"'M. l'Abbe preaches for his own saint, for it was Jesus Christ who
invented adultery,' said Comte Octave. 'In the East, the cradle of the
human race, woman was merely a luxury, and there was regarded as a
chattel; no virtues were demanded of her but obedience and beauty. By
exalting the soul above the body, the modern family in Europe--a
daughter of Christ--invented indissoluble marriage, and made it a
sacrament.'

"'Ah! the Church saw the difficulties,' exclaimed M. de Grandville.

"'This institution has given rise to a new world,' the Count went on
with a smile. 'But the practices of that world will never be that of a
climate where women are marriageable at seven years of age, and more
than old at five-and-twenty. The Catholic Church overlooked the needs
of half the globe.--So let us discuss Europe only.

"'Is woman our superior or our inferior? That is the real question so
far as we are concerned. If woman is our inferior, by placing her on
so high a level as the Church does, fearful punishments for adultery
were needful. And formerly that was what was done. The cloister or
death sums up early legislation. But since then practice has modified
the law, as is always the case. The throne served as a hotbed for
adultery, and the increase of this inviting crime marks the decline of
the dogmas of the Catholic Church. In these days, in cases where the
Church now exacts no more than sincere repentance from the erring
wife, society is satisfied with a brand-mark instead of an execution.
The law still condemns the guilty, but it no longer terrifies them. In
short, there are two standards of morals: that of the world, and that
of the Code. Where the Code is weak, as I admit with our dear Abbe,