But before we allow this to deter us from touching the sacred fabric,
we must find out whether it is not already coming to pieces in all
directions by the continuous strain of circumstances. No doubt, if it
were all that it pretends to be, and human nature were working smoothly
within its limits, there would be nothing more to be said: it would
be let alone as it always is let alone during the cruder stages of
civilization. But the moment we refer to the facts, we discover that the
ideal matrimony and domesticity which our bigots implore us to preserve
as the corner stone of our society is a figment: what we have really got
is something very different, questionable at its best, and abominable
at its worst. The word pure, so commonly applied to it by thoughtless
people, is absurd; because if they do not mean celibate by it, they
mean nothing; and if they do mean celibate, then marriage is legalized
impurity, a conclusion which is offensive and inhuman. Marriage as a
fact is not in the least like marriage as an ideal. If it were, the
sudden changes which have been made on the continent from indissoluble
Roman Catholic marriage to marriage that can be dissolved by a box on
the ear as in France, by an epithet as in Germany, or simply at the wish
of both parties as in Sweden, not to mention the experiments made
by some of the American States, would have shaken society to its
foundations. Yet they have produced so little effect that Englishmen
open their eyes in surprise when told of their existence.