck the mote from the eye of thy much-married, but undivorced,
|
|||
|
|
Mormon brother."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It follows logically from the Catholic doctrine of the unity
|
|||
|
|
and indissolubility of marriage, and the consequent prohibition of
|
|||
|
|
divorce from the marital bond, that no one, even though divorced a
|
|||
|
|
vinculo by the civil power, can be allowed by the church to take
|
|||
|
|
another consort during the lifetime of the true wife or husband,
|
|||
|
|
and such connection the church can but hold as sinful. It is
|
|||
|
|
written: "Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another
|
|||
|
|
committeth adultery against her. And if the wife shall put away her
|
|||
|
|
husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery."
|
|||
|
|
(Mark, x., II, 12.) Of course, I am well aware that upon the words
|
|||
|
|
of our Savior as found in St. Matthew, Chap. xix., 9, many base the
|
|||
|
|
right of divorce from the marriage bond for adultery, with
|
|||
|
|
permission to remarry. But, as is well known, the Catholic Church,
|
|||
|
|
upon the concurrent testimony of the Evangelists Mark (Mark, x.,
|
|||
|
|
11, 12.) and Luke,(Luke, xvi., 18.) and upon the teaching of St.
|
|||
|
|
Paul, (I. Cor., vii., 10, 11.) interprets our Lord's words quoted
|
|||
|
|
by St. Matthew as simply permitting, on account of adultery,
|
|||
|
|
divorce from bed and board, with no right to either party to marry
|
|||
|
|
another.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
But even if divorce a vinculo were not forbidden by divine
|
|||
|
|
law, how inadequate a remedy would it be for the evils for which so
|
|||
|
|
many deem it a panacea. "Divorce a vinculo" as Dr. Brownson truly
|
|||
|
|
says, "logically involves divorce ad libitum." (Essay on "The
|
|||
|
|
Family -- Christian and Pagan.") Now, what reason is there to
|
|||
|
|
suppose that parties divorced and remated will be happier in the
|
|||
|
|
new connection than in the old? As a matter of fact, many persons
|
|||
|
|
have been divorced a number of times. Sometimes, too, it happens
|
|||
|
|
that, after a period of separation, divorced parties repent of
|
|||
|
|
their folly, reunite, and are again divorced. Indeed, experience
|
|||
|
|
clearly proves that unhappiness among married people frequently
|
|||
|
|
does not arise so much from "mutual incompatibility as from causes
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
7
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
inherent in one or both of the parties -- causes that would be
|
|||
|
|
likely to make a new union as wretched as the old one. There is
|
|||
|
|
wisdom in the pithy saying of a recent writer: "Much ill comes, not
|
|||
|
|
because men and women are married, but because they are fools."
|
|||
|
|
(Prof. David Swing in Chicago Journal.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
There are some who think that the absolute prohibition of
|
|||
|
|
divorce does not contribute to the purity of society, and are
|
|||
|
|
therefore of opinion that divorce with liberty to remarry does good
|
|||
|
|
in this regard. He who believes the matrimonial bond indissoluble,
|
|||
|
|
divorce a vinculo evil, and the connection resulting from it
|
|||
|
|
criminal, can only say: "Evil should not be done that good may
|
|||
|
|
come." But, after all, would even passing good come from this
|
|||
|
|
greater freedom? In a few exceptional cases -- Yes, in the vast
|
|||
|
|
majority of cases -- No. The trying of divorce as a safeguard of
|
|||
|
|
purity is an old experiment, and an unsuccessful one. In Rome
|
|||
|
|
adulteries increased as divorces were multiplied. After speaking of
|
|||
|
|
the facility and frequency of divorce among the Romans, Gibbon
|
|||
|
|
adds:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"A specious theory is confuted by this free and perfect
|
|||
|
|
experiment, which demonstrates that the liberty of divorce does not
|
|||
|
|
contribute to happiness and virtue. The facility of separation
|
|||
|
|
would destroy all mutual confidence, and inflame every trifling
|
|||
|
|
dispute. The minute difference between a husband and a stranger,
|
|||
|
|
which might so easily be removed, might still more easily be
|
|||
|
|
forgotten." ("Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," Milman's Ed.,
|
|||
|
|
Vol. III., p. 236.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
How apropos in this connection are the words of Professor
|
|||
|
|
Woolsey:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Nothing is more startling than to pass from the first part or
|
|||
|
|
the eighteenth to the latter part of the nineteenth century, and to
|
|||
|
|
observe how law has changed and opinion has altered in regard to
|
|||
|
|
marriage, the great foundation of society. and to divorce; and how,
|
|||
|
|
almost pari passu various offenses against chastity, such as
|
|||
|
|
concubinage, prostitution, illegitimate births, abortion,
|
|||
|
|
disinclination to family life, have increased also -- not, indeed,
|
|||
|
|
at the same pace everywhere, or all of them equally in all
|
|||
|
|
countries, yet have decidedly increased on the whole." ("Divorce
|
|||
|
|
and Divorce Legislation," 2d Ed., p. 274.) Surely in few parts of
|
|||
|
|
the wide world is the truth of these strong words more evident than
|
|||
|
|
in those parts of our own country where loose divorce laws have
|
|||
|
|
long prevailed.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It should be noted that, while never allowing the dissolution
|
|||
|
|
of the marriage bond, the Catholic Church has always permitted, for
|
|||
|
|
grave causes and under certain conditions, a temporary or permanent
|
|||
|
|
"separation from bed and board." The causes which, positis
|
|||
|
|
ponendis, such separation may be briefly given thus: mutual
|
|||
|
|
consent, adultery, and grave peril of soul or body.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It may be said that there are persons so unhappily mated and
|
|||
|
|
so constituted that for them no relief can come save from divorce
|
|||
|
|
a vinculo, with permission to remarry. I shall not linger here to
|
|||
|
|
point out to such the need of seeking from a higher than earthly
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
8
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
power the grace to suffer and be strong. But for those whose
|
|||
|
|
reasoning on this subject is of the earth, earthy, I shall add some
|
|||
|
|
words of practical worldly wisdom from eminent jurists. In a note
|
|||
|
|
to his edition of Blackstone's "Commentaries," Mr. John Taylor
|
|||
|
|
Coleridge says:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"It is no less truly than beautifully said by Sir W. Scott, in
|
|||
|
|
the case of Evans v. Evans, that 'though in particular cases the
|
|||
|
|
repugnance or the law to dissolve the obligation of matrimonial
|
|||
|
|
cohabitation may operate with great severity upon individuals, yet
|
|||
|
|
it must be carefully remembered that the general happiness of the
|
|||
|
|
married life is secured by its indissolubility.' When people
|
|||
|
|
understand that they must live together, except for a few reasons
|
|||
|
|
known to the law, they learn to soften by mutual accommodation that
|
|||
|
|
yoke which they know they cannot shake off: they become good
|
|||
|
|
husbands and good wives from the necessity of remaining husbands
|
|||
|
|
and wives: for necessity is a powerful master in teaching the
|
|||
|
|
duties which it imposes. If it were once understood that upon
|
|||
|
|
mutual disgust married persons might be legally separated, many
|
|||
|
|
couples who now pass through the world with mutual comfort, with
|
|||
|
|
attention to their common offspring, and to the moral order of
|
|||
|
|
civil society, might have been at this moment living in a state of
|
|||
|
|
mutual unkindness, in a state of estrangement from their common
|
|||
|
|
offspring, and in a state of the most licentious and unrestrained
|
|||
|
|
immorality. In this case, as in many other cases, the happiness of
|
|||
|
|
some individuals must be sacrificed to the greater and more general
|
|||
|
|
good."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The facility and frequency of divorce, and its lamentable
|
|||
|
|
consequences, are nowadays calling much attention to measures of
|
|||
|
|
"divorce reform." "How can divorce reform be best secured?" it may
|
|||
|
|
be asked. Believing, as I do, that divorce is evil, I also believe
|
|||
|
|
that its "reformation" and its death must be simultaneous. It
|
|||
|
|
should cease to be. Divorce as we know it began when marriage was
|
|||
|
|
removed from the domain of the church: divorce shall cease when the
|
|||
|
|
old order shall be restored. Will this ever come to pass? Perhaps
|
|||
|
|
so -- after many days. Meanwhile, something might be done,
|
|||
|
|
something should be done, to lessen the evils of divorce. Our
|
|||
|
|
present divorce legislation must be presumed to be such as the
|
|||
|
|
majority of the people wish it. A first step, therefore, in the way
|
|||
|
|
of "divorce reform" should be the creation of a more healthy public
|
|||
|
|
sentiment on this question. Then will follow measures that will do
|
|||
|
|
good in proportion to their stringency. A few practical suggestions
|
|||
|
|
as to the salient features of remedial divorce legislation may not
|
|||
|
|
be out of place. Persons seeking at the hands of the civil law
|
|||
|
|
relief in matrimonial troubles should have the right to ask for
|
|||
|
|
divorce a vinculo, or simple separation a mensa et thoro, as they
|
|||
|
|
may elect. The number of legally-recognized grounds for divorce
|
|||
|
|
should be lessened, and "noiseless" divorces forbidden. "Rapid-
|
|||
|
|
transit" facilities for passing through divorce courts should be
|
|||
|
|
cut off, and divorce "agencies" should be suppressed. The plaintiff
|
|||
|
|
in a divorce case should be a bona fide resident of the judicial
|
|||
|
|
district in which his petition is filed, and in every divorce case
|
|||
|
|
the legal representatives of the State should appear for the
|
|||
|
|
defendant, and, by all means, the right of remarriage after divorce
|
|||
|
|
should be restricted. If divorce cannot be legislated out of
|
|||
|
|
existence, let, at least, its power for evil be diminished.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
James Cardinal Gibbons.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
9
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Reply of
|
|||
|
|
Bishop Henry C. Potter.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I am asked certain questions with regard to the attitude of
|
|||
|
|
the Episcopal Church towards the matter of divorce. In undertaking
|
|||
|
|
to answer them, it is to be remembered that there is a considerable
|
|||
|
|
variety of opinion which is held in more or less precise conformity
|
|||
|
|
with doctrinal or canonical declarations of the church. With these
|
|||
|
|
variations this paper, except in so far as it may briefly indicate
|
|||
|
|
them, is not concerned. Nor is it an expression of individual
|
|||
|
|
opinion. That is not what has been asked for or attempted.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The doctrine and law of the Protestant Episcopal Church on the
|
|||
|
|
subject of divorce is contained in canon 13, title II., of the
|
|||
|
|
"Digest of the Canons," 1887. That canon has been to a certain
|
|||
|
|
extent interpreted by Episcopal judgments under section IV. The
|
|||
|
|
"public opinion" of the clergy or laity can only be ascertained in
|
|||
|
|
the usual way; especially by examining their published treatises,
|
|||
|
|
letters, etc., and perhaps most satisfactorily by the reports of
|
|||
|
|
discussion in the diocesan and general conventions on the subject
|
|||
|
|
of divorce. Among members of the Protestant Episcopal Church
|
|||
|
|
divorce is excessively rare, cases of uncertainty in the
|
|||
|
|
application of the canon are much more rare, and the practice of
|
|||
|
|
the clergy is almost perfectly uniform. There is, however, by no
|
|||
|
|
means the same uniformity in their opinions either as to divorce or
|
|||
|
|
marriage.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
As divorce is necessarily a mere accident of marriage, and as
|
|||
|
|
divorce is impossible without a precedent marriage, much practical
|
|||
|
|
difficulty might arise, and much difference of opinion does arise,
|
|||
|
|
from the fact that the Protestant Episcopal Church has nowhere
|
|||
|
|
defined marriage. Negatively, it is explicitly affirmed (Article
|
|||
|
|
XXV.) that "matrimony is not to be counted for a sacrament of the
|
|||
|
|
Gospel." This might seem to reduce matrimony to a civil contract.
