I Have received so many Testimonies of Kindness from you, that I cannot be­lieve otherwise, but the Advice you give me, not to trouble the World with the Discourse I have promised of the Marriage of Cousin Germans, with which you are pleased to say, I have threatned the Nation, and am like to make a Distur­bance in it, proceeds from the same cause likewise, your continued Goodness and Af­fection to me; but I assure you, I am so far from having any turbulent or unquiet Pro­jects in my Head, that a natural Inclination to all the greatest Instances of Peace and Friendship, is a thing so essential to my Constitution, that I cannot take so much as a just and necessary Revenge without a [Page 2] great deal of real Trouble and Affliction to my self, much less would I give any the least Occasion of Displeasure to those from whom I never received the least Disobliga­tion; and you cannot but imagine, that I am a Cousin German my self to some body or other, and therefore have no reason to be angry with the Name, unless I have a mind to write Books against my self, as Mr. Bax­ter does; but yet after all, I see no Reason to desist from my undertaking, and that it may not be thought that what I do, is the effect only of an obstinate and wayward hu­mour without Reason; therefore I hold my self obliged to give you all the Satisfaction which the narrow bounds of a Letter will allow.

I am very sensible what a mighty torrent of prejudice I am to stemm, and that not only from the Displeasure of those, who are themselves engaged in Marriages of this Nature, or are descended from such as have been so, but also from this, that all the Learned men that have written, do general­ly determine contrary to me, insomuch, that even the Lutheran Churches them­selves, which to avoid scandal, do not allow the Practice of it, yet it is the received Opinion of all their Divines, that all such Marriages are lawful; but, Sir, if a man [Page 3] must never stand up in the defence of Truth, when there is an Interest engaged against it; and if this had always been the Practice of the World, then no vulgar Error could ever have been corrected, nor any fashionable or customary Vice reproved. If this were a Rule universally to be observed, then our Saviour should not have come into the World, whose whole life after he entred up­on the Administration of his Prophetical Office, which he did about four Years be­fore his Crucifixion, was a perpetual Com­bat with the Prejudices, and the Passions, and the false Notions of men. And, Sir, the Vindication of that Truth which I pre­tend to maintain, being, as I think, of so manifest and undeniable Consequence to the Peace of the World, which was the great Design of our Saviours appearance upon Earth, and of all the Doctrines which he delivered, there is some Analogy, with all humble Reverence and Duty, be it spo­ken, betwixt the Case of my great Lord and Master (the Author and Finisher of our common Faith) and mine; for I am sent on his Errant by the Appointment of the Church, which hath thought fit to im­press the Priestly Character upon me, as he was on the Fathers; and the same Message is common to us both, to exhort people to [Page 4] love and be helpful to one another, and to perswade to the constant Practice of those Duties, which make both for Temporal and Eternal Peace.

If Prejudices, which will always be strong against every Undertaking that is but new and bold, were a sufficient Argument why men should not attempt them, then the Re­formation should never have been begun, the Copernican Hypothesis, and the Cartesian Philo­sophy should never have been communicated to the World; the Antipodes to this day would have remained as great an Heresie, as it was in those times of Ignorance and Darkness, when a Bishop was removed from his Office and Dignity for asserting it; the Circulation of the Blood would have been as great a Secret now, as it was before Solomons time, whom one Learned Author more Ingenious than Wise, would have to have been the Inven­tor of it; or as it hath been ever since till our late Famous Doctor Harvey discovered it; if this Principle were always to be fol­lowed, Columbus had left a new World un­descryed; nay, if this Principle were the general measure of Action, that a man must never speak, but in the common Road, and as the Prejudices or the present Interests of particular persons would have him, then no man should dare to oppose a Faction, [Page 5] though in defence of his King, his Coun­trey, or the Church; and still the more dan­gerous that Faction is, the more pressing is this Argument which is drawn from the Prejudices or the Passions of men upon us, to let them alone. But, Sir, we are not to be pleasers of men, but of God; and we are to tread in the steps of the Captain of our Salvation, who through much Tribu­lation, and through Death it self, the most painful and ignominious Death that Human Nature was capable of enduring, led us the way to Heaven; and who hath commanded us to do our Duty with Chearfulness and Courage, without either Fear or Favour, whatever the Event and Consequence of it be; The Disciple, said he,Matth. 10. 24, 25, 26, 27. is not above his Master, nor the Servant above his Lord: It is enough for the Disciple that he be as his Master, and the Servant as his Lord: Fear them not therefore: but what I tell you in Dark­ness, that speak ye in Light: and what ye hear in the Ear, that preach ye upon the House-tops. And if this were our Saviours Injunction to his Disciples, Twelve Poor and Inconsiderable men of no Interest or Reputation in the World, and against whom the Interest of the whole World was en­gaged, if they notwithstanding all the Dis­couragements, and all the Dangers they [Page 6] met with, did yet, for all that, persist in the defence of that Cause which they had undertaken; and did not only fight the good Fight of Faith, but after having received many heavy Stroaks and grievous Wounds, died manfully upon the Spot, and in the Field, as became true Soldiers of that hea­venly Warfare; how much more are we obliged, when we have not such Difficulties, or such Dangers to encounter with, to imi­tate so brave, and so blessed an Example? And what a shame would it be, when they have shewn us the way through so many Tribulations into the Joys and Glories of the other World, if we should be afraid, when it is for the Publick Good, and for the Peace of Mankind, that Cousin Germans should not Marry, to oppose so small an In­terest as will be found upon Examination to be engaged for it?

