British House of Lords, October 27, 1867
Milords, I rise today to speak on a matter of the utmost Urgency and Import. It is my understanding that the Prime Minister is seriously considering putting before this House a Bill that would allow women to Choose the man they would Marry. Women to choose their Mates! As a Loyal Servant of Her Majesty and a God-fearing Christian Soul, I wish to register my most strenuous Objections to such a move.
As you know, the Institution of Marriage has involved arrangements made between a man and a woman's father since Time Immemorial. To accept any other arrangement would be to Debase the concept of Marriage, and to render this Sacred Institution all but meaningless.
As is well known, women have neither the Moral nor Intellectual capacity to be entrusted with a Decision of such Importance as whom to take for a spouse. One day, a woman may find herself drawn to a Wealthy Banker; the next, to a Muscle-bound Blacksmith. This Situation is ripe with potential for Indecision, at best, or the Mortal Sin of Infidelity, at worst. Clearly, we are Honour-bound to save the Delicate Creatures from such Temptations.
"Woman shall cleave unto her Husband," the Bible commands us, "and he shall have Mastery over her." If women are given the Power to pick and choose whom they are to marry, they shall also have the power to Reject suitors, or, for that matter, Husbands. If a woman feels equal to her husband, she will not easily Submit to his Authority over her. Milords, I submit to you that not only does this go against that Natural Law about which St. Thomas Aquinas so eloquently wrote, which is, when all is said and done, God's law, but it is a certain Recipe for Anarchy!
What sort of House could be created by a woman who now saw Marriage as her Choice rather than her Duty? I would suggest that she would be more interested in pursuing her own Fleeting Interests and Affairs than in attending to the Raising of her Children, a situation which would actually be doing Violence to them. We have a Sacred Trust, owed to Future Generations, not to allow this to happen.
Proponents of this Measure argue that it will not force Change upon those of us whose Christian values demand that Marriage remain as it Always has been: the union of a man and a chosen woman at the behest of her father. I find their assurances most Hollow. For I can see a Time when marriage will be Redefined to allow the Union of people of different Races, or even between Individuals of the same Sex! We must raise our voices and shout NO! to this Measure now in order to avert worse Horrors in the Future!
Some Opponents of the measure have suggested a Compromise measure in which the union of a man and woman by choice rather than arrangement have all of the Characteristics of a Marriage, with all the Rights and Privileges that the Institution calls for, but be known by another name, such as Civil Union. Milords, this is no Compromise. It is Capitulation! We are not here to Quibble about the meaning of Words...well, we are not here solely for that Purpose, in any case. But, to the Point: if an act is Offensive, what matters what Name it goes by? And, I stand here before you to state Unequivocally that this idea is Rank, indeed.
Some may say that we owe our Constituents - the Landowners and Aristocrats who make up the majority of Responsible Persons in our Society - a Duty to listen to their Opinions on this matter. We cannot know, of course, but I would suggest that they have, in the Majority, come to the Conclusion that allowing women to choose their spouses is an Abomination, just as we must. However, even if they Proved to be of a more Liberal bent, it would still be Recumbent upon us to vote against such a Measure, the Evil of which is Unarguable.
This is not a Time for Gentle Words. Any Prime Minister who would Dare bring such a Measure before this House, and any Honourable Member who would consider Casting a Vote for such a measure, must be warned that they are Endangering their Immortal Souls. Make no mistake, gentlemen, the Fires of the Pit beckon all who would Approve of giving women the Power to Choose whom to wed.
I trust you will search your Consciences and Act accordingly.