|
|||
|
|
And accordingly the first rubric in the Form of Solemnization of
|
|||
|
|
Matrimony directs, on the ground of differences of laws in the
|
|||
|
|
various States, that "the minister is left to the direction of
|
|||
|
|
those laws in everything that regards the civil contract between
|
|||
|
|
the parties." Laws determining what persons shall be capable of
|
|||
|
|
contracting would seem to be included in "everything that regards
|
|||
|
|
the civil contract; "and unquestionably the laws of most of the
|
|||
|
|
States render all persons legally divorced capable of at once
|
|||
|
|
contracting a new marriage. Both the first section of canon 13 and
|
|||
|
|
the Form of Solemnization, that, "if any persons be joined together
|
|||
|
|
otherwise than as God's word doth allow, their marriage is not
|
|||
|
|
lawful." But it is nowhere excepting as to divorce, declared what
|
|||
|
|
the impediments are. The Protestant Episcopal Church has never, by
|
|||
|
|
canon or express legislation, published, for instance, a table of
|
|||
|
|
prohibited degrees.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
On the matter of divorce, however, canon 13, title II.,
|
|||
|
|
supersedes, for the members of the Protestant Episcopal Church,
|
|||
|
|
both a part of the civil law relating to the persons capable of
|
|||
|
|
contracting marriage, and also all private judgment as to the
|
|||
|
|
teaching of "the Word of God" on that subject. No minister is
|
|||
|
|
allowed, as a rule, to solemnize the marriage of any man or woman
|
|||
|
|
who has a divorced husband or wife still living. But if the person
|
|||
|
|
seeking to be married is the innocent patty in the divorce for
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
10
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
adultery, that person, whether man or woman, may be married by a
|
|||
|
|
minister of the church. With the above exception, the clergy are
|
|||
|
|
forbidden to administer the sacraments to any divorced and
|
|||
|
|
remarried person without the express permission of the bishop,
|
|||
|
|
unless that person be "penitent" and "in imminent danger of death."
|
|||
|
|
Any doubts "as to the facts of any case under section II. of this
|
|||
|
|
canon" must be referred to the bishop. Of course, where there is no
|
|||
|
|
reasonable doubt the minister may proceed. It may be added that the
|
|||
|
|
sacraments are to be refused also to persons who may be reasonably
|
|||
|
|
supposed to have contracted marriage "otherwise," in any respect.
|
|||
|
|
"than as the Word of God and the discipline of this Church doth
|
|||
|
|
allow." These impediments are nowhere defined; and accordingly it
|
|||
|
|
has happened that a man who had married a deceased wife's sister
|
|||
|
|
and the woman he had married were, by the private judgment of a
|
|||
|
|
priest, refused the holy communion, The civil courts do not seem
|
|||
|
|
inclined to protect the clergy from consequences of interference
|
|||
|
|
with the civil law. In Southbridge, Mass., a few weeks ago, a man
|
|||
|
|
who had been denounced from the altar for marrying again after a
|
|||
|
|
divorce obtained a judgment for $1,720.00 damages. The law of the
|
|||
|
|
church would seem to be that, even though a legal divorce may have
|
|||
|
|
been obtained, remarriage is absolutely forbidden, excepting to the
|
|||
|
|
innocent party, whether man or woman, in a divorce for adultery.
|
|||
|
|
The penalty for breach of this law might involve, for the
|
|||
|
|
officiating clergyman, deposition from the ministry; for the
|
|||
|
|
offending man or woman, exclusion from the sacraments, which, in
|
|||
|
|
the judgment of a very large number of the clergy, involves
|
|||
|
|
everlasting damnation.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It is obvious, then, that the Protestant Episcopal Church
|
|||
|
|
allows the complete validity of a divorce a vinculo in the case of
|
|||
|
|
adultery, and the right of remarriage to the innocent party. But
|
|||
|
|
that church has not determined in what manner either the grounds of
|
|||
|
|
the divorce or the "innocence" of either party is to be
|
|||
|
|
ascertained. The canon does not require a clergyman to demand, nor
|
|||
|
|
can the church enable him to secure, the production of a copy of
|
|||
|
|
the record or decree of the court of law by which a divorce is
|
|||
|
|
granted, nor would such decree indicate the "innocence" of one
|
|||
|
|
party, though it might prove the guilt of the other.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The effect of divorce upon the integrity of the family is too
|
|||
|
|
obvious to require stating. As the father and mother are the heads
|
|||
|
|
of the family, their separation must inevitably destroy the common
|
|||
|
|
family life. On the other hand, it is often contended that the
|
|||
|
|
destruction has been already completed, and that a divorce is only
|
|||
|
|
the legal recognition of what has already taken place; "the
|
|||
|
|
integrity of the family can scarcely remain when either a father or
|
|||
|
|
mother, or both are living in violation of the law on which that
|
|||
|
|
integrity rests. The question may be asked whether the absolute
|
|||
|
|
prohibition of divorce would contribute to the moral purity of
|
|||
|
|
society. It is difficult to answer such a question, because
|
|||
|
|
anything on the subject must be comparatively worthless until
|
|||
|
|
verified by experience. It is quite certain that the prohibition of
|
|||
|
|
divorce never prevents illicit sexual connections, as was
|
|||
|
|
abundantly proved when divorce in England was put within the reach
|
|||
|
|
of persons who were not able to afford the expense of a special act
|
|||
|
|
of Parliament. It is, indeed, so palpable a fact that any amount of
|
|||
|
|
evidence or argument is wholly superfluous.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
11
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The law of the Protestant Episcopal Church is by no means
|
|||
|
|
identical with the opinion of either the clergy or the laity. In
|
|||
|
|
the judgment of many, the existing law is far too lax, or, at
|
|||
|
|
least, the whole doctrine of marriage is far too inadequately dealt
|
|||
|
|
with in the authoritative teaching of the church. The opinion of
|
|||
|
|
this school finds, perhaps, its most adequate expression in the
|
|||
|
|
report of a committee of the last General Convention forming
|
|||
|
|
Appendix XIII. of the "Journal" of that convention. It is,
|
|||
|
|
substantially, that the Mosaic law of marriage is still binding
|
|||
|
|
upon the church, unless directly abrogated by Christ himself; that
|
|||
|
|
it was abrogated by him only so far that all divorce was forbidden
|
|||
|
|
by him, excepting for the cause of fornication; that a woman might
|
|||
|
|
not claim divorce for any reason whatever; that the marriage of a
|
|||
|
|
divorced person until the death of the other party is wholly
|
|||
|
|
forbidden; that marriage is not merely a civil contract, but a
|
|||
|
|
spiritual and supernatural union, requiring for its mutual
|
|||
|
|
obligation a supernatural, divine grace; that such grace is only
|
|||
|
|
imparted in the sacrament of matrimony, which is a true sacrament
|
|||
|
|
and does actually confer grace; that marriage is wholly within the
|
|||
|
|
jurisdiction of the church, though the State may determine such
|
|||
|
|
rules and guarantees as may secure publicity and sufficient
|
|||
|
|
evidence of a marriage, etc.; that severe penalties should be
|
|||
|
|
inflicted by the State, on the demand of the church, for the
|
|||
|
|
suppression of all offenses against the seventh commandment and
|
|||
|
|
sundry other parts of the Mosaic legislation, especially in
|
|||
|
|
relation to "prohibited degrees."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
There is another school, equally earnest and sincere in its
|
|||
|
|
zeal for the integrity of the family and sexual purity, which would
|
|||
|
|
nevertheless repudiate much the greater part of the above
|
|||
|
|
assumption. This school, if one may so venture to combine scattered
|
|||
|
|
opinions, argues substantially as follows: The type of all Mosaic
|
|||
|
|
legislation was circumcision; that rite was of universal obligation
|
|||
|
|
and divine authority. St. Paul so regarded it. The abrogation of
|
|||
|
|
the law requiring circumcision was, therefore, the abrogation of
|
|||
|
|
the whole of the Mosaic legislation. The "burden of proof,"
|
|||
|
|
therefore, rests upon those who affirm the present obligation of
|
|||
|
|
what formed a part of the Mosaic law; and they must show that it
|
|||
|
|
has been reenacted by Christ and his Apostles or forms some part of
|
|||
|
|
some other and independent system of law or morals still in force.
|
|||
|
|
Christ's words about divorce are not to be construed as a positive
|
|||
|
|
law, but as expressing the ideal of marriage, and corresponding to
|
|||
|
|
his words about eunuchs, which not everybody "can receive." So far
|
|||
|
|
as Christ's words seem to indicate an inequality as to divorce
|
|||
|
|
between man and woman, they are explained by the authoritative and
|
|||
|
|
inspired assertion of St. Paul: "In Christ Jesus there is neither
|
|||
|
|
male nor female." A divine law is equally authoritative by
|
|||
|
|
whomsoever declared. whether by the Son Incarnate or by the Holy
|
|||
|
|
Ghost speaking through inspired Apostles. If, then, a divine law
|
|||
|
|
was ever capable of suspension or modification, it may still be
|
|||
|
|
capable of such suspension or modification in corresponding
|
|||
|
|
circumstances. The circumstances which justified a modification of
|
|||
|
|
the original divine law of marriage do still exist in many
|
|||
|
|
conditions of society and even of individual life. The Protestant
|
|||
|
|
Episcopal Church cannot, alone, speak with such authority on
|
|||
|
|
disputed passages of Scripture as to justify her ministers in
|
|||
|
|
direct disobedience to the civil authority, which is also "ordained
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
12
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
of God." The exegesis of the early church was closely connected
|
|||
|
|
with theories about matter, and about the inferiority of women and
|
|||
|
|
of married life, which are no longer believed.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Of course this is a very brief statement. As a matter of fact
|
|||
|
|
the actual effect of the doctrine and discipline of the Protestant
|
|||
|
|
Episcopal Church on marriage and divorce is that divorce among her
|
|||
|
|
members is excessively rare; that it is regarded with extreme
|
|||
|
|
aversion; and that the public opinion of the church maintains the
|
|||
|
|
law as it now is, but could not be trusted to execute laws more
|
|||
|
|
stringent. A member of the committee of the General Convention
|
|||
|
|
whose report has been already referred to closes that report with
|
|||
|
|
the following protest:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"The undersigned finds himself unable to concur in so much of
|
|||
|
|
the [proposed] canon as forbids the holy communion to a truly pious
|
|||
|
|
and godly woman who has been compelled by long years of suffering
|
|||
|
|
from a drunken and brutal husband to obtain a divorce, and has
|
|||
|
|
regularly married some suitable person according to the established
|
|||
|
|
laws of the land. And also from so much of the [proposed] cannon as
|
|||
|
|
may seem to forbid marriage with a deceased wife's sister."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The final action on these points, which has already been
|
|||
|
|
stated, indicates that the proposed report thus referred to was, in
|
|||
|
|
one particular at least, in advance of the sentiment of the church
|
|||
|
|
as expressed in her General Convention.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Henry C. Potter
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
**** ****
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Reply of
|
|||
|
|
Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Question (1). Do you believe in the principle of divorce under
|
|||
|
|
any circumstances?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The world for the most part is ruled by the tomb, and the
|
|||
|
|
living are tyrannized over by the dead. Old ideas, long after the
|
|||
|
|
conditions under which they were produced have passed away, often
|
|||
|
|
persist in surviving. Many are disposed to worship the ancient --
|
|||
|
|
to follow the old paths, without inquiring where they lead, and
|
|||
|
|
without knowing exactly where they wish to go themselves.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Opinions on the subject of divorce have been, for the most
|
|||
|
|
part, inherited from the early Christians. They have come to us
|
|||
|
|
through theological and priestly channels. The early Christians
|
|||
|
|
believed that the world was about to be destroyed, or that it was
|
|||
|
|
to be purified by fire; that all the wicked were to perish, and
|
|||
|
|
that the good were to be caught up in the air to meet their Lord --
|
|||
|
|
to remain there, in all probability, until the earth was prepared
|
|||
|
|
as a habitation for the blessed. With this thought or belief in
|
|||
|
|
their minds, the things of this world were of comparatively no
|
|||
|
|
importance, The man who built larger barns in which to store his
|
|||
|
|
grain was regarded as a foolish farmer, who had forgotten, in his
|
|||
|
|
greed for gain, the value of his own soul. They regarded prosperous
|
|||
|
|
people as the children of Mammon, and the unfortunate, the wretched
|
|||
|
|
and diseased, as the favorites of God. They discouraged all worldly
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
13
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
pursuits, except the soliciting of alms. There was no time to marry
|
|||
|
|
or to be given in marriage; no time to build homes and have
|
|||
|
|
families. All their thoughts were centered upon the heaven they
|
|||
|
|
expected to inherit. Business, love, all secular things, fell into
|
|||
|
|
disrepute.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Nothing is said in the Testament about the families of the
|
|||
|
|
apostles; nothing of family life, of the sacredness of home;
|
|||
|
|
nothing about the necessity of education, the improvement and
|
|||
|
|
development of the mind. These things were forgotten, for the
|
|||
|
|
reason that nothing, in the presence of the expected event, was
|
|||
|
|
considered of any importance, except to be ready when the Son of
|
|||
|
|
Man should come. Such was the feeling, that rewards were offered by
|
|||
|
|
Christ himself to those who would desert their wives and children.
