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secure the legitimacy of offspring. I shall venture to regard it as incontrovertible, that Catholics must desire, that, when a marriage with a deceased wife's sister has been duly celebrated, it shall have the same civil validity with all other marriages. Do any reasons exist why the law of this country should not be so altered as to give such civil validity ?
I am able to suggest only three probable reasons.
- (1). A desire to prevent such marriages altogether.
- (2). A desire to discourage them and diminish their number.
- (3). A fear lest, if the law were altered, Catholics would marry without dispensation.
(1). The direct mode of accomplishing this object, of preventing such marriages, if it were desired, would be for the Church invariably and resolutely to refuse such dispensation, and utterly to condemn such marriages. But this, the Church does not, and will never do. Human nature requires such marriages. Long prohibition has indeed created a prejudice in the minds of some, as if there was something impure in these alliances; but circumstances are often occurring in which a marriage with a deceased wife's sister is the only one a man can, with prudence and justice, contract. And, so urgent is the necessity (not arising from ungoverned passion, as some unfeelingly and ignorantly allege, but from affection, and a sense of duty), that, after long consultation and deliberation, those who appear to be the most devout and conservative, then, frequently resolve to submit to all the consequences of disregarding the law. To prevent such marriages has always proved impossible, and is not, therefore, likely to be attempted now.
(2). The direct mode of effecting this object, viz. the discouraging of such marriages, as well as the preceding one, would be to refuse dispensations, or to grant them only in a few cases. But this is not the course adopted. Whenever asked for, they are granted, unless there has been some immorality. And,
