LETTER I.
THE LAW VINDICATED ON SOCIAL PRINCIPLES.
Dear Mr. Dean,
On the 27th of February, 1850, I discharged a very painful duty by taking part in the debate on the Bill for enabling widowers to marry the sister of their deceased wife. I say a painful duty, for the very discussion of such a subject is, to my mind, most perilous to the best interests of society; for which opinion I shall, I hope, before I conclude, adduce sufficient reasons.
From the tone and temper evinced by some members of the House of Commons it was clear to me that I should damage the weight of the arguments I might adduce against the proposed measure, were I to lay any stress upon Scriptural denunciations against such a marriage. I rested, therefore, my argument solely on the comparatively low, yet firm, ground of social policy, contenting myself with a simple avowal of my own belief in the higher prin-