|
|||
|
|
Human love was spoken of with contempt. "Let the dead bury their
|
|||
|
|
dead. What is that to thee? Follow thou me." They not only believed
|
|||
|
|
these things, but acted in accordance with them; and, as a
|
|||
|
|
consequence, all the relations of life were denied or avoided, and
|
|||
|
|
their obligations disregarded. Marriage was discouraged. It was
|
|||
|
|
regarded as only one degree above open and unbridled vice, and was
|
|||
|
|
allowed only in consideration of human weakness. It was thought far
|
|||
|
|
better not to marry -- that it was something grander for a man to
|
|||
|
|
love God than to love woman. The exceedingly godly, the really
|
|||
|
|
spiritual, believed in celibacy, and held the opposite sex in a
|
|||
|
|
kind of pious abhorrence. And yet, with that inconsistency so
|
|||
|
|
characteristic of theologians, marriage was held to be a sacrament.
|
|||
|
|
The priest said to the man who married: "Remember that you are
|
|||
|
|
caught for life. This door opens but once. Before this den of
|
|||
|
|
matrimony the tracks are all one way." This was in the nature of a
|
|||
|
|
punishment for having married. The theologian felt that the
|
|||
|
|
contract of marriage, if not contrary to God's command, was at
|
|||
|
|
least contrary to his advice, and that the married ought to suffer
|
|||
|
|
in some way, as a matter of justice. The fact that there could be
|
|||
|
|
no divorce, that a mistake could not be corrected, was held up as
|
|||
|
|
a warning. At every wedding feast this skeleton stretched its
|
|||
|
|
fleshless finger towards bride and groom.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Nearly all intelligent people have given up the idea that the
|
|||
|
|
world is about to come to an end. They do not now believe that
|
|||
|
|
prosperity is a certain sign of wickedness, or that poverty and
|
|||
|
|
wretchedness are sure certificates of virtue. They are hardly
|
|||
|
|
convinced that Dives should have been sent to hell simply for being
|
|||
|
|
rich, or that Lazarus was entitled to eternal joy on account of his
|
|||
|
|
poverty. We now know that prosperous people may be good, and that
|
|||
|
|
unfortunate people may be bad, We have reached the conclusion that
|
|||
|
|
the practice of virtue tends in the direction of prosperity, and
|
|||
|
|
that a violation of the conditions of well-being brings, with
|
|||
|
|
absolute certainty, wretchedness and misfortune.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
There was a time when it was believed that the sin of an
|
|||
|
|
individual was visited upon the tribe, the community, or the nation
|
|||
|
|
to which he belonged. It was then thought that if a man or woman
|
|||
|
|
had made a vow to God, and had failed to keep the vow, God might
|
|||
|
|
punish the entire community; therefore it was the business of the
|
|||
|
|
community to see to it that the vow was kept. That idea has been
|
|||
|
|
abandoned. As we progress, the rights of the individual are
|
|||
|
|
perceived, and we are now beginning dimly to discern that there are
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
14
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
no rights higher than the rights of the individual. There was a
|
|||
|
|
time when nearly all believed in the reforming power of punishment
|
|||
|
|
-- in the beneficence of brute force. But the world is changing. It
|
|||
|
|
was at one time thought that the Inquisition was the savior of
|
|||
|
|
society; that the persecution of the philosopher was requisite to
|
|||
|
|
the preservation of the state, and that, no matter what happened,
|
|||
|
|
the state should be preserved. We have now more light. And standing
|
|||
|
|
upon this luminous point that we call the present, let me answer
|
|||
|
|
your questions.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Marriage is the most important, the most sacred, contract that
|
|||
|
|
human beings can make. No matter whether we call it a contract, or
|
|||
|
|
a sacrament, or both, it remains precisely the same. And no matter
|
|||
|
|
whether this contract is entered into in the presence of magistrate
|
|||
|
|
or priest, it is exactly the same. A true marriage is a natural
|
|||
|
|
concord and agreement of souls, a harmony in which discord is not
|
|||
|
|
even imagined; it is a mingling so perfect that only one seems to
|
|||
|
|
exist; all other considerations are lost; the present seems to be
|
|||
|
|
eternal. In this supreme moment there is no shadow -- or the shadow
|
|||
|
|
is as luminous as light. And when two beings thus love, thus unite,
|
|||
|
|
this is the true marriage of soul and soul. That which is said
|
|||
|
|
before the altar, or minister, or magistrate, or in the presence of
|
|||
|
|
witnesses, is only the outward evidence of that which has already
|
|||
|
|
happened within; it simply testifies to a union that has already
|
|||
|
|
taken place -- to the uniting of two mornings of hope to reach the
|
|||
|
|
night together. Each has found the ideal; the man has found the one
|
|||
|
|
woman of all the world -- the impersonation of affection, purity,
|
|||
|
|
passion, love, beauty, and grace; and the woman has found the one
|
|||
|
|
man of all the world, her ideal, and all that she knows of romance,
|
|||
|
|
of art, courage, heroism, honesty, is realized in him. The idea of
|
|||
|
|
contract is lost. Duty and obligation are instantly changed into
|
|||
|
|
desire and joy, and two lives, like uniting streams, flow on as
|
|||
|
|
one. Nothing can add to the sacredness of this marriage, to the
|
|||
|
|
obligation and duty of each to each. There is nothing in the
|
|||
|
|
ceremony except the desire on the part of the man and woman that
|
|||
|
|
the whole world should know that they are really married and that
|
|||
|
|
their souls have been united.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Every marriage, for a thousand reasons, should be public,
|
|||
|
|
should be recorded, should be known; but, above all, to the end
|
|||
|
|
that the purity of the union should appear. These ceremonies are
|
|||
|
|
not only for the good and for the protection of the married, but
|
|||
|
|
also for the protection of their children, and of society as well.
|
|||
|
|
But, after all, the marriage remains a contract of the highest
|
|||
|
|
possible character -- a contract in which each gives and receives
|
|||
|
|
a heart.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The question then arises, Should this marriage, under any
|
|||
|
|
circumstances, be dissolved? lt is easy to understand the position
|
|||
|
|
taken by the various churches; but back of theological opinions is
|
|||
|
|
the question of contract.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
In this contract of marriage, the man agrees to protect and
|
|||
|
|
cherish his wife. Suppose that he refuses to protect; that he
|
|||
|
|
abuses, assaults, and tramples upon the woman he wed. What is her
|
|||
|
|
redress? Is she under any obligation to him? He has violated the
|
|||
|
|
contract. He has failed to protect, and, in addition, he has
|
|||
|
|
assaulted her like a wild beast. Is she under any obligation to
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
15
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
him? Is she bound by the contract he has broken? If so, what is the
|
|||
|
|
consideration for this obligation? Must she live with him for his
|
|||
|
|
sake? or, if she leaves him to preserve her life, must she remain
|
|||
|
|
his wife for his sake? No intelligent man will answer these
|
|||
|
|
questions in the affirmative.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If, then, she is not bound to remain his wife for the
|
|||
|
|
husband's sake, is she bound to remain his wife because the
|
|||
|
|
marriage was a sacrament? Is there any obligation on the part of
|
|||
|
|
the wife to remain with the brutal husband for the sake of God? Can
|
|||
|
|
her conduct affect in any way the happiness of an infinite being?
|
|||
|
|
Is it possible for a human being to increase or diminish the well-
|
|||
|
|
being of the Infinite?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The next question is as to the right of society in this
|
|||
|
|
matter. It must be admitted that the peace of society will be
|
|||
|
|
promoted by the separation of such people. Certainly society cannot
|
|||
|
|
insist upon a wife remaining with a husband who bruises and mangles
|
|||
|
|
her flesh. Even married women have a right to personal security.
|
|||
|
|
They do not lose, either by contract or sacrament, the right of
|
|||
|
|
self-preservation; this they share in common, to say the least of
|
|||
|
|
it, with the lowest living creatures.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This will probably be admitted by most of the enemies of
|
|||
|
|
divorce; but they will insist that while the wife has the right to
|
|||
|
|
flee from her husband's roof and seek protection of kindred or
|
|||
|
|
friends, the marriage -- the sacrament -- must remain unbroken. Is
|
|||
|
|
it to the interest of society that those who despise each other
|
|||
|
|
should live together? Ought the world to be peopled by the children
|
|||
|
|
of hatred or disgust, the children of lust and loathing, or by the
|
|||
|
|
welcome babes of mutual love? Is it possible that an infinitely
|
|||
|
|
wise and compassionate God insists that a helpless woman shall
|
|||
|
|
remain the wife of a cruel wretch? Can this add to the joy of
|
|||
|
|
Paradise, or tend to keep one harp in tune? Can anything be more
|
|||
|
|
infamous than for a government to compel a woman to remain the wife
|
|||
|
|
of a man she hates -- of one whom she justly holds in abhorrence?
