titute the
inner tie which makes the twain one, and binds them together amid all
the chances and changes of this earthly life.[12] In the teaching of
both Christ and {225} the apostles marriage is presented as a high
vocation, ordained by God for the enrichment of character, and invested
with a holy symbolism. According to St. Paul it is the emblem of the
mystic union of Christ and His Church, and is overshadowed by the
presence of God, who is the archetype of those sacred ideas which we
associate with the name of fatherhood.

(2) Though marriage is the most personal of all forms of social
intercourse, there are many varied and intricate interests involved
which require _legal recognition_ and adjustment. Questions as to the
legitimacy of offspring, the inheritance of property, the status and
rights of the contracting parties, come within the domain of law. The
State punishes bigamy, and forbids marriage within certain degrees of
consanguinity. Many contend that the State should go further, and
prevent all unions which endanger the physical vigour and efficiency of
the coming generation. It is undoubtedly true that the government has
a right to protect its people against actions which tend to the
deterioration of the race. To permit those to marry who are suffering
from certain maladies of mind or body is to commit a grave crime
against society. But care must be taken lest we unduly interfere with
the deeper spiritual sympathies and affections upon which a true union
is founded. In agitating for State control in the mating of the
physically fit, the champions of eugenics are apt to exaggerate the
materialistic side of marriage, and overlook those qualities of heart
and mind which are not less important for the well-being of the race.
In the discipline of humanity weakness and suffering are assets which
the world could ill afford to lose.[13]

(3) In modern times the institution of marriage is menaced by two
opposite forces; on the one hand, by a revolutionary type of socialism,
and on the other, by the reactionary influence of self-interested
individualism. (_a_) It is contended by some advanced socialists that
among {226} the poor and the toiling home life is practically
non-existent; indeed, under present industrial conditions, impossible.
Marriage and separate family life are insuperable barriers, it is said,
to corporate unity and social progress. It is but fair to add that
this extreme view is now larg