This thought Dr. J. F. Clarke has turned into simple and beautiful lines in his poem entitled Cana: —
| For when self-seeking turns to love, |
| Not knowing mine nor thine, |
| The miracle again is wrought, |
| And water turned to wine. |
If the foundations of human affection are consistent with progress, they will be strong and enduring. Divorces should warn the age of some fundamental error in the marriage state. The union of the sexes suffers fearful discord. To gain Science, and consequently the harmony of this relation, it should be more metaphysically regarded, and less physically.
The broadcast power of evil, so conspicuous to-day, is the materialism and sensualism of the age, struggling against the advancing spiritual era. Beholding the world's lack of Christianity, and the powerlessness of promises to make good husbands and wives, the human mind will at length demand a higher affection. There will ensue a fermentation over this, as over many other subjects, until we get at last the clear straining of Truth, and impurity and error are among the lees.
The fermentation, even of fluids, is not pleasant. An unsettled, transitional stage is never desirable on its own account. Matrimony, that was once a fixed fact among us, must lose its present slippery footing, and find permanence in a more spiritual adherence.
The mental chemicalization, that has brought conjugal infidelity to the surface, will assuredly throw off this evil, and marriage will become purer when its scum is gone. Thou art right, Shakespeare! —