|
|||
|
|
Does any decent man wish the assistance of a constable, a sheriff,
|
|||
|
|
a judge, or a church, to keep his wife in his house? Is it possible
|
|||
|
|
to conceive of a more contemptible human being than a man who would
|
|||
|
|
appeal to force in such a case? It may be said that the woman is
|
|||
|
|
free to go, and that the courts will protect her from the brutality
|
|||
|
|
of the man who promised to be her protector; but where shall the
|
|||
|
|
woman go? She may have no friends; or they may be poor; her kindred
|
|||
|
|
may be dead. Has she no right to build another home? Must this
|
|||
|
|
woman, full of kindness, affection, health, be tied and chained to
|
|||
|
|
this living corpse? Is there no future for her? Must she be an
|
|||
|
|
outcast forever -- deceived and betrayed for her whole life? Can
|
|||
|
|
she never sit by her own hearth, with the arms of her children
|
|||
|
|
about her neck, and with a husband who loves and protects her? Is
|
|||
|
|
she to become a social pariah, and is this for the benefit of
|
|||
|
|
society? -- or is it for the sake of the wretch who destroyed her
|
|||
|
|
life?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The ground has been taken that woman would lose her dignity if
|
|||
|
|
marriage could be annulled. Is it necessary to lose your liberty in
|
|||
|
|
order to retain your moral character -- in order to be pure and
|
|||
|
|
womanly? Must a woman, in order to retain her virtue, become a
|
|||
|
|
slave, a serf, with a beast for a master, or with society for a
|
|||
|
|
master, or with a phantom for a master?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
16
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If an infinite being is one of the parties to the contract, is
|
|||
|
|
it not the duty of this being to see to it that the contract is
|
|||
|
|
carried out? What consideration does the infinite being give? What
|
|||
|
|
consideration does he receive? If a wife owes no duty to her
|
|||
|
|
husband because the husband has violated the contract, and has even
|
|||
|
|
assaulted her life, is it possible for her to feel toward him any
|
|||
|
|
real thrill of affection? If she does not, what is there left of
|
|||
|
|
marriage? What part of this contract or sacrament remains in living
|
|||
|
|
force? She can not sustain the relation of wife, because she abhors
|
|||
|
|
him; she cannot remain under the same roof, for fear that she may
|
|||
|
|
be killed. They sustain, then, only the relations of hunter and
|
|||
|
|
hunted -- of tyrant and victim. Is it desirable that this relation
|
|||
|
|
should last through life, and that it should be rendered sacred by
|
|||
|
|
the ceremony of a church?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Again I ask, Is it desirable to have families raised under
|
|||
|
|
such circumstances? Are we in need of children born of such
|
|||
|
|
parents? Can the virtue of others be preserved only by this
|
|||
|
|
destruction of happiness, by this perpetual imprisonment?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A marriage without love is bad enough, and a marriage for
|
|||
|
|
wealth or position is low enough; but what shall we say of a
|
|||
|
|
marriage where the parties actually abhor each other? Is there any
|
|||
|
|
morality in this? any virtue in this? Is there virtue in retaining
|
|||
|
|
the name of wife, or husband, without the real and true relation?
|
|||
|
|
Will any good man say, will any good woman declare, that a true,
|
|||
|
|
loving woman should be compelled to be the mother of children whose
|
|||
|
|
father she detests? Is there a good woman in the world who would
|
|||
|
|
not shrink from this herself; and is there a woman so heartless and
|
|||
|
|
so immoral that she would force another to bear that from which she
|
|||
|
|
would shudderingly and shriekingly shrink?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Marriages are made by men and women; not by society; not by
|
|||
|
|
the state; not by the church; not by supernatural beings. By this
|
|||
|
|
time we should know that nothing is moral that does not tend to the
|
|||
|
|
well-being of sentient beings; that nothing is virtuous the result
|
|||
|
|
of which is not good. We know now, if we know anything, that all
|
|||
|
|
the reasons for doing right, and all the reasons against doing
|
|||
|
|
wrong, are here in this world. We should have imagination enough to
|
|||
|
|
put ourselves in the place of another. Let a man suppose himself a
|
|||
|
|
helpless woman beaten by a brutal husband -- would he advocate
|
|||
|
|
divorces then?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Few people have an adequate idea of the sufferings of women
|
|||
|
|
and children, of the number of wives who tremble when they hear the
|
|||
|
|
footsteps of a returning husband, of the number of children who
|
|||
|
|
hide when they hear the voice of a father. Few people know the
|
|||
|
|
number of blows that fall on the flesh of the helpless every day,
|
|||
|
|
and few know the nights of terror passed by mothers who hold babes
|
|||
|
|
to their breasts. Compared with these, all the hardships of poverty
|
|||
|
|
borne by those who love each other are as nothing. Men and women
|
|||
|
|
truly married bear the sufferings and misfortunes of poverty
|
|||
|
|
together. They console each other. In the darkest night they see
|
|||
|
|
the radiance of a star, and their affection gives to the heart of
|
|||
|
|
each perpetual sunshine.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
17
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The good home is the unit of the good government. The
|
|||
|
|
hearthstone is the corner-stone of civilization. Society is not
|
|||
|
|
interested in the preservation of hateful homes, of homes where
|
|||
|
|
husbands and wives are selfish, cold, and cruel. It is not to the
|
|||
|
|
interest of society that good women should be enslaved. that they
|
|||
|
|
should live in fear, or that they should become mothers by husbands
|
|||
|
|
whom they hate. Homes should be filled with kind and generous
|
|||
|
|
fathers, with true and loving mothers; and when they are so filled,
|
|||
|
|
the world will be civilized. Intelligence will rock the cradle;
|
|||
|
|
justice will sit in the courts; wisdom in the legislative halls;
|
|||
|
|
and above all and over all, like the dome of heaven, will be the
|
|||
|
|
spirit of liberty.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Although marriage is the most important and the most sacred
|
|||
|
|
contract that human beings can make, still when that contract has
|
|||
|
|
been violated, courts should have the power to declare it null and
|
|||
|
|
void upon such conditions as may be just.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
As a rule, the woman dowers the husband with her youth. her
|
|||
|
|
beauty, her love -- with all she has; and from this contract
|
|||
|
|
certainly the husband should never be released, unless the wife has
|
|||
|
|
broken the conditions of that contract. Divorces should be granted
|
|||
|
|
publicly, precisely as the marriage should be solemnized. Every
|
|||
|
|
marriage should be known, and there should be witnesses, to the end
|
|||
|
|
that the character of the contract entered into should be
|
|||
|
|
understood; the record should be open and public. And the same is
|
|||
|
|
true of divorces. The conditions should be determined, the property
|
|||
|
|
should be divided by a court of equity, and the custody of the
|
|||
|
|
children given under regulations prescribed.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Men and women are not virtuous by law. Law does not of itself
|
|||
|
|
create virtue, nor is it the foundation or fountain of love. Law
|
|||
|
|
should protect virtue, and law should protect the wife, if she has
|
|||
|
|
kept her contract, and the husband, if he has fulfilled his. But
|
|||
|
|
the death of love is the end of marriage. Love is natural. Back of
|
|||
|
|
all ceremony burns and will forever burn the sacred flame. There
|
|||
|
|
has been no time in the world's history when that torch was
|
|||
|
|
extinguished. In all ages, in all climes, among all people, there
|
|||
|
|
has been true, pure, and unselfish love. Long before a ceremony was
|
|||
|
|
thought of, long before a priest existed, then were true and
|
|||
|
|
perfect marriages. Back of public opinion is natural modesty, the
|
|||
|
|
affections of the heart; and in spite of all law, there is and
|
|||
|
|
forever will be the realm of choice. Wherever love is, it is pure;
|
|||
|
|
and everywhere, and at all times, the ceremony of marriage
|
|||
|
|
testifies to that which has happened within the temple of the human
|
|||
|
|
heart.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Question (2). Ought divorced people to be allowed to marry
|
|||
|
|
under any circumstances?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This depends upon whether marriage is a crime, If it is not a
|
|||
|
|
crime, why should any penalty be attached? Can any one conceive of
|
|||
|
|
any reason why a woman obtaining a divorce, without fault on her
|
|||
|
|
part, should be compelled as a punishment to remain forever single?
|
|||
|
|
Why should she be punished for the dishonesty or brutality of
|
|||
|
|
another? Why should a man who faithfully kept his contract of
|
|||
|
|
marriage, and who was deserted by an unfaithful wife, be punished
|
|||
|
|
for the benefit of society? Why should he be doomed to live without
|
|||
|
|
a home?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
18
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
There is still another view. We must remember that human
|
|||
|
|
passions are the same after as before, divorce. To prevent
|
|||
|
|
remarriage is to give excuse for vice.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Question (3). What is the effect of divorce upon the integrity
|
|||
|
|
of the family?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The real marriage is back of the ceremony, and the real
|
|||
|
|
divorce is back of the decree. When love is dead, when husband and
|
|||
|
|
wife abhor each other, they are divorced. The decree records in a
|
|||
|
|
judicial way what has really taken place, just as the ceremony of
|
|||
|
|
marriage attests a contract already made.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The true family is the result of the true marriage, and the
|
|||
|
|
institution of the family should above all things be preserved What
|
|||
|
|
becomes of the sacredness of the home, if the law compels those who
|
|||
|
|
abhor each other to sit at the same hearth? This lowers the
|
|||
|
|
standard, and changes the happy haven of home into the prison-cell.
|
|||
|
|
If we wish to preserve the integrity of the family, we must
|
|||
|
|
preserve the democracy of the fireside, the republicanism of the
|
|||
|
|
home, the absolute and perfect equality of husband and wife. There
|
|||
|
|
must be no exhibition of force, no specter of fear. The mother must
|
|||
|
|
not remain through an order of court, or the command of a priest,
|
|||
|
|
or by virtue of the tyranny of society; she must sit in absolute
|
|||
|
|
freedom, the queen of herself, the sovereign of her own soul and of
|
|||
|
|
her own body. Real homes can never be preserved through force,
|
|||
|
|
through slavery, or superstition. Nothing can be more sacred than
|
|||
|
|
a home, no altar purer than the hearth.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Question (4). Does the absolute prohibition of divorce where
|
|||
|
|
it exists contribute to the moral purity of society?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
We must define our terms. What is moral purity? The
|
|||
|
|
intelligent of this world seek the well-being of themselves and
|
|||
|
|
others. They know that happiness is the only good; and this they
|
|||
|
|
strive to attain. To live in accordance with the conditions of
|
|||
|
|
well-being is moral in the highest sense. To use the best
|
|||
|
|
instrumentalities to attain the highest ends is our highest
|
|||
|
|
conception of the moral. In other words, morality is the melody of
|
|||
|
|
the perfection of conduct. A man is not moral because he is
|
|||
|
|
obedient through fear or ignorance. Morality lives in the realm of
|
|||
|
|
perceived obligation, and where a being acts in accordance with
|
|||
|
|
perceived obligation, that being is moral. Morality is not the
|
|||
|
|
child of slavery. Ignorance is not the corner-stone of virtue.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The first duty of a human being is to himself. He must see to
|
|||
|
|
it that he does not become a burden upon others, To be self-
|
|||
|
|
respecting, he must endeavor to be self-sustaining. If by his
|
|||
|
|
industry and intelligence he accumulates a margin, then he is under
|
|||
|
|
obligation to do with that margin all the good he can. He who lives
|
|||
|
|
to the ideal does the best he can. In true marriage men and women
|
|||
|
|
give not only their bodies, but their souls. This is the ideal
|
|||
|
|
marriage; this is moral. They who give their bodies, but not their
|
|||
|
|
souls, are not married, whatever the ceremony may be; this is
|
|||
|
|
immoral.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
19
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If this be true, upon what principle can a woman continue to
|
|||
|
|
sustain the relation of wife after love is dead? Is there some
|
|||
|
|
other consideration that can take the place of genuine affection?
