So long as the members are one in mind and feeling there is an unconscious harmony which has nothing to do with authority； but with even slight divergence comes the need of definite control.What would happen on shipboard if the captain had to govern by mere personal ascendancy， without the backing of maritime law and custom？ Evidently there would be mutinies， as among pirate crews， which only an uncommonly strong man could quell； and the family is often in a similar condition.
The relaxation of moral sentiment regarding marriage by migrations and other sorts of displacement is easily traced in statistics， which show that divorce is more frequent in new countries， in cities梡eopled by migration 梐nd in the industrial and commercial classes most affected by economic change.To have an effective public opinion holding people to their duty it is important that men should live long in one place and in one group， inheriting traditional ideas and enforcing them upon one another.All breaking up of old associations involves an "individualism"which is nowhere more active than in family relations.
The same principles go to explain diminished control by the law and the church.Thus we notice that the states of the American Union， having made their marriage laws in comparative independence of the English tradition and in harmony with a relaxing public sentiment， have much divorce； while in Canada the restraining hand of that tradition has kept the law conservative and made divorce difficult and rare.The surprising contrast in this regard between the two sides of the Detroit or St.Lawrence rivers is only partly explained by the different social traits of the people.
Christian teaching is the chief source of the ideal of marriage as a sacred and almost indissoluble bond， and church organization has been the main agent in enforcing this ideal.The Roman Catholic church has never admitted the possibility of absolute divorce， and to her authority， chiefly， is due its absence in Spain and Italy； while in England the Established Church， not much behind Rome in strictness， has been perhaps the chief cause of conservatism in English law and sentiment.And the other Protestant churches， though more liberal， are conservative in comparison with the drift of popular feeling.So the fact， needless to discuss in this connection， that the disciplinary authority of the church has declined， makes directly for the increase of divorce.
The relaxation of the family is due， then， to changes progressive on the whole， but involving much incidental demoralization； being in general those arising from a somewhat rapid decay of old traditions and disciplines and a consequent dependence upon human impulse and reason.
The evil involved is largely old evil in a new form； it is not so much that new troubles have arisen between husband and wife as that a new remedy is sought for old ones.They quarreled and marriage vows were broken quite as much in former times as now， as much in England today as in America：
the main difference is in the outcome.
Moreover， the matter has its brighter side； for divorce though full of evils， is associated with a beneficent rise in the standing of women， of which it is to a certain degree tl~e cause.The fact that law and opinion now permit women to revolt against the abuse of marital power operates widely and subtly to increase their self-respect and the respect of others for them， and like the right of workmen to strike， does most of its good without overt exercise.
Endnotes French and English， 357.Philip， chapter 28.Man and Woman， 396.Die Muse das Leben zwar gem begleitet， aber es keineswegs zu leiten versteht.That the increase of divorces is due chiefly to the initiative of the wife is seen in the fact that as they become more numerous an increasing proportion is granted at the instance of the woman.Under the old regime the divorcing of a husband was almost unknown， the first ease in England oeeurring in 1801.(See the essay on Marriage and Divoree in Mr.Bryce's Studies in History and Jurisprudence.) In the United States a great preponderance are now granted to wives， and the greater the total rate the greater this preponderance.In those states where the rate is highest the proportion iB from two-thirds to three-fourths.It is not far wrong to say that the old idea of divorce was to rid the husband of an unfaithful wife， the new is to rid the wife of an uncongenial or troublesome husband.