, 1880-06-13
MARRYING A DECEASED w1FE's SISTER

mAhh1lNt A DECEASED WIEEE SISTER
one OF the questions to be acted on by thu
new Parliament Of England is that Of legal
izing marriages between widowers and the
sisters Of their deceased wives. This Is ar
old questi0n,-one that has been discussed
and agttated In England for centuries. Il
has been presented to Parliament every yea1
for many years, and though bills repeating
the disability have passed the House Of Com
mons several times they have been objected
to and defeated in the House Of Lords.
J. Strange to say, the only class Of persons in
England obiecting to the legalization of such
marriages is faction in the Established
Church, All other Churches favor the bill,
as outside Of Great Britain and ireland such
marriages are sanctioned by the laws and by
the Churches Of nll other nations in Europe.
The repeal Of this prohibition of marriage
with deceased wife's sister has Of late years
] become an important matter In social as
we'll as legal sense in England. Thus the
English law recognizes the validity Of mar
riages contracted in foreign countries in all
! cases where such marriages were legal un-
] der the law Of the land where they took
| place. The consequence is that persons of
| means, desiring to contract marriage Of
| that kind. go over TO the Continent and are
| married. and their marriages are recognized
as legal In England, while the same mar
riages, if contracted in England, would be
declared illegal and icestuous. But the
desire for the great majority of marriages
between widowers md the sisters Of deceased
wives exists among persons in humble cir
cumstances, s,-work1nen, laborers, and per-
sons Of small means. The cases are such as
where q man marrieS and flas family of
children. lie is at hard labor and the wife,
as is often the case, is employed at labor rs
we'll as her husband. Under these cir
cnmstances she takes younger sister
into her family. to help. with the
housework and take care of the chill
dren. If in such case the wife die, the
husband finds himself with half-dozen
children on his hands whom 1t is impossible
for him to take care Of, and the wife's sister,
who has taken care Of the children all their
lives, is naturally retained as their foster
mother. In time the man wishes to marry
her, but the law forbids this as a sin and a
crime, and the result is that tile parties live
together as man and wife without being
married at all. Every village and town
III England has cases of this kind.
the men and women living together with
families growing around them, and who
would willingly be married if the law did
not prohibit that relation. Public opinion,
however, is In advance Of the law: and per-
sons thus situated are recognized among
their neighbors as living moral and discreet
lives in spite of the ban placed upon them by
the law. The legal disability, however,
exists; these children are in law illegitimate,
though their number is annually increasing.
The disability of such marriages exists no
where outside Of England, and there it is
considered a hardship needlesly inflicted
upon an honest and decorous class Of people.
The prejudice which insists on maintain
ing this disability is deeply rooted in the
Established Church, Of which body the great
majority Of the House Of Lords is composed.
They fear that in the surrender of this pro-
hihiuon will be surrendered some special
principle Oh which the doctrine or history of
that Church rests, and no Church ever sur
renders anything, especially prejudice of
long standing, until compelled to do so. The
Presbyterians, Methodists, and all others
rated in England lis "Dissenters," and the
Roman Catholics make no objection to the
removal OF the legal prohibition Of such
marriages. Even a large body of the Episco-
palians have asked its repeal. Among the |
eminent men in England who have atyarious
times asked the passage of a law legalizing |
such marriages and legitinlizing their chill !
t1ren are churchmen Of all creeds. Here is |
some Of the testimony. The Prince of |
Wales, addressing the House of Lords, said:
MY LoRps: l have to present q petition,
the lcgalization Of marrlage with dccenscd
wifes sister. present 1t, my Lords, on local
Els i i wo % f. cSnvon a}
taKe to the community at large, and therefore
give my hearty support to the noble Lord who
moves the second reading Of the bill.
| have read, With gre1t attention, the pam-
phlcts you we're so good to send me on the mar
r1age question. and cannot conceive how any
Intelligent and right-nindcd person can resist
Ehe force OF tho arguments they contain. con-
slider It clear that the Old Testament directly |
permits % marriage with deceased wife's sister.
In verse Is Of Leviticus xviii, the prohibition
: only agatnst marrying the wife's sister during
plies the liberty to marry the sister after her
leath:-The Reu. DR.. Chalners.
Is the marriage Of a widower with his late
yife,s sister within the prohibited degrees? In
lnswer No. It IS intcrlictcd neither BY Express
Gritty is not to Be- ident.isod WITH moral purjty
,r matrimonial fidelity.-Thc Rev. Dr. Eatiie, tafe
Professor Of Biblical Litcrut4rr IN the Enitzd ]
o5esbytcrian Church, Scotland.
am decidedly in fuvor of a change in the law
egard1ng marriage with deceased w1fe's sis- |
er: 1t appears to nc to be at present In posi-
ion most unsatfsfactory, both In point Of jus-
leo and policy; and have never scrupIed to
xpress that opinion. We have no right 10 Gre |
ms of mans creating, not Gods. The arr11-
anns & &agatnss them n from Scripture has always
experience Of social life among tie poor Ia !
sorthern town leads me to lament the existence I
I any arbitrary hfnderance such as l believe |
ais to BET to the legal union OF two persons |
those illegal union Is the certain alternatlve'
-1he 11 ;t Rso 0r: pauuhqn Aa*ter Of use Tenp1e.
kviii., 49, as prohibiting marriage with q de-
cascd WIGS sister. Or merely as saying that a
ian should not take two wives together, at the |
anne time, being SO related2 Certainly, that !
eEse appears to have the latter meaning, thsr
no sisters should rot be living together In the
ame noose as "aVes OF the same person. Is