Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1888-07-26
The Marriage of Cousins.

These questions relate to a subject
about which We are often consulted, and
very naturally, because, though mar
riages between first cousins are OF fire.
ouent occurrence, there is general and
deep seated prejudice against them;
"1, Is it proper from religious standpoint
for liyst cousins to marry?"
IL. Is it not positive sin to knowingly
enter into such marrlagc?"
..":}. Is il not probable that the offspring of
such parents Will become insane ldiotic, or
weak persons, both mentally and physical
Typ
The marriage Of first cousins is not
contrary to the Protestant canon law,
that relationship is not within the pro,
hlbited degrees of consanguinlty as de-
fined by the Church of England, and as
set forth in table shown up by Arch
bishop Parker in 1868. In the Roman
Catholic church such marriages are as
,ule forbidden, yet they may be per
united by special dispensation. AS Il
Catholic writer expresses it, Sin cases
where the alternative is marriage or
misery, the Church us thoughtful
mother, grants her dispensation."
According to the Protestant theory,
therefore, the marriage of first cousins
is proper from religious standpoint, y
or, more correctly, religious point Of
view, and according to the Roman Cath
Ole rule it is permissible under certain
circumstances, and therefore cannot be
described as positive SIM"
If we turn to the Bible for our ALL
thority we find that before the period
of Moses there was no prohibition at all
against marriage on the ground Of con-
sanguinity, and the prejudice was rath-
err against marrying out Of the circle of
kinship. Adams sons married their
own sisters Abraham his half sister;
his brother Major his niece, the daUgh-
ter of another brother; Jacob married
at the same time two sisters " no were
his cousins Esau's wife was his cousin,
Abrams his aunt, and Judas his daggh-
ter in-law, the widow Of his own son.
The aversion in thoae days was not to
the marriage Of relatives, no matter how
near, but to intermarriagc with foreign
ers, or those far removed in blood.
But the Mosaic law forbade fifteen
marriages within speci fed degrees. tho
among them those Of cousins were not
included. In the New Testament we
find few directions as to marriage, and
those chiefly concerning marriages with
unbelievers and Gregory the Great, in
writing of marriages Of own cousins, put
his objection to them on physiological
grounds, saying that 1--WE have learned
from experience that from such d mar
riage offspring cannot grow"
The physiological argument, the one
most commonly advanced, has been
carefully examined of late years by men
of science, and more especially by Mr..
George II. Darwin, Il son Of the great
Darwin, and himself distinguished BIZ
ologist. He went through very la
borious inquiry and statistical study on
on the subject, and found that the facts
completely upset Pope Gregory's theory
as to the sterllity Of first cousin mar
riagcs, statistics showing "slight bal
ance in favor Of thu fertility Of the first
cousins" as compared with ordinary
marriages. This circumstance, he sug-
gests, may be explained by the infer
ence that marriages between cousins
are more likely to occur where there is
u large group of persons bearing that
relationship to one another, and who
therefore belong to families in which
fertility is hereditary. But he found
"a shade Of evidence that the death rate
of offspring is higher than among the
families of non sanguipsous marriages."
As to insanity and idiocy among the
offspring OF frst-cousn marriages, Mr..
Darwins investigations led him to the
the conclusion tibet the facts did not
justify the popular impression, he find
ing that the percentage Of such offspring
in asylums is not greater than that il
the general population to such an cx-
tent az to enable one to say positively
chat the marriage Of first cousins has
any effect on the production of insanl-
~ and idiocy,' With respect to deaf
mutes. he discovered no difference,
AS ,hc result of the whole inquiry h.