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RECORD
PERTH, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1913
The Laws of Divorce and their History Marriage Contract Indissoluble, Except by Death-henry VIII Edward, Mary and Elizabeth BETRAYED THE CAUSE IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS. GLADSTONE'S MANLY OPPOSITION TO DIVORCE, LORD GORRELL "KNOWS A THING OR TWO ABOUT SHIPS." (SPECIAL FOR "RECORD" BY J. I. NEWCOMB, M.A., B.L., NORTH MELBOURNE.)
HOW TI IF, ANGLICAN BISHOPS
(Continued from last week.) slated upon being divorced from his enough to keep him at a respectable and what is now "the Protestant excellent book entitled lawful Queen, Catherine of Aragon, distance until such time as the mar- Church of England." lie ratified "The I li sto r y of Divorce" has been Divorce in England was Almost riage ring had been put upon her what his father had done in giving Unknown written by S. B. Kitchen, Esq., B.A., finger and she was publicly acknow- these divorce laws to the people, but L.L.B., a Barrister of Law in South Of course, there were cases of di- ledged as Queen of England. True is Parliament bad sense enough to see Africa, and he tells us in that book vorce, it that very wicked people are cun- that the whole thing was simply a I suppose there always will that divorce was instituted by the be evenas until the end of the world, ning, and particularly so in matters dodge to give men (especially memRoman law, and that the Roman law but when some of the people of Eng- which concern their own benefit. bers of the Court) a sort of a free was practically a continuation of the land found that their Royal master Henry with all his acuteness, was not license to marry whom and when Jewish law. Our Divine Lord said to had established a new church which able to upset the Canon Law, and they liked Ito treat their wives simpthe people who asked him a question would grant divorce, they were not so he appointed "A Royal Commis- ly as goods and chattels), and refusupon this very subject, "Muses besion" to deal with the matter and to ed to sanction the new divorce laws. slow in following his evil, even if cause the hardness of your heart The commission It will seem then, as though there royal, example. When the Holy Fa- "rough hew it." gave you a Bill of Divorce." But ther refused to grant that lustful was composed of crannier and Lati- was sonic hope at that time of Engthere and then lle placed the irremov- monarch freedom from the bonds of mer (who, it will be remembered, was land being spared the curse of a diable seal of the Church upon the Ho- matriiiiony with Queen Catherine,I len- the friend and companion of Ridley, vorce law. The death of the young ly Sacrament of Matrimony, when he ry decided to take the law in his own he being the person after whom the King caused the whole scheme to fall said, "Whosoever putteth away his hands and called that apostate Cran- new college at the Melbourne Uni- to the ground, and once more and ,ife and marry another commiteth mer, who by !henry's royal fav:pir versity is named). These men set to for the last time England was free adultery, and whosoever inarrieth her Lad been made "Archbishop of Can- work, and very soon dreg up a new from the divorce lea, as there was who is put away commiteth adulterbury," and other worldly minded set of "ecclesiastical laws," or, in no divorce allowed at all. Mary, the tery." Thus in a few words the Bishops together. They went thro- Lord Halsbury's words, "they form- next Sovereign who followed Edward, Great Founder of the Catholic ugh a form The remained true to the Catholic faith, of trial and without giv- ed a new Church of England." Church, the Iiivine Lord of heaven ing Queen Catherine a fair 143 1' 0 - first act of this pseudo church court not the "reformed faith," and being and earth condemned and put out of existence forever suet: a thing as divorce in the ('atholic Church. In the early ages of the world women were not upon the high level upon whirl: they find themselves now. Mr. kitchen says "In the early days of Rome the wife was regarded by the law as the property of her husband, even taking a place below a child in ..tatus. Ile had the power of life and death over her. It made no matter of difference as to what he did, sbe could her !ord and master giving her permission first." This was practically the same as in the time when Our Lord The very
:
was upon earth. The Bill which Our Divine Lord refers to defines certain grounds upon wtich a divorce could he granted under the .Jewish law At the time of Christ "marriage was a
private
:
partnership, both
parties
were equal. and it was argued then that as marriage is or should he founded upon love and affection, and the greater the love and affection the greater the happiness," so it was argued by people who wisLwd to be divorced that "when their love cooled, or, in other words, they got tired of each other, they had a perfect right to separate and it was not considered at that time to be dishonorable." The process then a as very much more simple than it is now. The persons desiring to he divorced would present a hill of divorce delivered by a messenger in the presence of several witnesses, but after that bill was once what we call "served," the one now called the petitioner was not compelled to pro-
secute the suit publicly. The Fathers of the early Christian Church exercised a great influence amongst the people against this law of divorce but, unfortunately, for England as well as for the other parts of the world, the law of divorce instead of being entirely thrown one side, has become the means whereby either party to the solemn sacrament, or what the Protestants call civil contract, can have it put an end to. At this present stage of our article I do not know that we need concern ourselves very much about the law of other countries, but we will just confine ourselves to those of England and afterwards those of her Doilinions beyond the seas. There is no getting away from facts (much as An, beans would like to deny and do d?ny it) that it is owing to the influence of the 1nzlican Church, or in other words the Reformed Church of England, that divorce proceedings have taken such a firn^ footing in EnIland and every part of the Britsh Dominic-ins. Until Henry VIII. in .
