Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1868-09-17
FORBIDDEN NAREI,CES

me Church OF England FL aoiIed N a canon
Which was long ago mad. bv Parliament part
of the civil code. the provisions of the Levitt
Cal law, as sci forth ia the 18Th chapter of the
book ef LfyitiCus, which forbid Jews 10 inter-
marry with wOm-n .suear o. kin" to them, and
specifically with mother, a st"pnOthsr, a
sister, grand -GauEhter, a baI.-SI-trr. an aunt,
an uncle's wife, a dauGhter-in-lax a brothers.
wife, wIfe's mother, vvife's daughter or
wIfe's grand daughter. The practice of the
early Christian Church was an conformity
with the Mosaic law, whi,h applies only TO
men, but The English Church canon applies to
females as well rs males, and extends tn pro
hioheodegrees a 10 include cases of parallel
nature with those expressly mentioned. For
instance, IL begins by the saving which - often
quoted, "A man may not marry his grand
mc'her, though the mother alone IL spoken
OF IN LeyItlcus; and II prChiblts a man from
marrying his deceased wIie's sISter-a proyi-
>IcR over which there has been no little dis
Pute IN England, and pro0a1 DIV will BE- IN this
country shortly. A: present there are no reg
ulstIons II force in the Episcopal church here
ON the subject, except that its members are
bound as citizens TO respect the civil laws OF
the States IN which they reside. These laws
being thought 10 be more lax In some cases than
~ consistent with the injunetIons OF Scripture
an effort is about to b. made TO supplement
them by an authoritative ecclesiastical statute
which shall clearly define what marriages are
and what are not prohibit, and thus furnish
guide for the conduct Of the faithful. In the
General Convention of the Epis Church
10 be held In New Ysrk York next month
= canon concernng marriage is to b. brought
before it fcr consideration, which will proba-
bly, provoke long and earnest controversy
The proposed canon, like that of the English
Church. applies 10 both sexes, and will, II is
SaId, absolutely forbid marriages between
man and his stepmothar. stepmother's daugh-
ter, mother sister, fathers sister. wifes mother
wifs's daughter. wifss granddaug hter, uncle's
wife, brother 5 wife, sons wife, Also bet ve,u
= woman and her stepmOther, stapfa,her's
son. mothers brother, fathers brother, hus-
bands father, husbands SON. husbands
grandson, aunts husband. husbands brother.
daughters husband. And n will ceusure As
marriages which ought to be Nv oided, those be-
tween a man and his wife's sister, brothers
daughter, sisters daughter, .raudson's daurh.
ter, nephew's wife, wife's brothers daughter.
wife sisters daughter. Also be- vveen n woman
ana ner sister ; husband, brothers son, sisters
son, gTanddaughters husband, niece's husband
husbands brothers son, husbands siSter-s
son This prohibition and cansure Will Of
course have none other than a moral effect. I'm,
a. II nj brand with disgrace the connections
concerned, and will visit them with socIa,
Teprooa;lOn tan;amOunt 70 4 legal penalty. We
may expect 10 see considerable opposition
10 tn' measure partly on the ground that il
concerns the civil auth orit:es only. and is no,
proper subject for ecclesiastical legislation.