THE ORIGINAL APPOINTMENT OF MARRIAGE.
The Author of our being, when he formed the first pair of human beings,
left them not to the mere instincts of nature, as he did in the case of
the inferior animals; but for them he especially instituted the contract
of marriage; so that marriage is a divine appointment. At the Almighty’s
command the waters brought forth in abundance; myriads of fishes swam in
the sea; innumerable birds of every description winged their way in the
firmament; animals of all kinds, from the gigantic elephant to the
smallest creature imaginable, wandered up and down on the earth, and
every kind of creeping thing; the largest of the feathered tribe built
nests on the inaccessible cliffs; the lion and the tiger, with other
ferocious beasts, prowled the forests; cattle and sheep and the mild
animals cropped the herbage; the dove chose her mate; the nightingale
warbled her song; the small insects, to which the leaf was a world, and
the minute animalcule, whose universe was a water-drop—all were formed
by the Almighty—and He commanded that they were to “Be fruitful, and
multiply, in the earth.”
It was different, however, with regard to the human family. As the
members of that family were formed with an elaboration not displayed in
other departments of creation, as their structure was different from
that of any other creature, as man was formed from the dust of the
earth, and God breathed into him the breath of life, as the woman was
made from a portion of the man—bone of his bone, and flesh of his
flesh,—consequently there was a difference in the way in which they were
directed to fulfil the great purpose of their creation, namely, to
replenish the earth.
The Almighty declared that it was not good for man to be alone,
therefore woman was formed for an helpmeet for him. Throughout the
teeming earth, the blue expanse, and the deep water, there was not a
creature but what had found a mate; our first parent stood alone,
without the society of one bearing his nature—isolated from the company
of one with whom he could hold converse, and who could share in the
enjoyments of the happy sphere in which he was at first placed. The
Great Creator made woman, brought them together, and instituted
marriage. Equal power and dominion over the inferior creatures was given
to the woman, as that exercised by the man; and it was not until the
disobedience and sin of our first parents, that the original order of
things was changed, and that anything was heard of the subjection of Eve
to Adam.
The institution of Marriage was a wise and judicious arrangement, and
peculiarly adapted to the position of the human race. It was of the
greatest consequence to man that he should have a companion, a friend, a
wife; and for this purpose it was ordained that a man should leave his
father and mother, and cleave unto his own wife, and they twain should
be one flesh.
In what emphatic language is the union of husband and wife enforced:
“they twain shall be one flesh.” For the future their joys and their
sorrows are to be identical. They are not separate individuals as two
male persons are considered, but male and female—wife and husband—one.
Alas! how frequently is this oneness marred and broken—a diversity of
interest and feeling appears to exist between many married couples, and
how often the adage of, “a house divided against itself cannot stand,”
is verified. It would be well if such couples would oftener remember the
solemn injunction—“they twain shall be one flesh.” It seems to an
observer, that if such couples ever loved one another, they lavished and
exhausted that love in the early days of marriage, and filled up the
void by feelings of enmity and strife. This ought not to be the state of
a domestic household; for though the wife may be possessed of the key of
every drawer and cupboard in the house, if she does not possess the key
of her husband’s heart, she is destitute of that which is of more value
to her than every other earthly treasure. The husband may be
affectionate, kind, and respectful to his wife, but if she is not
identical with himself, the depository and confidante of all his
feelings and aspirations, there is something amiss. It is an
impossibility for married people to love and trust each other too much,
and as impossible for them to feel a strong and deep affection for each
other, if they do not consider their interests to be identical.
[Illustration: _Conception. First Month. Second Month. Third Month.
Fourth Month._]
[Illustration: _Fifth Month. Sixth Month. Seventh Month. Eighth Month.
Ninth Month._]
[Illustration: _Position of a Child in the Womb just before delivery_]
[Illustration: _Process of Delivery_]
[Illustration: _The Action of Quickening._]
[Illustration: _Position of the Embryos in a plural Conception._]
When Adam awoke out of the deep sleep into which he had been cast by the
Almighty, and beheld the lovely being in his presence, he was told by
his and her maker, that the woman was given to be _with_ him, not given
_to_ him; for so we understand by the words of Adam, when he would have
framed an excuse for his sin—“The woman that thou gavest to be with me.”
