bridegroom"; and our Lord, in many of his parables and discourses, appropriates the title to himself. The Evangelical prophet uses the same metaphor of marriage in describing the Church, in whose name he says, I will rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; for he hath clothed me with the garment of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels. And again: As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. The same allusions to marriage are found in the Apocalypse, when the enraptured prophet saw the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, as a bride adorned for her husband; when he was invited to see the bride, the Lamb's wife, and when he unfolded the infinite joy and glory which shall be consummated at the marriage feast of the Lamb".

It is the more necessary to insist upon this metaphorical representation of the unity of Christ with his Church, under the name of marriage, and upon the high authority of the holiness of marriage, as an inference from that representation, because it has been insinuated, with little knowledge of Scripture, of primitive antiquity, and of the history of the doctrine of marriage and divorce, that the propagation and maintenance of this opinion in the thirteenth century, upon the authority of the Fathers, gave rise to the notion of the indissolubility and sacramental

n

John iii. 29. See Ux. Ebr. 1. ii. c. 16. lxii. 5. P Rev. xxi. 2, 9. xix. 7, 9.

O Isa. Ixi. 10.

character of marriage, and was the ground upon which the religious ratification superseded what is affirmed to be the more ancient doctrine, that marriage is a civil contract in such a sense, that being improperly contracted it may be annulled, notwithstanding the religious ratification. It is more necessary to notice, than to refute, such a series of assumptions, which have no foundation in fact, and no power to disparage the truth. There are other arguments of a more practical nature confirmatory of the holiness of marriage, and contributing to justify the inference of its religious ratification.

It is one of the chief rules of Christian duty to do all things decently and in order', and to do them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. This rule is immediately connected by the apostle with the duties of husbands and wives; and it appears consistent, that a Christian man, in appropriating to himself the benefits of the divine institution, should acknowledge the ordinance and intreat the blessing of God. The Christian is also required to marry in the Lord', and the community of faith prepares the way for a community of religious offices: and as marriage derives its origin and authority from the institution of God, it is but natural that the mutual vow, which is made in virtue of his ordinance, should be confirmed and made obligatory upon the conscience by an act of solemn adjuration and invocation of his name. The

A. L. Schott. Accessiones Juridicæ, ad Gerhard Tract. de Conj. ad sect. 63. sqq.

1 Cor. vii. 39.

duties and the cares of marriage are of such a nature as to demand all the advantage which can be derived from the solemnity of a religious ratification, and all the aid which can be obtained by public prayer and intercession. In entering into a covenant which death only can dissolve, in devoting his whole confidence and love to the wife of his bosom, in resigning the preferences of his own will to the duty and upon the condition of mutual submission, in anticipating the anxieties which are inseparable from the maintenance and education of children, and in revolving all the changes and chances of wedded life, of richer and poorer, of better and worse, of sickness and of health, until death shall determine them, the pious man will not scruple to strengthen his heart with a regulated faith in the ordinance and dispensations of God, and with earnest prayer that his goodness may bless, in the happiness of the individual, what his wisdom has provided for the benefit of mankind and in the solemn act of forsaking his father and mother, with a grateful recollection of the experience of his youth, and of cleaving unto his wife, to become the head of a new family, he will not think it enough to make even a public declaration of his engagement, without at the same time invoking the aid of Him, who is at once the author of marriage, and the present witness between a man and the wife of his youth-of Him who alone cau bless the fulfilment, and punish the violation, of the conjugal vow.

Such considerations have operated in all ages and in all countries to connect the ratification of marriage with religious rites. The practice is not with

out exception; but the exceptions are of such a nature as to give force and validity to the rule. The form of Spartan marriages, as it is recorded by Plutarch", is quite peculiar: but while it was conducted secretly by the parties, and with an entire neglect of religious ceremonies, there was the appearance rather of an intrigue than of a marriage, which was so rigidly concealed, that the bride often became a mother, not only before she was publicly acknowledged, but before she was even seen by her husband in the light of day. In other countries the barbarous condition of the people abates the weight and authority of the example, or the brief and imperfect record of their manners renders it hazardous to draw any conclusion in favour or in prejudice of the religious ratification. Thus among the ancient Germans, the man sent to the woman whom he proposed to marry a dower, and afterwards presented her with a bridled horse, oxen, a shield, sword, and arms*. Among the Rhodians the bride was summoned to her husband's house by a herald, and upon his proclamation was conducted to the chambery. The Boeotian bride was covered with asparagus, and afterwards crowned". The Persians and the Assyrians confirmed their espousals with joining

In v. Lycurg. Potter's Antiq. b. iv. c. 11.

'Tac. de Mor. Germ. sect. 18. where he contrasts the simple manners of the Germans with the customary ceremonies of his own age and country, with reference to which he pronounces of their nuptial gifts, Hoc maximum vinculum, hæc arcana sacra, hos conjugales Deos arbitrantur.

▾ Plutarch. in Problem. c. 140. apud Gerhard, s. 458.

- Plutarch. in Præcept. Connub. c. 2. Ibid.

of hands. A religious ratification appears to be more distinctly insinuated in those forms in which the participation of some libation or sacrifice may be disguised under the ordinary acts of eating or drinking. The splendour of the marriage feast among the Persians is expressly recorded in the history of Ahasuerus and Esther. The Macedonians ate bread which had been cut with a sword: the Galatians drank out of the same cup in token of the community of marriage. In some places it was the custom for the bride and bridegroom to pass under a yoke; but the custom is no otherwise remarkable, than as it gives the name to the conjugal union, and as it attests the divine and sacred character of marriage, by assigning the epithet of jugalis to Juno. In Scotland the practical inconvenience more than compensates the theoretical simplicity of

a Arrian. de Gest. Alexandr. 1. iii. Ibid.

Esther ii. 18.

Qu. Curtius, 1. iii. apud Gerhard.

Plutarch. lib. de Cl. Mulieribus. Ibid. Similar rites prevail among the Caffres, whose wives are sometimes courted, more frequently bought, at the price of ten or more cows. The bride is carried to the bridegroom's hut, and examined by the matrons of the craal; if she is approved, a number of oxen are killed, and the whole party feast for four days running. On the fourth day the bride is stripped naked, and carried by two of her companions round the whole circle; she is then presented to the chief of the clan, who exhorts her to be a good wife and mother, and faithful to her husband. The bridegroom follows, and receives the same injunctions. On his return to his party his relations present a vessel of milk to the bride, reminding her whose cows produced it. She drinks of it, and by that act becomes his lawful wife. Enc. Metropol.