The marriage of a widow with two brothers can hardly be refused: there will be fewer indeed to agitate for it, because there are more who would wish to marry a wife's sister than a brother's widow: but the claim by parity of reasoning will be felt to be so strong, especially by a particular set of “doctrinaire” legislators, that it will be practically impossible to refuse it.
The wife's niece of course will be included, as being a more remote degree, in the measure now proposed: and a fearful addition it will be to the amount of temptation and discomfort which will invade our families.
And how long will it be, ere some plausible case is made, for that which St. Paul says was “not so much as named among the Gentiles”—for a man to have his mother-in-law? Already the opinion has been broadly uttered before the late commission, and printed after revision, “I do not see any objection to marriages where there is no consanguinity[1].” And some ingenious critic may find out, that for any thing in the Greek of 1 Cor. v. 1. it may allude to intercourse not calling itself marriage. And so that which the Holy Ghost taught the Prophet to
- ↑ Report &c. qu. 849.
