I know a man who loves a beautiful woman. He was once engaged to marry her, but friends who are blind to the rights of humanity, no odds how poor or rich the individuals may be, interfered and separated the loving couple. They trampled on their young hearts and crushed them until they bled from the bruises, and made love appear as a criminal and outlaw.
They love each other still, though both are married to another. There is a pain in each heart that will never cease aching, but the wealthy friends who separated them are blind to the wrong they perpetrated against these disappointed souls. They crushed two ideals in the soul of two loving people, but the ideals will never die in their souls. That first dream of love will ever remain the sweetest, dearest dream that ever took possession of their young souls—a dream that died and was buried there and left a grave that is always bleeding.
And yet the blind friends do not realize that the ghost of a great wrong stalks through their hearts during the silent hours of the night, when the world imagines they are sleeping without a shadow to obscure the sunlight of human happiness and hope.
And this is only one case out of a million. And through the blindness of friends and relatives our divorce courts do a big business. Young people who are denied the companionship of the one they love best, and are induced to marry some one else for convenience sake, soon find the matrimonial bands galling, and a separation is inevitable. This is the main cause of so many divorces amongst the rich. They marry for convenience when they find it impossible to marry the one they love.
How unfortunate for parents who no longer care for each other to bring unwelcome children into a loveless world. The children find their environment one of cold speculation and fashionable hypocrisy, and they grow up believing that all the world is like their own domestic relations. Where there is no display of affection between the parents, the child grows up believing that love and affection are unnecessary, and passion is cultivated as a substitute. These are the sons who make the white slave business prosperous. They come from loveless homes, and do not realize that there is any such thing as genuine companionship love. Father and mother lived so independently of each other, spending most of their time at their clubs and at card parties, or visiting abroad with strangers, that the name of wife does not suggest a companion, nor does the name mother suggest the dearest friend on earth to the child.
And thus the fashionable world goes staggering blindly on, grasping at wealth and power and notoriety as the only prizes worth winning.
WRONG ON THE THRONE
As far back as the mind of man can trace the history of the race we see bleeding Right on the scaffold and triumphant Wrong sitting on the throne. If this is contrary to God’s plan, he is slow to correct error. Cain slew his brother Abel because he was the stronger and most brutal. The meek and humble Abel gave up his life to the violence of wrong, and Cain’s punishment was rather mild. He was allowed to hunt a wife and marry her and raise a family, while the name of his victim was wiped from the face of nature.
Again, was it right that Jesus Christ should be crucified on a cross? This is the most horrible death any living animal can die—nailed alive to a cross of wood with cruel nails driven through feet and hands, and left to die of terrible pain and anguish of soul. The good book says God planned it. If so, then God himself indorses the rule of wrong and the sufferings of right.