Therefore the inference is plain that woman was not given to man to be
his slave, nor the victim of his caprice or violence, nor the plaything
of an hour, but a partner and confidante in all that concerned him; the
sharer of his joys and sorrows, of his prosperity and adversity. Woman
was not to be subjected to harsh and cruel treatment, but to be
cherished and protected; and to be on an equality in every way with man.
There is great force and truth in what was penned by an aged writer—“Man
and wife are equally concerned to avoid all offences to each other in
the beginning of their conversation; a very little thing can blast an
infant blossom; and the breath of the south can shake the little rings
of the vine, when first they begin to curl like the locks of a
new-weaned boy; but when by age and consolidation they stiffen into the
hardness of a stem, and have by the warm embraces of the sun, and the
kisses of heaven, brought forth their clusters they can endure the
storms of the north, and the loud noise of the tempest, and yet never be
broken.”
Peculiar scope is given for the exercise of the highest qualities of the
heart, through the obligations which belong to the state of matrimony.
The presence of our Lord and Saviour at a marriage feast, and the
example of the early Christians, give force to the statement that
marriage is a divine institution. Marriage was held in great esteem by
the venerable fathers of ancient days, and considered highly honourable,
whilst celibacy was discountenanced by them.
Among the Jews, marriage was held in the greatest esteem and favour, and
it is said that the early Christians would never allow any one to
sustain the office of a magistrate except those who were married. Laws
were made by the Pagans to promote the institution of marriage. A
festival was instituted by the Lacedæmonians, at which those men, who
were unmarried, were reviled and scourged by the women, and deemed
unworthy to serve the republic. Among the Romans, those who had been
several times married were distinguished, and received great honour from
their fellow countrymen, crowns and wreaths, were placed on their heads,
and in their public rejoicings they appeared with palms in their hands,
signifying that they had been instrumental in adding to the glory of the
empire. It is related by St. Jerome, that they covered a man with bays,
and ordered him to accompany his wife’s corpse in funeral pomp, with a
crown on his head, and a palm branch in his hand, it being considered
highly necessary that he should be thus honoured and carried in triumph,
seeing that he had been married _twenty times_, and his wife
_twenty-two_.
The marriage ceremony being solemnized in accordance with the rites of
the early Christian Church, the veil (a Pagan custom of former times)
was preserved, and from this observance of veiling the word nuptials is
derived. The use of the ring was also a matter of importance in the
ceremony; the solemn kiss was imparted, and the practice of joining
hands was observed. Usually, at the conclusion of the ceremony, the
bride was crowned—occasionally both the bride and the bridegroom—with
wreaths of myrtle.—The lace veil and the wreath of orange blossoms,
which is now such a necessary adornment in bridal attire, may be traced
to the practice pursued by bridal parties in former times.
The wedding ring is an emblem of many significant qualifications. Gold
being the noblest and purest, as well as the most enduring—it is made of
that metal.—Its circular form denotes that form to be the most perfect
of all figures, and the hieroglyphic of eternity. Its being entirely
free from ornament denotes the perfect simplicity and plainness of
wedded life. The ring is put on the left hand because of its being
nearest the heart; and on the fourth finger on account of some supposed
connection between that finger, more than the others, with the seat of
life. The ring is the acknowledged pledge of the bestowal of authority,
as in former times the giving of it was regarded as the delegation of
all the husband’s authority, and conferred upon the person receiving it,
entire supremacy over every thing in the husband’s possession.
It would be an easy task to continue this chapter much farther, by
attempting to pourtray the beauty and virtue of marriage, and
endeavouring to enforce the obligation of it on all who are proper
subjects to engage in it, but we will now close the chapter by saying,
that the instincts of nature yearn towards the opposite sex. We long to
love and be loved. We feel that within us which inclines us to seek the
society of the other sex; a monitor that warns us to refrain from
unhallowed love: and a voice which invites us to seek that state of
matrimony, which is sanctioned by human and divine law.