For these sad experiences is there no remedy? Some would find it in legislation, and would so extend the legal grounds for divorce that it might become a relief or a luxury within the reach of every one. To this, however, there are many grave objections of such importance that they must everywhere be acknowledged; enumerating some of them, I shall not attempt to present them all, for my remarks upon this subject are not intended to be exhaustive, but are only collateral to the general inquiry we have been pursuing. First. Were divorces made more common, there would be far more children and invalid women thrown upon other persons than their legitimate owners for support, that is to say, upon the community. The long and bitter trials that take place between parents for the custody of their children, do not always rest upon parental affection; they are sometimes based upon spite or revenge. Secondly. The weaknesses and evil passions of mankind are only controlled, to a great degree, by the existence of law, to thwart which is attended by personal detriment. Remove or relax the statutes, and an inducement, as it were, is held out to baseness and to crime. “The saints,” said the wise observer I have already quoted, “are all in heaven.” We are all of us mortal, and prone to selfishness, to retort when irritated, to fly into passion when retorted to. There is too much reason to believe that were divorces possible wherever, at one time or another, they have been longed for, scarce a house on earth would stand. The test would be too much for poor human nature. If he would challenge this assertion, let every man first ask himself “Is it I?”, and then he may look into the mysteries of the circle of neighbors surrounding him. It has very truly been said that every person in this world bears his cross, and that in every house there is a skeleton. The closet may be adroitly concealed, and its door may be kept closed, but though the dry bones never rattle, though indeed they drop into dust, yet the knowledge that they are surely there, robs home life to many of half or of all its charm. In the little chafes and ills, the disappointments and sorrows of married life, the rule of safety is to bear and forbear, recollecting that every really chivalrous or whole-hearted man should, seek, as the stronger, to bear more than an even half of the natural burden. Thirdly. Were divorces more common, or more readily obtained, the very foundation of all society and civil government would be uprooted. The stability of the state rests upon that of the elements of which it is composed. When these return to chaos, or dissolve themselves into the thinnest air, the commonwealth itself must prove a bubble, collapsing as soon as pricked by circumstance.