|
|||
|
|
Can she be bribed with money, or a home, or position, or by public
|
|||
|
|
opinion, and still remain a virtuous woman? Is it for the good of
|
|||
|
|
society that virtue should be thus crucified between church and
|
|||
|
|
state? Can it be said that this contributes to the moral purity of
|
|||
|
|
the human race?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Is there a higher standard of virtue in countries where
|
|||
|
|
divorce is prohibited than in those where it is granted? Where
|
|||
|
|
husbands and wives who have ceased to love cannot be divorced,
|
|||
|
|
there are mistresses and lovers.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The sacramental view of marriage is the shield of vice. The
|
|||
|
|
world looks at the wife who has been abused, who has been driven
|
|||
|
|
from the home of her husband, and the world pities; and when this
|
|||
|
|
wife is loved by some other man, the world excuses. So, too, the
|
|||
|
|
husband who cannot live in peace, who leaves his home, is pitied
|
|||
|
|
and excused.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Is it possible to conceive of anything more immoral than for
|
|||
|
|
a husband to insist on living with a wife who has no love for him?
|
|||
|
|
Is not this a perpetual crime? Is the wife to lose her personality?
|
|||
|
|
Has she no right of choice? Is her modesty the property of another?
|
|||
|
|
Is the man she hates the lord of her desire? Has she no right to
|
|||
|
|
guard the jewels of her soul? Is there a depth below this? And is
|
|||
|
|
this the foundation of morality? this the corner-stone of society?
|
|||
|
|
this the arch that supports the dome of civilization? Is this
|
|||
|
|
pathetic sacrifice on the one hand, this sacrilege on the other,
|
|||
|
|
pleasing in the sight of heaven?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
To me, the tenderest word in our language, the most pathetic
|
|||
|
|
fact within our knowledge, is maternity. Around this sacred word
|
|||
|
|
cluster the joys and sorrows, the agonies and ecstasies, of the
|
|||
|
|
human race. The mother walks in the shadow of death that she may
|
|||
|
|
give another life. Upon the altar of love she puts her own life in
|
|||
|
|
pawn. When the world is civilized, no wife will become a mother
|
|||
|
|
against her will. Man will then know that to enslave another is to
|
|||
|
|
imprison himself.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Robert G. Ingersoll.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DIVORCE.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
1890
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A little while ago the North American Review propounded the
|
|||
|
|
following questions:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
1. Do you believe in the principle of divorce under any
|
|||
|
|
circumstances?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2. Ought divorced people to be allowed to marry, under any
|
|||
|
|
circumstances?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
3. What is the effect of divorce on the integrity of the
|
|||
|
|
family?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
20
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
4. Does the absolute prohibition of divorce, where it exists,
|
|||
|
|
contribute to the moral purity of society?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
These questions were answered in the November number of the
|
|||
|
|
Review, 1889, by Cardinal Gibbons, Bishop Henry C. Potter and
|
|||
|
|
myself. In the December number, the same questions were again
|
|||
|
|
answered by W.B. Gladstone, Justice Bradley and Senator Dolph. In
|
|||
|
|
the following month Mary A. Livermore, Amelia E. Barr, Rose Terry
|
|||
|
|
Cooke, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps and Jennie June gave their opinions
|
|||
|
|
upon the subject of divorce; and in the February number of this
|
|||
|
|
year, Margaret Lee and the Rev. Phillip S. Moxom contributed
|
|||
|
|
articles upon this subject.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I propose to review these articles, and, first, let me say a
|
|||
|
|
few words in answer to Cardinal Gibbons.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
REPLY TO CARDINAL GIBBONS.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The indissolubility of marriage was a reaction from polygamy.
|
|||
|
|
Man naturally rushes from one extreme to the other. The Cardinal
|
|||
|
|
informs us that "God instituted in Paradise the marriage state, and
|
|||
|
|
sanctified it;" that "he established its law of unity and declared
|
|||
|
|
its indissolubility." The Cardinal, however, accounts for polygamy
|
|||
|
|
and divorce by saying that, "marriage suffered in the fall."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If it be true that God instituted marriage in the Garden of
|
|||
|
|
Eden, and declared its unity and indissolubility, how do you
|
|||
|
|
account for the fact that this same God afterwards upheld polygamy?
|
|||
|
|
How is it that he forgot to say anything on the subject when he
|
|||
|
|
gave the Ten Commandments to Moses? How does it happen that in
|
|||
|
|
these commandments he puts women on an equality with other property
|
|||
|
|
-- "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, or thy neighbor's ox,
|
|||
|
|
or anything that is thy neighbor's"? How did it happen that Jacob,
|
|||
|
|
who was in direct communication with God, married, not his deceased
|
|||
|
|
wife's sister, but both sisters, while both were living? Is there
|
|||
|
|
any way of accounting for the fact that God upheld concubinage?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Neither is it true that "Christ reasserted in clear and
|
|||
|
|
unequivocal terms, the sanctity, unity, and indissolubility of
|
|||
|
|
marriage." Neither is it true that "Christ gave to this state an
|
|||
|
|
added holiness and a dignity higher far than it had 'from the
|
|||
|
|
beginning.'" If God declared the unity and indissolubility of
|
|||
|
|
marriage in the Garden of Eden, how was it possible for Christ to
|
|||
|
|
have "added a holiness and dignity to marriage higher far than it
|
|||
|
|
had from the beginning"? How did Christ make marriage a sacrament?
|
|||
|
|
There is nothing on that subject in the new Testament; besides,
|
|||
|
|
Christ did apparently allow divorce, for one cause at least. He is
|
|||
|
|
reported to have said: " Whosoever putteth away his wife, save for
|
|||
|
|
fornication, causeth her to commit adultery."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Cardinal answers the question, "Can divorce from the bonds
|
|||
|
|
of marriage ever be allowed?" with an emphatic theological "NO,"
|
|||
|
|
and as a reason for this "no," says, "Thus saith the Lord."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It is true that we regard Mormonism as a national disgrace,
|
|||
|
|
and that we so regard it because the Mormons are polygamists. At
|
|||
|
|
the same time, intelligent people admit that polygamy is no worse
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
21
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
in Utah, than it was in Palestine -- no worse under Joseph Smith,
|
|||
|
|
than under Jehovah -- that it has been and must be forever the
|
|||
|
|
same, in all countries and in all times, The Cardinal takes the
|
|||
|
|
ground that "there are two species of polygamy -- simultaneous and
|
|||
|
|
successive," and yet he seems to regard both species with equal
|
|||
|
|
horror. If a wife dies and the husband marries another woman, is
|
|||
|
|
not that successive polygamy?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Cardinal takes the ground that while no dissolution of the
|
|||
|
|
marriage bond should be allowed, yet for grave causes a temporary
|
|||
|
|
or permanent separation from bed and board may be obtained, and
|
|||
|
|
these causes he enumerates as mutual consent, adultery, and grave
|
|||
|
|
peril of soul or body." To those, however, not satisfied with this
|
|||
|
|
doctrine, and who are "so unhappily mated and so constituted that
|
|||
|
|
for them no relief can come save from absolute divorce," the
|
|||
|
|
Cardinal says, in a very sympathetic way, that he "Will not linger
|
|||
|
|
here to point out to such the need of seeking from a higher than
|
|||
|
|
earthly power, the grace to suffer and be strong."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
At the foundation and upon the very threshold of this inquiry,
|
|||
|
|
one thing ought to be settled, and that is this: Are we to answer
|
|||
|
|
these questions in the light of human experience; are we to answer
|
|||
|
|
them from the standpoint of what is better here, in this world, for
|
|||
|
|
men and women -- what is better for society here and now -- or are
|
|||
|
|
we to ask: What is the will of God? And in order to find out what
|
|||
|
|
is this will of God, are we to ask the church, or are we to read
|
|||
|
|
what are called "the sacred writings" for ourselves? In other
|
|||
|
|
words, are these questions to be settled by theological and
|
|||
|
|
ecclesiastical authority, or by the common sense of mankind? No
|
|||
|
|
one, in my judgment, should marry for the sake of God, and no one
|
|||
|
|
should he divorced for the sake of God, and no man and woman should
|
|||
|
|
live together as husband and wife, for the sake of God. God being
|
|||
|
|
an infinite being, cannot be rendered unhappy by any action of man,
|
|||
|
|
neither can his well-being be increased; consequently, the will of
|
|||
|
|
God has nothing whatever to do with this matter. The real question
|
|||
|
|
then must be: What is best for man?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Only the other day, a husband sought out his wife and with his
|
|||
|
|
own hand covered her face with sulfuric acid, and in a moment
|
|||
|
|
afterward she was blind. A Cardinal of the Catholic Church tells
|
|||
|
|
this woman, sitting in darkness, that it is her duty to "suffer and
|
|||
|
|
be strong"; that she must still remain the wife of this wretch;
|
|||
|
|
that to break the bond that binds them together, would be an act of
|
|||
|
|
sacrilege. So, too, two years ago, a husband deserted his wife in
|
|||
|
|
Germany. He came to this country. She was poor. She had two
|
|||
|
|
children -- one a babe. Holding one in her arm, and leading the
|
|||
|
|
other by the hand, she walked hundreds of miles to the shore of the
|
|||
|
|
sea. Overcome by fatigue, she was taken sick, and for months
|
|||
|
|
remained in a hospital. Having recovered, she went to work, and
|
|||
|
|
finally got enough money to pay her passage to New York. She came
|
|||
|
|
to this city, bringing her children with her. Upon her arrival, she
|
|||
|
|
commenced a search for her husband. One day overcome by exertion,
|
|||
|
|
she fainted in the street. Persons took pity upon her and carried
|
|||
|
|
her upstairs into a room. By a strange coincidence, a few moments
|
|||
|
|
afterward her husband entered. She recognized him. He fell upon her
|
|||
|
|
like a wild beast, and threw her down the stairs. She was taken up
|
|||
|
|
from the pavement bleeding, and carried to a hospital.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
22
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Cardinal says to this woman: Remain the wife of this man;
|
|||
|
|
it will be very pleasing to God; "suffer and be strong." But I say
|
|||
|
|
to this woman: Apply to some Court; get a decree of absolute
|
|||
|
|
divorce; cling to your children, and if at any time hereafter some
|
|||
|
|
good and honest man offers you his hand and heart, and you can love
|
|||
|
|
him, accept him and build another home, to the end that you may sit
|
|||
|
|
by your own fireside, in your old age, with your children about
|
|||
|
|
you.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It is not true that the indissolubility of marriage preserves
|
|||
|
|
the virtue of mankind. The fact is exactly the opposite. If the
|
|||
|
|
Cardinal wishes to know why there are more divorces now than there
|
|||
|
|
were fifty or a hundred years ago, let me tell him: Women are far
|
|||
|
|
more intelligent -- some of them are no longer the slaves either of
|
|||
|
|
husbands, or priests. They are beginning to think for themselves.