CANNING
per chance of defence, "tr.e.I tae cause" and granted the King a divorce. That judgment was afterwards confirmed by a Convocation of I lenry's Bishops and some of the clergy. To make it more binding, according to their views, :Ind perhaps to try and smooth down any .,ualies of such conscience as Henry may have bad left, both Houses of Parliament confirmed the sentence. immediately the Holy Father was informed of this, he excommunicated Henry, and some of the people of England seceded from Rome, or in other words, left the Catholic Church. There is this much comfort to he gleaned out of this dreadful circumstance in the knowledge that all English people did not concur in these proceedings, and that there are names, illustrious on the rolls of Loth Universities, and in the country, of men who willingly and voluntarily gave up their positions, declining to be bound by such heretical doctrine. The Canon law of the true Church upheld the Pope ; it could not do anything else, and that is exactly where Henry, had he not been so thiet-skinned, would have felt the pinch, but he was so madly what he called "in love with this Ann Boleyn" that he was ready to sacrifice anything and everytLing so that he could get her for his wife. Because, be it noted, that this Nlistress Anne, fond as .he ,.-as of her royal lover, and anxious as she was never to displease him, was acute and cunning
BRIDGE,
11
ELVILLE PARK.
was to pronounce a decree of divorce against Queen Catherine in favour of King lenry VIII. .Little did the people of England see then what dreadful consequences were to come frcaii this diabolical act of the wilful violation of that sacred law of marriage made by Almighty God Himself. From that day up till now, I
England has Known No Religious Peace
The true pastors of the Church had
to go through persecutions more terrible than words can utter. Those who have seen in England, in some of the old family mansions, " the priest holes" in which the poor hunted Catholic priests were given shelter by good faithful Catholic people, and who have read even the most mildly written accounts of their sufferings, privations, and all that they had to go through in 'rder to get to Christ's flock and build them up with the "Holy Sacrifice of the
\lass," can alone form some opinion as to the devastation ahich fell upon the country and her people through this arrogant monarch's diabolical deeds. So:ne of the statutes which were framed under that new "Commission" were never properly brought to a finish because in the midst of all the negotiations the wretched author of them died. Edward VI.. who "-as. his successor. wail unite a lad when he came to the throne, but he followed his father's footsteps only to a certain extent, maintaining what was then called.
a good Catholic, would not hear of any statute bein-4 on the hook which would allow persons to he divorced. It is no part of iny duty to make
any remarks about Mary's character as Queen it is suilicient for our purpose for the present to he thankful that she had the courage and presence of mind given to per by Almighty God to strike those divorce laws off the Statute Book of England. It is one of the inscrutable mysteries of Divine Providence why they were put on again, and why her sister Elizabeth, who was the next Sovereign, stuck to the new faith, and very speedily restored divorce proceedings on the Statute Books of the Realm. It would need almost a recapitulation of English L'istory to go through some of Elizabeth's reasons for doing what she did. It is, therefore, rather out of place in this article, and I hardly think necessary, because no doubt many of the "Record" readers are better acquainted with English history and have better memories than I have, so can recollect the chief events of that haughty Protestant Queen's reign. Suffice it to say that those laws have remained on the Statute Book ever since, and, if I am not mistaken. both parties to the suit were upon equal legal footing, and I say this because Mr. Kitchen tells us in his hook "that the Bishops did all they could to glee the husband greater advantages than the wife." It seems that Bach opinions have goad ground. ;