question of the lawfulness of the marriage under discussion, was decided. The following is their record: "May a man lawfully espouse the sister of his deceased wife, who has left him children begotten on her body by him? To which was answered, That this is in no wise lawful nor expedient, and the Church must see to it, that no such marriages be solemnized in it."[1]
In the records of the transactions of the Fourth National Synod, held at Lyons in 1563, we find this minute: "It being demanded, Whether it were only a prohibition of humane laws, that the widow of a deceased brother might not be married to his surviving brother? The Council answered, That such marriages were also forbidden by the word of God; and though, under the law of Moses, it was ordained, that, when the elder brother died childless, the younger brother should raise up seed to him; yet this was only a temporary law to God's ancient Israel, and intended only for the preservation and distinction of their tribes."[2] This