|
|||
|
|
They can see no good reason why they should sacrifice their lives
|
|||
|
|
to please Popes or Gods. They are no longer deceived by theological
|
|||
|
|
prophecies. They are not willing to suffer here, with the hope of
|
|||
|
|
being happy beyond the clouds -- they want their happiness now.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
REPLY TO BISHOP POTTER.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bishop Potter does not agree with the Cardinal, yet they both
|
|||
|
|
study substantially the same bible -- both have been set apart for
|
|||
|
|
the purpose of revealing the revelation. They are the persons whose
|
|||
|
|
duty it is to enlighten the common people. Cardinal Gibbons knows
|
|||
|
|
that he represents the only true church, and Bishop Potter is just
|
|||
|
|
as sure that he occupies that position. What is the ordinary man to
|
|||
|
|
do?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Cardinal states, without the slightest hesitation, that
|
|||
|
|
"Christ made marriage a sacrament -- made it the type of his own
|
|||
|
|
never-ending union with his one sinless spouse, the church." The
|
|||
|
|
Bishop does not agree with the Cardinal. He says: "Christ's words
|
|||
|
|
about divorce are not to he construed as a positive law, but as
|
|||
|
|
expressing the ideal of marriage, and corresponding to his words
|
|||
|
|
about eunuchs, which not everybody can receive." Ought not the
|
|||
|
|
augurs to agree among themselves? What is a man who has only been
|
|||
|
|
born once, to do?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Cardinal says explicitly that marriage is a sacrament, and
|
|||
|
|
the Bishop cites Article xxv., that "matrimony is not to be
|
|||
|
|
accounted for a sacrament of the gospel," and then admits that
|
|||
|
|
"this might seem to reduce matrimony to a civil contract." For the
|
|||
|
|
purpose of bolstering up that view, he says, "The first rubric in
|
|||
|
|
the Form of Solemnization of Matrimony declares that 'the minister
|
|||
|
|
is left to the direction of those laws in every thing that regards
|
|||
|
|
a civil contract between the parties.'" He admits that "no minister
|
|||
|
|
is allowed, as a rule, to solemnize the marriage of any man or
|
|||
|
|
woman who has a divorced husband or wife still living." As a matter
|
|||
|
|
of fact, we know that hundreds of Episcopalians do marry where a
|
|||
|
|
wife or a husband is still living, and they are not turned out of
|
|||
|
|
the Episcopal Church for this offence. The Bishop admits that the
|
|||
|
|
church can do very little on the subject, but seems to gather a
|
|||
|
|
little consolation from the fact, that "the penalty for breach of
|
|||
|
|
this law might involve, for the officiating clergyman, deposition
|
|||
|
|
from the ministry -- for the offending man or woman exclusion from
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
23
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
the sacraments, which, in the judgment of a very large number of
|
|||
|
|
the clergy, involves everlasting damnation."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Cardinal is perfectly satisfied that the prohibition of
|
|||
|
|
divorce is the foundation of morality, and the Bishop equally
|
|||
|
|
certain that "the prohibition of divorce never prevents illicit
|
|||
|
|
sexual connections."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Bishop also gives us the report of a committee of the last
|
|||
|
|
General Convention, forming Appendix xiii of the journal. This
|
|||
|
|
report, according to the Bishop, is to the effect "that the Mosaic
|
|||
|
|
law of marriage is still binding upon the church unless directly
|
|||
|
|
abrogated by Christ himself, that it was abrogated by him only so
|
|||
|
|
far that all divorce was forbidden by him excepting for the cause
|
|||
|
|
of fornication; that a woman might not claim divorce for any reason
|
|||
|
|
whatever; that the marriage of a divorced person until the death of
|
|||
|
|
the other party, is wholly forbidden; that marriage is not merely
|
|||
|
|
a civil contract but a spiritual and supernatural union, requiring
|
|||
|
|
for its mutual obligations a supernatural divine grace, and that
|
|||
|
|
such grace is only imparted in the sacrament of matrimony."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The most beautiful thing about this report is, that a woman
|
|||
|
|
might not claim divorce for any reason whatever. I must admit that
|
|||
|
|
the report is in exact accordance with the words of Jesus Christ.
|
|||
|
|
On the other hand, the Bishop, not to leave us entirely without
|
|||
|
|
hope, says that "there is in his church another school, equally
|
|||
|
|
earnest and sincere in its zeal for the integrity of the family,
|
|||
|
|
which would nevertheless repudiate the greater part of the above
|
|||
|
|
report."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
There is one thing, however, that I was exceedingly glad to
|
|||
|
|
see, and that is, that according to the Bishop the ideas of the
|
|||
|
|
early church are closely connected with theories about matter, and
|
|||
|
|
about the inferiority of woman, and about married life, which are
|
|||
|
|
no longer believed. The Bishop has, with great clearness, stated
|
|||
|
|
several sides of this question; but I must say, that after reading
|
|||
|
|
the Cardinal and the Bishop, the earnest theological seeker after
|
|||
|
|
truth would find himself, to say the least of it, in some doubt.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
As a matter of fact, who cares what the Old Testament says
|
|||
|
|
upon this subject? Are we to be bound forever by the ancient
|
|||
|
|
barbarians?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
REPLY TO MR. GLADSTONE.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Mr. Gladstone takes the ground, first, "that marriage is
|
|||
|
|
essentially a contract for life, and only expires when life itself
|
|||
|
|
expires"; second, "that Christian marriage involves a vow before
|
|||
|
|
God"; third, "that no authority has been given to the Christian
|
|||
|
|
Church to cancel such a vow"; fourth, "that it lies beyond the
|
|||
|
|
province of the civil legislature, which, from the necessity of
|
|||
|
|
things, has a veto within the limits of reason, upon the making of
|
|||
|
|
it, but has no competency to annul it when once made"; fifth, "that
|
|||
|
|
according to the laws of just interpretation, remarriage is
|
|||
|
|
forbidden by the text of Holy Scripture"; and sixth, "that while
|
|||
|
|
divorce of any kind impairs the integrity of the family, divorce
|
|||
|
|
with remarriage destroys it root and branch; that the parental and
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
24
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
the conjugal relations are joined together by the hand of the
|
|||
|
|
Almighty no less than the persons united by the marriage tie, to
|
|||
|
|
one another."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
First. Undoubtedly, a real marriage was never entered into
|
|||
|
|
unless the parties expected to live together as long as they lived.
|
|||
|
|
It does not enter into the imagination of the real lover that the
|
|||
|
|
time is coming when he is to desert the being he adores, neither
|
|||
|
|
does it enter into the imagination of his wife, or of the girl
|
|||
|
|
about to become a wife. But how, and in what way, does a Christian
|
|||
|
|
marriage involve a vow before God? Is God a party to the contract?
|
|||
|
|
If yes, he ought to see to it that the contract is carried out. If
|
|||
|
|
there are three parties -- the man, the woman, and God -- each one
|
|||
|
|
should be bound to do something, and what is God bound to do? Is he
|
|||
|
|
to hold the man to his contract, when the woman has violated hers?
|
|||
|
|
Is it his business to hold the woman to the contract, when the man
|
|||
|
|
has violated his? And what right has he to have anything to say on
|
|||
|
|
the subject, unless he has agreed to do something by reason of this
|
|||
|
|
vow? Otherwise, it would be simply a nudum pactum -- a vow without
|
|||
|
|
consideration.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Mr. Gladstone informs us that no authority has been given to
|
|||
|
|
the Christian Church to cancel such a vow. If he means by that,
|
|||
|
|
that God has not given any such authority to the Christian Church,
|
|||
|
|
I most cheerfully admit it.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
(Note. -- This abrupt termination, together with the
|
|||
|
|
unfinished replies to Justice Bradley and Senator Dolph, which
|
|||
|
|
follow, shows that the author must have been interrupted in his
|
|||
|
|
work, and on taking it up concluded that the colloquial and
|
|||
|
|
concrete form would serve his turn the more formal and didactic
|
|||
|
|
style employed. He thereupon dictated his reply to the Gibbon and
|
|||
|
|
Gladstone arguments in the following form which will be regarded as
|
|||
|
|
a most interesting instance of the author's wonderful versatility
|
|||
|
|
of style.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This unfinished matter was found among Col. Ingersoll's
|
|||
|
|
manuscripts, and is given as transcribed from the stenographic
|
|||
|
|
notes of Mr. I.N. Baker, his secretary, without revision by the
|
|||
|
|
author.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
JUSTICE BRADLEY.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Cardinal Gibbons, Bishop Potter, and Mr. Gladstone represent
|
|||
|
|
the theological side -- that is to say, the impracticable, the
|
|||
|
|
supernatural, the unnatural. After reading their opinions, it is
|
|||
|
|
refreshing to read those of Justice Bradley. It is like coming out
|
|||
|
|
of the tomb into the fresh air.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Speaking of the law, whether regarded as divine or human or
|
|||
|
|
both, Justice Bradley says: "I know no other law on the subject but
|
|||
|
|
the moral law, which does not consist of arbitrary enactments and
|
|||
|
|
decrees, but is adapted to our condition as human beings. This is
|
|||
|
|
so, whether it is conceived of as the will of some all-wise
|
|||
|
|
creator. or as the voice of humanity speaking from its experience,
|
|||
|
|
its necessities and its higher instincts. And that law surely does
|
|||
|
|
not demand that the injured party to the marriage bond should be
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
25
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
forever tied to one who disregards and violates every obligation
|
|||
|
|
that it imposes -- to one with whom it is impossible to cohabit --
|
|||
|
|
to one whose touch is contamination. Nor does it demand that such
|
|||
|
|
injured patty, if legally free, should be forever debarred from
|
|||
|
|
forming other ties through which the lost hopes of happiness for
|
|||
|
|
life may be restored. It is not reason, and it can not be law --
|
|||
|
|
divine, or moral -- that unfaithfulness, or willful and obstinate
|
|||
|
|
desertion, or persistent cruelty of the stronger party, should
|
|||
|
|
afford no ground for relief. . . . . . . If no redress be
|
|||
|
|
legalized, the law itself will be set at defiance, and greater
|
|||
|
|
injury to soul and body will result from clandestine methods of
|
|||
|
|
relief."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Surely, this is good, wholesome, practical common sense.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SENATOR DOLPH.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Senator Dolph strikes a strong blow, and takes the foundation
|
|||
|
|
from under the idiotic idea of legal separation without divorce. He
|
|||
|
|
says: "As there should be no partial divorce, which leaves the
|
|||
|
|
parties in the condition aptly described by an eminent jurist as 'a
|
|||
|
|
wife without a husband and a husband without a wife,' so, as a
|
|||
|
|
matter of public expediency, and in the interest of public morals,
|
|||
|
|
whenever and however the marriage is dissolved, both parties should
|
|||
|
|
be left free to remarry." Again: "Prohibition of remarriage is
|
|||
|
|
likely to injure society more than the remarriage of the guilty
|
|||
|
|
party; "and the Senator says, with great force: "Divorce for proper
|
|||
|
|
causes, free from fraud and collusion, conserves the moral
|
|||
|
|
integrity of the family."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
In answering the question as to whether absolute prohibition
|
|||
|
|
of divorce tends to morality or immorality, the Senator cites the
|
|||
|
|
case of South Carolina. In that State, divorces were prohibited,
|
|||
|
|
and in consequence of this prohibition, the proportion of his
|
|||
|
|
property which a married man might give to his concubine was
|
|||
|
|
regulated by law.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE ARGUMENT CONTINUED, IN COLLOQUIAL FORM.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Those who have written on the subject of divorce seem to be
|
|||
|
|
divided into two classes -- the supernaturalists and the
|
|||
|
|
naturalists. The first class rely on tradition, inspired books, the
|
|||
|
|
opinions of theologians as expressed in creeds, and the decisions
|
|||
|
|
of ecclesiastical tribunals. The second class take into account the
|
|||
|
|
nature of human beings, their own experience, and the facts of
|
|||
|
|
life, as they know them. The first class live for another world;
|
|||
|
|
the second, for this -- the one in which we live.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The theological theorists regard men and women as depraved, in
|
|||
|
|
consequence of what they are pleased to call "the fall of man,"
|
|||
|
|
while the men and women of common sense know that the race has
|
|||
|
|
slowly and painfully progressed through countless years of
|
|||
|
|
