--As long as his heart is bound up in its
first bundle of love and devotedness--as long as his affections
remain reciprocated and uninterrupted--so long temptations cannot take
effect. This heart is callous to the charms of others, and the very
idea of bestowing his affections upon another is abhorrent. Much more
so is animal indulgence, which is morally impossible.
3. SECOND LOVE NOT CONSTANT.--But let this first love be broken off,
and the flood-gates of passion are raised. Temptations now flow
in upon him. He casts a lustful eye upon every passing female,
and indulges unchaste imaginations and feelings. Although his
conscientiousness or intellect may prevent actual indulgence, yet
temptations now take effect, and render him liable to err; whereas
before they had no power to awaken improper thoughts or feelings. Thus
many young men find their ruin.
4. LEGAL MARRIAGE.--What would any woman give for merely a nominal
or legal husband, just to live with and provide for her, but who
entertained not one spark of love for her, or whose affections were
bestowed upon another? How absurd, how preposterous the doctrine
that the obligations of marriage derive their sacredness from legal
enactments and injunctions! How it literally profanes this holy of
holies, and drags down this heaven-born institution from its original,
divine elevation, to the level of a merely human device.
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