The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1901-09-06

/ AmOuS tucSc fOV puPhS W Anoi
riages have occurred and there hav'
been born to them 10 children. SO q
| whom can hear and 81 are mutes. II
10 of the marriages there were no chill
dren born. Now. after one. two Of
three mutes have been born In sue
cession to parents, 1t would seem
sin. IL not a crime, for them to have
more. The law should prohibit 1t. But
II this cannot be done after marriage
the remedy for the future Is to pro
hibit the intermarriage of cousins
yes. and second cousins. To be born
deaf or blind is a sin against the child
and to have 1t supported by the state
Is drain upon the treasury that might
be avoided.
But being deaf or blind Is not all
the evil that follows these incestuous
marriages. II the children are not
deaf or blind they are generally under
some physical disability. They are
consumptives or epileptics or idiotic.
and pass through life and leave no
sign. Fortunately most Of such mar
riages result In no progeny.
"Oh. WELL" some say, the levitt
ca law did not prohibit it, No. It
did not. and I reckon that Cain mar
ried his sister. We know that Abra-
ham married his half sister, and no
doubt that Is why no children were
born to them except one by grace in
their old age.
But 1t Is said that the Roman laws
and the laws Of England permit such
marriages. Yes. the Roman law did
until Pope Alexander ii stopped it and
prohibited fret, second and third cous-
ms from intermarrying. The laws Of
England permitted such marriages be-
cause the kings and the nobility want
ed to keep the crown and the titles
and their estates in their families.
And so our American people. who have
patterned after English law and pre-
cedent for more tnan 4 hundred years.
have been reluctant to make any
change In this regard.
But the question is now coming to
the front, and the time Is coming for
q change. 1t seems now to be an es-
tablished and universal rule tnat
these marriages entail upon the OH
spring evil consequences. bodily or
mentally, or both. The evil effect of
what Ii called breeding in" among
animals LEADS to the conclusion that
II Is an universal law Good stock,
blooded stock, Is not perpetlated N
that way. Heard a conceited man de-
clare that he was descended from the
CAROLS. of Carrollton, In old Mary.
land. Suppose he did. That was six
generations back and would give him
sixty tour ancestral fathers and moth
ers. and hence he had only one sixty
fourth part Of old Charles CAROLS
blood In his veins. know q lady who
boasts that her father could trace his
lineage back to Cromwell. That was
eighteen generations back. and would
give him $4,000 ancestors-not much
Of Cromwell's blood In her. 1t Is as
how rapidly the ancestral
tree widens. Two generations back |
gives q man only four great-grand-
fathers and grandmothers, but twenty
generations gives him over q million.
Just think Of It, young man. and quit |
Dragging about your ancestors, for
here are over q million different
strains Of blood in your veins, and no
ioubt some Of 1t is bad-very bad My
wife's grandfather was q Holt and his
grandfather was q Randolph. and his
was a Peyton and his was
Lord Rolfe, who married Pocahontas.
That was ten generations back. and
yives my wife 1.o24 ancestors. and
therefore, she has 1,1,024th part Of
Poky's blood In her veins. Mighty
Him strain. 1t seems to me-not much
mum about her. One day I ventured
o ask her ABOUT the other 1923 parts
hat did not come from Poky and she
lever said anything. but looked at me
n q peculiar tone Of voice that re-
minded me 1t was none Of my busi-
less. But I honor q noble ancestry.
used to think that maybe I descend
ID from Captain John Smith. but on
found that he was new
r married and had no children to
peak of.-Bill Arp. in Atlanta Consti-
ution.