1864.] 325 [P"'^^- 



by oifspring may tluis be satisfied, and life become a higher blessing 

 to the adopting parents, by the consciousness of doing a present and 

 future good, to unprovided and helpless children. 



As great as are the advantages of marriage, and sacred as are its 

 ties, the law cannot do less, from sheer humanity, than relieve the 

 innocent party by divorce, when the other has so grievously violated 

 the conditions of the compact, as to make the continuance of the 

 relation a participation in guilt, or so oppressive as to make life bur- 

 densome or an intolerable slavery. The wrong would in such case 

 be, to coerce a cohabitation, when it would be productive of conse- 

 quences precisely the reverse of those intended by the institution. 

 If either party has, by vicious habits, alienated hira or herself from 

 the duties that he or she engaged to fulfil, and has violated the solemn 

 marriage promises and obligations, he or she is no longer one joined 

 by God, but is already dissevered; therefore, the law says, as to 

 those whom the Lord doth not longer join together, let man put 

 asunder. In ancient times, except among the German nations, the 

 husband generally divorced the wife at his pleasure or caprice, by 

 himself giving her a writing of divorcement; a power permitted the 

 Jews by the law of Moses, as our Saviour said, because of the hard- 

 ness of their hearts; but in Christian countries the power is only 

 exerted by law, for causes reciprocally operative against a husband 

 or wife, who has forfeited the marriage rights by a violation of its 

 duties. 



But, I repeat, it is not to law so much as to other influences that 

 we are to look for human improvement through the family. These 

 must be moral and religious influences. And is there not in these 

 a philosophy fittingly to be spoken of in this Hall ? The science that 

 teaches us how to live and how to die must be the most important of 

 philosophies; and the science is as sure and logical in its laws of 

 cause and eflPect as any other science; and is so much the more im- 

 portant than any other, that it the most nearly concerns human hap- 

 piness. It may be said, perhaps truly, that there can be little or 

 nothing that is new to be disclosed in morals and religion. Though 

 that should be conceded, one thing remains to bo certain, that as long 

 as we live we can always be advancing towards that standard of per- 

 fection, that we are bidden to strive to attain; a standard that we 

 may but hope to approximate; a measure of improvement which the 

 most civilized nation has nut yet half fulfilled. From this delin- 

 quency the recovery must mainly be through the better training and 

 education of the family. 