But yet after all, it is very strange, that there should be any Prejudices upon this ac­count, because so many are engaged to one another in the Band of Matrimony, who stand related in the Degree of Cousin Ger­mans, or at least, that they should be so prejudiced, as that this Prejudice of theirs should be incurable, when the Principles I have laid down are such, that they serve e­very whit as well to confirm the Marriages [Page 7] already consummate by bodily Knowledge, as to prevent those which are not yet en­tered into, or those which being solemni­zed in the face of the Church, have not yet received their final Consummation; the Reason is this. It is for the Interest of Man­kind, that Friendships should be spread as far as may be, and that the Concerns and Interests of many men should be as much as may be, perplexed and entangled into one another, that so the same common Hopes, and Fears, and Ends, and Desires, may pro­duce an Harmony in Affection, and a com­mon Band of Unity and Peace; and I shall make it appear evidently to the World in a very little time, that the Amorites were not only destroyed by a Supernatural Judgment, but by this natural Cause and Reason also, that being so guilty as they were of ince­stuous Copulations, their Friendships and their Interests were consined within so small a compass, and they were so divided among themselves, that they became an easie Prey to the Conqueror, and were di­vided into so many petty Principalities, each of which was no better than one pret­ty large Family; that what was said of the Britains, when Caesar made a descent upon this Island with his victorious Legions, was true, of them; Dum singuli pugnant, [Page 8] universi vincuntur; and I desire it may be considered, if, as the Amorites were used al­ways to Marry within so narrow a compass, which was the true reason of all those pet­ty Principalities in ancient times, when Abraham with his one Family was not on­ly called a Confederate of four Kings, but as appears by the event of the story, was in power and strength superior to Five, and yet could not muster above three hundred men; I say, if as the Amorites and other ancient Nations were used to Marry within these narrow limits, so now it should be the universal Practice for all men to Marry no farther of [...] than Cousin Germans, or se­cond Cousins, it is very easie to perceive how this would untie the straitest Bands of Human Society, which begin in Genera­tion, and are propagated first by Consan­guinity, and then by Marriage; neither are there any Friendships so trusty, nor any In­terests in the common Practice of the World that may so safely be relied upon, as those which depend by Consanguinity upon Obligations of Nature, or by Affinity upon the Matrimonial Contract; and if we should suppose all Families to marry with­in themselves, he must be blind that cannot see, that there would be almost so many di­vided and disagreeing Interests in the World, [Page 9] and that there would be no end of E­ternal Feuds and Quarrels between one Clan or Head of a Family and his Depen­dants, and another; whereas, if you mix these Families together, so as suppose there be twenty Persons allyed to one ano­ther in the Degree of Cousin Germans be­longing to two several Families, Ten of each, they shall marry the Ten Males into Ten new Families with which they had no Con­sanguinity or Affinity before, and the Ten Females likewise into Ten others, and if you take in the external Dependances by Trade, or Friendship, or Obligation of all these two and twenty Families, it is ma­nifest, that here must needs be a very great, nay, an almost incredible Advantage given to Friendship and Society among men, whereas on the contrary, if these Twenty persons shall intermarry with one another, being supposed to be Cousin Ger­mans, they acquire no new Interest or De­pendance by this Marriage; and as being Cousin Germans, being removed only by their immediate respective Parents from the com­mon head of the Family, this is a joyning the very first partings of Nature, and a return into the common Parent by those who are so nearly related by Consanguinity to him, that all that can be truly affirmed [Page 10] of their distance, is, that they are not immediately descended from his Loyns.