suffering and toil. The priests insist that marriage is a
|
|||
|
|
sacrament; the philosopher, that it is a contract.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The question as to the propriety of granting divorces cannot
|
|||
|
|
now be settled by quoting passages of Scripture, or by appealing to
|
|||
|
|
creeds, or by citing the acts of legislatures or the decisions of
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
26
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
courts. With intelligent millions, the Scriptures are no longer
|
|||
|
|
considered as of the slightest authority. They pay no more regard
|
|||
|
|
to the Bible than to the Koran, the Zend-Avestas, or the Popol Vuh
|
|||
|
|
-- neither do they care for the various creeds that were formulated
|
|||
|
|
by barbarian ancestors, nor for the laws and decisions based upon
|
|||
|
|
the savagery of the past.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
In the olden times when religions were manufactured -- when
|
|||
|
|
priest-craft and lunacy governed the world -- the women were not
|
|||
|
|
consulted. They were regarded and treated as serfs and menials --
|
|||
|
|
looked upon as a species of property to be bought and sold like the
|
|||
|
|
other domestic animals. This view or estimation of woman was
|
|||
|
|
undoubtedly in the mind of the author of the Ten Commandments when
|
|||
|
|
he said: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, -- nor his ox."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Such, however, has been the advance of woman in all
|
|||
|
|
departments of knowledge -- such advance having been made in spite
|
|||
|
|
of the efforts of the church to keep her the slave of faith -- that
|
|||
|
|
the obligations, rights and remedies growing out of the contract of
|
|||
|
|
marriage and its violation, cannot be finally determined without
|
|||
|
|
her consent and approbation. Legislators and priests must consult
|
|||
|
|
with wives and mothers. They must become acquainted with their
|
|||
|
|
wants and desire -- with their profound aversions their pure
|
|||
|
|
hatreds, their loving self-denials, and, above all, with the
|
|||
|
|
religion of the body that molds and dominates their lives.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
We have learned to suspect the truth of the old, because it is
|
|||
|
|
old, and for that reason was born in the days of slavery and
|
|||
|
|
darkness -- because the probability is that the parents of the old
|
|||
|
|
were ignorance and superstition. We are beginning to be wise enough
|
|||
|
|
to take into consideration the circumstances of our own time -- the
|
|||
|
|
theories and aspirations of the present -- the changed conditions
|
|||
|
|
of the world -- the discoveries and inventions that have modified
|
|||
|
|
or completely changed the standards of the greatest of the human
|
|||
|
|
race. We are on the eve of discovering that nothing should be done
|
|||
|
|
for the sake of gods, but all for the good of man -- nothing for
|
|||
|
|
another world -- everything for this.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
All the theories must be tested by experience, by facts. The
|
|||
|
|
moment a supernatural theory comes in contact with a natural fact,
|
|||
|
|
it falls to chaos. Let us test all these theories about marriage
|
|||
|
|
and divorce -- all this sacramental, indissoluble imbecility, with
|
|||
|
|
a real case -- with a fact in life.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A few years ago a man and woman fell in love and were married
|
|||
|
|
in a German village. The woman had a little money and this was
|
|||
|
|
squandered by the husband. When the money was gone, the husband
|
|||
|
|
deserted his wife and two little children, leaving them to live as
|
|||
|
|
best they might. She had honestly given her hand and heart, and
|
|||
|
|
believed that if she could only see him once more -- if he could
|
|||
|
|
again look into her eyes -- he would come back to her. The husband
|
|||
|
|
had fled to America. The wife lived four hundred miles from the
|
|||
|
|
sea. Taking her two little children with her, she traveled on foot
|
|||
|
|
the entire distance. For eight weeks she journeyed, and when she
|
|||
|
|
reached the sea -- tired, hungry, worn out, she fell unconscious in
|
|||
|
|
the street. She was taken to the hospital, and for many weeks
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
27
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
fought for life upon the shore of death. At last she recovered, and
|
|||
|
|
sailed for New York. She was enabled to get just enough money to
|
|||
|
|
buy a steerage ticket.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A few days ago, while wandering in the streets of New York in
|
|||
|
|
search of her husband, she sank unconscious to the sidewalk. She
|
|||
|
|
was taken into the home of another. In a little while her husband
|
|||
|
|
entered. He caught sight of his wife. She ran toward him, threw her
|
|||
|
|
arms about his neck, and cried: "At last I have found you!" "With
|
|||
|
|
an oath, he threw her to the floor; he bruised her flesh with his
|
|||
|
|
feet and fists; he dragged her into the hall, and threw her into
|
|||
|
|
the street."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Let us suppose that this poor wife sought out Cardinal Gibbons
|
|||
|
|
and the Right Honorable William B. Gladstone, for the purpose of
|
|||
|
|
asking their advice. Let us imagine the conversation:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Wife. My dear Cardinal, I was married four years ago. I
|
|||
|
|
loved my husband and I was sure that he loved me. Two babes were
|
|||
|
|
born. He deserted me without cause. He left me in poverty and want.
|
|||
|
|
Feeling that he had been overcome by some delusion -- tempted by
|
|||
|
|
something more than he could bear, and dreaming that if I could
|
|||
|
|
look upon his face again he would return, I followed him on foot.
|
|||
|
|
I walked, with my children in my arms, four hundred miles. I
|
|||
|
|
crossed the sea. I found him at last -- and instead of giving me
|
|||
|
|
again his love, he fell upon me like a wild beast, He bruised and
|
|||
|
|
blackened my flesh. He threw me from him, and for my proffered love
|
|||
|
|
I received curses and blows. Another man, touched by the evidence
|
|||
|
|
of my devotion, made my acquaintance -- came to my relief --
|
|||
|
|
supplied my wants -- gave me and my children comfort, and then
|
|||
|
|
offered me his hand and heart, in marriage. My dear Cardinal, I
|
|||
|
|
told him that I was a married woman, and he told me that I should
|
|||
|
|
obtain a divorce, and so I have come to ask your counsel.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Cardinal. My dear woman, God instituted in Paradise the
|
|||
|
|
marriage state and sanctified it, and he established its law of
|
|||
|
|
unity and declared its indissolubility.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Wife. But, Mr. Cardinal, if it be true that "God
|
|||
|
|
instituted marriage in the Garden of Eden, and declared its unity
|
|||
|
|
and indissolubility," how do you account for the fact that this
|
|||
|
|
same God afterward upheld polygamy? How is it that he forgot to say
|
|||
|
|
anything on the subject when he gave the Ten Commandments to Moses?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Cardinal. You must remember that the institution of
|
|||
|
|
marriage suffered in the fall of man.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Wife. How does that throw any light upon my case? That was
|
|||
|
|
long ago. Surely, I was not represented at that time, and is it
|
|||
|
|
right that I should be punished for what was done by others in the
|
|||
|
|
very beginning of the world?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Cardinal. Christ reasserted in clear and unequivocal
|
|||
|
|
terms, the sanctity, unity and indissolubility of marriage, and
|
|||
|
|
Christ gave to this state an added holiness, and a dignity higher
|
|||
|
|
far than it had from the beginning.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
28
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Wife. How did it happen that Jacob, while in direct
|
|||
|
|
communication with God, married, not his deceased wife's sister,
|
|||
|
|
but both sisters while both were living? And how, my dear Cardinal,
|
|||
|
|
do you account for the fact that God upheld concubinage?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Cardinal. Marriage is a sacrament. You seem to ask me
|
|||
|
|
whether divorce from the bond of marriage can ever be allowed? I
|
|||
|
|
answer with an emphatic theological No; and as a reason for this
|
|||
|
|
No, I say, Thus saith the Lord. To allow a divorce and to permit
|
|||
|
|
the divorced parties, or either of them, to remarry, is one species
|
|||
|
|
of polygamy. There are two kinds -- the simultaneous and the
|
|||
|
|
successive.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Wife. But why did God allow simultaneous polygamy in
|
|||
|
|
Palestine? Was it any better in Palestine then than it is in Utah
|
|||
|
|
now? If a wife dies, and the husband marries another wife, is not
|
|||
|
|
that successive polygamy?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Cardinal. Curiosity leads to the commission of deadly
|
|||
|
|
sins. We should be satisfied with a Thus saith the Lord, and you
|
|||
|
|
should be satisfied with a Thus saith the Cardinal. If you have the
|
|||
|
|
right to inquire -- to ask questions -- then you take upon yourself
|
|||
|
|
the right of deciding after the questions have been answered. This
|
|||
|
|
is the end of authority. This undermines the cathedral. You must
|
|||
|
|
remember the words of our Lord: "What God hath joined together, let
|
|||
|
|
not man put asunder."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Wife. Do you really think that God joined us together? Did
|
|||
|
|
he at the time know what kind of man he was joining to me? Did he
|
|||
|
|
then know that he was a wretch, an ingrate, a kind of wild beast?
|
|||
|
|
Did he then know that this husband would desert me -- leave me with
|
|||
|
|
two babes in my arms, without raiment and without food? Did God put
|
|||
|
|
his seal upon this bond of marriage, upon this sacrament, and it
|
|||
|
|
was well-pleasing in his sight that my life should be sacrificed,
|
|||
|
|
and does he leave me now to crawl toward death, in poverty and
|
|||
|
|
tears?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Cardinal. My dear woman, I will not linger here to point
|
|||
|
|
out to you the need of seeking from a higher than an earthly power
|
|||
|
|
the grace to suffer and be strong.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Wife. Mr. Cardinal, am I under any obligation to God? Will
|
|||
|
|
it increase the happiness of the infinite for me to remain homeless
|
|||
|
|
and husbandless? Another offers to make me his wife and to give me
|
|||
|
|
a home, -- to take care of my children and to fill my heart with
|
|||
|
|
joy. If I accept, will the act lessen the felicity or ecstasy of
|
|||
|
|
heaven? Will it add to the grief of God? Will it in any way affect
|
|||
|
|
his well-being?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Cardinal. Nothing that we can do can effect the well-being
|
|||
|
|
of God. He is infinitely above his children.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Wife. Then why should he insist upon the sacrifice of my
|
|||
|
|
life? Mr. Cardinal, you do not seem to sympathize with me. you do
|
|||
|
|
not understand the pangs I feel. You are too far away from my
|
|||
|
|
heart, and your words of consolation do not heal the bruise; they
|
|||
|
|
leave me as I now leave you -- without hope. I will ask the advice
|
|||
|
|
of the Right Honorable William E. Gladstone.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
29
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Wife. Mr. Gladstone, yon know my story, and so I ask that
|
|||
|
|
you will give me the benefit of your knowledge, of your advice.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Mr. Gladstone. My dear woman, marriage is essentially a
|
|||
|
|
contract for life, and only expires when life itself expires. I say
|
|||
|
|
this because Christian marriage involves a vow before God, and no
|
|||
|
|
authority has been given to the Christian Church to cancel such a
|
|||
|
|
vow.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Wife. Do you consider that God was one of the contracting
|
|||
|
|
parties in my marriage? Must all vows made to God be kept? Suppose
|
|||
|
|
the vow was made in ignorance in excitement -- must it be
|
|||
|
|
absolutely fulfilled? Will it make any difference to God whether it
|
|||
|
|
is kept or not? Does not an infinite God know the circumstances
|
|||
|
|
under which every vow is made? Will he not take into consideration
|
|||
|
|
the imperfections, the ignorance, the temptations and the passions
|
|||
|
|
of his children? Will God hold a poor girl to the bitter dregs of
|
|||
|
|
a mistaken bargain? Have I not suffered enough? Is it necessary
|
|||
|
|
that my heart should break? Did not God know at the time the vow
|
|||
|
|
was made that it ought not to have been made? If he feels toward me
|
|||
|
|
as a father should, why did he give no warning? Why did he accept
|
|||
|
|
the vow? Why did he allow a contract to be made giving only to
|
|||
|
|
death the annulling power? Is death more merciful than God?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Mr. Gladstone. All vows that are made to God must be kept. Do
|
|||
|
|
you not remember that Jephthah agreed to sacrifice the first one
|
|||
|
|
who came out of his house to meet him, and that he fulfilled the
|
|||
|
|
vow, although in doing so, he murdered his own daughter. God makes
|
|||
|
|
no allowance for ignorance, for temptation, for passion -- nothing.
