which will make marriage more or less binding, binding enough to compel the fulfillment of the obligations which follow from it, which are inherent in it and inseparable from it.
One may borrow money from another and feel that the essence of the loan is the verbal promise, or the mental intention, to repay the money. It is, but it is also indispensable for the protection of the lender that there shall be some visible evidence of the loan and the conditions of repayment. Otherwise the loan may prove to be as unimportant to the borrower as it too often is when there is no formality about it.
The same principle is true of marriage. Therefore it is always regarded as a social contract.
And when a young man tells a young girl that the essence of marriage is their mutual love, he is correct, but if he fails to protect her rights and the rights of possible offspring by a social contract which binds him, he is a scoundrel.
But we are getting new ideas in the matter of marriage in our day. Getting married has become a very commonplace thing. If one does not like one's partner, it is easy to get another, and start all over again. It is like taking a meal in a chance restaurant, he can find another restaurant for the next meal. If one does not like one's husband or wife,
