To my mind however, a 'religious'
ceremony is necessary, and I have chosen to hold it here,--with you
who have listened to me in this place many and many a time,--with
you as witnesses to the oath of fidelity and love I am about to take
in the presence of God! There is no clergyman present--no one to my
knowledge of any Church denomination except a Cardinal of the Church
of Rome who is my guest and friend, but who takes no part in the
proceedings. The Cross alone stands before you as the symbol of the
Christian faith,--and what I swear by that symbol means for me a vow
that shall not be broken either in this world, or in the world to
come! I need scarcely tell you that this is not the usual meaning of
marriage in our England of to-day. There is much blasphemy in the
world, but one of the greatest blasphemies of the age is the
degradation of the sacrament of matrimony,--the bland tolerance with
which an ordained priest of Christ presumes to invoke the blessing
of God upon a marriage between persons whom he knows are utterly
unsuited to each other in every way, who are not drawn together by
love, but only by worldly considerations of position and fortune. I
have seen these marriages consummated. I have seen the horrible and
often tragic results of such unholy union.
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