Page:Randolph, Paschal Beverly; Eulis! the history of love.djvu/62

Rh is almost entirely of the earth earthy. Woman never is; she may be indifferent;horrified—but still she looks toward the empyrean, and from it—however degraded—receives a measure of life divine; for low as she may be, but touch the right chord, and she can mother heroes, and give gladsome Marys to the world.

Now here comes in a mooted point: of one unfaithful wife, and one unfaithful husband, which commits the greater sin?—or is it an equal grade of offence before God? To this I reply: In the act, right or wrong, man gives of himself, whether good or evil; and woman receives. The malign influence is external with and to him; internal with and to her. It is easy for him to rid himself of the bad effects, compared with her ability to do the same; for the foreign influence imparted to,—remains with her, and becomes an integrant of her very being; and, as she naturally stands nearer heaven, the greater is her fall—far greater than his who is already a great deal too near the earth. Hence I hold her sin greatest, just as I would tell an angel who had sinned, "Be thy punishment severe," but would bid a half imbecile to "Clear out and not bother the court."

XXVI. But there is another thought arising right here: It sometimes, and in this age and country, very frequently, happens, that one or both the parties to a marital compact, from a variety of causes, some of which I will state, manage to lose this magnetic attraction toward the other party; and ten to one each will at once conclude that all love between them is wholly lost or dead, when the fact is that each has quite as much as ever, but the bridge is broken down—that mystic bridge, which, resting on the abutments of both souls, spans the gulf of eternity. But, although often broken, this bridge is seldom utterly destroyed. The statistics of divorce prove the position here affirmed; for a large percentage of divorced couples, after enjoying a brief period of "Freedom," begin to think about it; conclude they had not been wise enough, and were altogether too hasty; that, after all, there's no home like the old one; no love like the old love; and they marry each other over again, and, having cut their eve-teeth. steer clear of former faults, and lead happy lives thereafter.