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In this as in so many other things, instead of looking back with

regret to the past, we should look forward with hope to the

future. We must consecrate that which we believe to be the most

holy, and that 'which is the most holy will be the most useful.'

There is more reason for maintaining the sacredness of the

marriage tie, when we see the benefit of it, than when we only

felt a vague religious horror about the violation of it. But in

all times of transition, when established beliefs are being

undermined, there is a danger that in the passage from the old to

the new we may insensibly let go the moral principle, finding an

excuse for listening to the voice of passion in the uncertainty

of knowledge, or the fluctuations of opinion.