|
|||
|
|
Besides, my dear woman, to cancel the contract of marriage lies
|
|||
|
|
beyond the province of the civil legislature; it has no competency
|
|||
|
|
to annul the contract of marriage when once made.
|
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|
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|
|
The Wife. The man who has rescued me from the tyranny of my
|
|||
|
|
husband -- the man who wishes to build me a home and to make my
|
|||
|
|
life worth living, wishes to make with me a contract of marriage.
|
|||
|
|
This will give my babes a home.
|
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|
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|
|||
|
|
Mr. Gladstone. My dear madam, while divorce of any kind
|
|||
|
|
impairs the integrity of the family, divorce with remarriage
|
|||
|
|
destroys it root and branch.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Wife. The integrity of my family is already destroyed. My
|
|||
|
|
husband deserted his home -- left us in the very depths of want. I
|
|||
|
|
have in my arms two helpless babes. I love my children, and I love
|
|||
|
|
the man who has offered to give them and myself another fireside.
|
|||
|
|
Can you say that this is only destruction? The destruction has
|
|||
|
|
already occurred. A remarriage gives a home to me and mine.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Mr. Gladstone. But, my dear mistaken woman, the parental and
|
|||
|
|
the conjugal relations are joined together by the hand of the
|
|||
|
|
Almighty.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Wife. Do you believe that the Almighty was cruel enough,
|
|||
|
|
in my case, to join the parental and the conjugal relations, to the
|
|||
|
|
end that they should endure as long as I can bear the sorrow? If
|
|||
|
|
there were three parties to my marriage, my husband, myself, and
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
30
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
God, should each be bound by the contract to do something? What did
|
|||
|
|
God bind himself to do? If nothing, why should he interfere? If
|
|||
|
|
nothing, my vow to him was without consideration. You are as cruel
|
|||
|
|
and unsympathetic, Mr. Gladstone, as the Cardinal. You have not the
|
|||
|
|
imagination to put yourself in my place.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Mr. Gladstone. My dear madam, we must be governed by the law
|
|||
|
|
of Christ, and there must be no remarriage. The husband and wife
|
|||
|
|
must remain husband and wife until a separation is caused by death.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Wife. If Christ was such a believer in the sacredness of
|
|||
|
|
the marriage relation, why did he offer rewards not only in this
|
|||
|
|
world, but in the next, to husbands who would desert their wives
|
|||
|
|
and follow him?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Mr. Gladstone. It is not for us to inquire. God's ways are not
|
|||
|
|
our ways.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Wife. Nature is better than you. A mother's love is higher
|
|||
|
|
and deeper than your philosophy. I will follow the instincts of my
|
|||
|
|
heart. I will provide a home for my babes, and for myself. I will
|
|||
|
|
be freed from the infamous man who betrayed me. I will become the
|
|||
|
|
wife of another -- of one who loves me -- and after having filled
|
|||
|
|
his life with joy, I hope to die in his arms, surrounded by my
|
|||
|
|
children.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A few months ago, a priest made a confession -- he could carry
|
|||
|
|
his secret no longer. He admitted that he was married -- that he
|
|||
|
|
was the father of two children -- that he had violated his priestly
|
|||
|
|
vows. He was unfrocked and cast out. After a time he came back and
|
|||
|
|
asked to be restored into the bosom of the church, giving as his
|
|||
|
|
reason that he had abandoned his wife and babes. This throws a
|
|||
|
|
flood of light on the theological view of marriage.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I know of nothing equal to this, except the story of the
|
|||
|
|
Sandwich Island chief who was converted by the missionaries, and
|
|||
|
|
wished to join the church. On cross-examination, it turned out that
|
|||
|
|
he had twelve wives, and he was informed that a polygamist could
|
|||
|
|
not be a Christian. The next year he presented himself again for
|
|||
|
|
the purpose of joining the church, and stated that he was not a
|
|||
|
|
polygamist -- that he had only one wife. When the missionaries
|
|||
|
|
asked him what he had done with the other eleven he replied: "I ate
|
|||
|
|
them."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The indissoluble marriage was a reaction from polygamy. The
|
|||
|
|
church has always pretended that it was governed by the will of
|
|||
|
|
God, and that for all its dogmas it had a "thus saith the Lord."
|
|||
|
|
Reason and experience were branded as false guides. The priests
|
|||
|
|
insisted that they were in direct communication with the Infinite
|
|||
|
|
-- that they spoke by the authority of God, and that the duty of
|
|||
|
|
the people was to obey without question and to submit with at least
|
|||
|
|
the appearance of gladness.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
We now know that no such communication exists -- that priests
|
|||
|
|
spoke without authority, and that the duty of the people was and is
|
|||
|
|
to examine for themselves. We now know that no one knows what the
|
|||
|
|
will of God is, or whether or not such a being exists. We now know
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
31
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
that nature has furnished all the light there is, and that the
|
|||
|
|
inspired books are like all books, and that their value depends on
|
|||
|
|
the truth, the beauty, and the wisdom they contain. We also know
|
|||
|
|
that it is now impossible to substantiate the supernatural. Judging
|
|||
|
|
from experience -- reasoning from known facts -- we can safely say
|
|||
|
|
that society has no right to demand the sacrifice of an innocent
|
|||
|
|
individual. Society has no right, under the plea of self-
|
|||
|
|
preservation. to compel women to remain the wives of men who have
|
|||
|
|
violated the contract of marriage, and who have become objects of
|
|||
|
|
contempt and loathing to their wives. It is not to the best
|
|||
|
|
interest of society to maintain such firesides -- such homes.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The time has not arrived, in my judgment, for the Congress of
|
|||
|
|
the United States, under an amendment to the Constitution, to pass
|
|||
|
|
a general law applicable to all the States, fixing the terms and
|
|||
|
|
conditions of divorce. The States of the Union are not equally
|
|||
|
|
enlightened. Some are far more conservative than others. Let us
|
|||
|
|
wait until a majority of the States have abandoned the theological
|
|||
|
|
theories upon this subject.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Upon this question light comes from the West, where men have
|
|||
|
|
recently laid the foundations of States, and where the people are
|
|||
|
|
not manacled and burdened with old constitutions and statutes and
|
|||
|
|
decisions, and where with a large majority the tendency is to
|
|||
|
|
correct the mistakes of their ancestors.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Let the States in their own way solve this question, and the
|
|||
|
|
time will come when the people will be ready to enact sensible and
|
|||
|
|
reasonable laws touching this important subject, and then the
|
|||
|
|
Constitution can be amended and the whole subject controlled by
|
|||
|
|
Federal law.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The law, as it now exists in many of the States, is to the
|
|||
|
|
last degree absurd and cruel. In some States the husband can obtain
|
|||
|
|
a divorce on the ground that the wife has been guilty of adultery,
|
|||
|
|
but the wife cannot secure a divorce from the husband simply for
|
|||
|
|
the reason that he has been guilty of the same offence. So, in most
|
|||
|
|
of the States where divorce is granted on account of desertion for
|
|||
|
|
a certain number of years, the husband can return on the last day
|
|||
|
|
of the time fixed, and the poor wife who has been left In want is
|
|||
|
|
obliged to receive the wretch with open arms, In some States
|
|||
|
|
nothing is considered cruelty that does not endanger life or limb
|
|||
|
|
or health. The whole question is in great confusion, but after all
|
|||
|
|
there are some States where the law is reasonable, and the
|
|||
|
|
consequence is, that hundreds and thousands of suffering wives are
|
|||
|
|
released from a bondage worse than death.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The idea that marriage is something more than a contract is at
|
|||
|
|
the bottom of all the legal and judicial absurdities that surround
|
|||
|
|
this subject. The moment that it is regarded from a purely secular
|
|||
|
|
standpoint the infamous laws will disappear. We shall then take
|
|||
|
|
into consideration the real rights and obligations of the parties
|
|||
|
|
to the contract of marriage. We shall have some respect for the
|
|||
|
|
sacred feelings of mothers -- for the purity of woman -- the
|
|||
|
|
freedom of the fireside -- the real democracy of the hearthstone
|
|||
|
|
and, above all, for love, the purest, the profoundest and the
|
|||
|
|
holiest of all passions.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
32
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IS DIVORCE WRONG?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
We shall no longer listen to priests who regard celibacy as a
|
|||
|
|
higher state than marriage, nor to those statesmen who look upon a
|
|||
|
|
barbarous code as the foundation of all law.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
As long as men imagine that they have property in wives; that
|
|||
|
|
women can be owned, body and mind; that it is the duty of wives to
|
|||
|
|
obey; that the husband is the master, the source of authority --
|
|||
|
|
that his will is law, and that he can call on legislators and
|
|||
|
|
courts to protect his superior rights, that to enforce obedience
|
|||
|
|
the power of the State is pledged -- just so long will millions of
|
|||
|
|
husbands be arrogant, tyrannical and cruel.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
No gentleman will be content to have a slave for the mother of
|
|||
|
|
his children. Force has no place in the world of love. It is
|
|||
|
|
impossible to control likes and dislikes by law. No one ever did
|
|||
|
|
and no one ever can love on compulsion. Courts can not obtain
|
|||
|
|
jurisdiction of the heart.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The tides and currents of the soul care nothing for the
|
|||
|
|
creeds. People who make rules for the conduct of others generally
|
|||
|
|
break them themselves. It is so easy to bear with fortitude the
|
|||
|
|
misfortunes of others.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Every child should be well-born -- well fathered and mothered.
|
|||
|
|
Society has as great an interest in children as in parents, The
|
|||
|
|
innocent should not be compelled by law to suffer for the crimes of
|
|||
|
|
the guilty. Wretched and weeping wives are not essential to the
|
|||
|
|
welfare of States and Nations.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The church cries now "whom God hath joined together let not
|
|||
|
|
man put asunder"; but when the people are really civilized the
|
|||
|
|
State will say: "whom Nature hath put asunder let not man bind and
|
|||
|
|
manacle together."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Robert G. Ingersoll.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
**** ****
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Reproducible Electronic Publishing can defeat censorship.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Bank of Wisdom Inc. is a collection of the most thoughtful,
|
|||
|
|
scholarly and factual books. These computer books are reprints of
|
|||
|
|
suppressed books and will cover American and world history; the
|
|||
|
|
Biographies and writings of famous persons, and especially of our
|
|||
|
|
nations Founding Fathers. They will include philosophy and
|
|||
|
|
religion. all these subjects, and more, will be made available to
|
|||
|
|
the public in electronic form, easily copied and distributed, so
|
|||
|
|
that America can again become what its Founders intended --
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Free Market-Place of Ideas.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Bank of Wisdom is always looking for more of these old,
|
|||
|
|
hidden, suppressed and forgotten books that contain needed facts
|
|||
|
|
and information for today. If you have such books please contact
|
|||
|
|
us, we need to give them back to America.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
33
|
|||
|
|
|