CHAPTER XIV.
VIEWS ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE.
The widespread discussion we are having, just now, on the subject of marriage and divorce, reminds me of an equally exciting one in 1860.

A very liberal bill, introduced into the Indiana legislature by Robert Dale Owen, and which passed by a large majority, roused much public thought on the question, and made that State free soil for unhappy wives and husbands.

A similar bill was introduced into the legislature of New York by Mr.Ramsey, which was defeated by four votes, owing, mainly, to the intense opposition of Horace Greeley.

He and Mr.Owen had a prolonged discussion, in the New York _Tribune_, in which Mr.Owen got decidedly the better of the argument.
There had been several aggravated cases of cruelty to wives among the Dutch aristocracy, so that strong influences in favor of the bill had been brought to bear on the legislature, but the _Tribune_ thundered every morning in its editorial column its loudest peals, which reverberated through the State.

So bitter was the opposition to divorce, for any cause, that but few dared to take part in the discussion.