And this, instead of begetting Love in the World, does in reality produce Hatred; for when there is so good Reason why they should Marry farther off, and so plain a natural Demonstration, that it is exceeding­ly to the Prejudice of Mankind for them to intermarry with one another, if after this they shall yet notwithstanding do it, this looks exactly as if it were some Grudge or aversion which they have taken inwardly against all other Kindreds or Families, but their own; and whoever will give himself the leisure of revolving in his mind, not only the strength of this Demonstration, which is unanswerable, but also the Propor­tion in which the Marriage of Cousin Ger­mans is prejudicial to Mankind, will ma­nifestly discern, that it is naturally unlaw­ful, if that be the true measure of the Laws of Nature, which I have assigned, that they are all founded in the Interest of Mankind; and at least thus much must of necessity be granted, that it hath the same Reason of being forbidden, for which all Human Laws do forbid any thing in the World; for these Laws in all their Prohibitions, as well as in whatsoever they command, do consider nothing but the Interest of Human Society, [Page 11] and the Welfare of those people that are to obey.

Philo Judaeus in his Excellent Treatise de Legibus specialibus founds all the Prohi­bitions of the Law of Moses upón the Inte­rest of Human Society; and so does the Ci­vil Law of Rome, as may be seen in the In­stitutes of Justinian, and in the Digests themselves under the Title de Ritu Nuptia­rum, as I could prove more largely, if bre­vity were not the thing at which I now aim; and for this Reason, as well by the Jewish, as the Roman Law, the latter of which I can evidently prove, as to these Cases, was borrowed from the former, as hath already been taken notice by Mr. Sel­den and other Learned men, and as it might easily be proved by a particular in­duction; I say, as well by the Jewish, as the Roman Law, Affinities were forbidden to the same Degrees, that Consanguinities were, and the Roman Laws were so tender, which I believe was likewise borrowed from the Jews, for they had likewise such a thing as Adoption among them, that an adoptive Child was looked upon as a real one, and a man could no more Marry his adoptive Daughter than his own; the Reason was, because by Adoption and Affinity men were taken into that Family into which they [Page 12] were adopted, or to which they were al­lyed by Marriage, and so they were all look­ed upon as Confederates one with another, and therefore for the Interest of Human So­ciety, and for the enlarging of Friendships among men; it was more reasonable that they should seek abroad for new Dependan­ces and new Relations, than that they should intermarry at home with one ano­ther; and by that means shut up their Inte­rest in a more narrow compass, when it was capable of being farther spread to the great Benefit and Advantage of Human Life.

It is likewise further to be observed in this case, that the Egyptians, though otherwise a people hated by God, or at least forsaken and abandon'd by him, though the Divine Nature be in it self impassible, are no where charged with any incestuous Crime, no more are the Philistines or Moabites, or the Sons of Ammon, or of Amalek, the Tyri­ans, or the Sidonians; and it is well known, that all these were potent and formidable Nations, whereas the Amorites by con­fining their Interests within so small a com­pass, were a Prey to their Enemies, and to one another; and I can further make it un­questionably appear out of Aeschylus his [...], That the Marriage of Cousin Germans was generally held to be unlawful and de­testable all over the East.

If you demand further of me, how far these Prohibitions extended? I answer, that as it was for the Interest of Mankind, that new Friendships should be made by Marriage, so likewise both Gratitude and Interest would require, that the old ones should not be for­gotten, and that this was the Practice of the ancient Mortals, appears from a Pas­sage of St Austine in his de Civitate Dei: L 15 c. 16 Fuit antiquis patribus religiosae curae, nè ip­sa propinquitas se paulatim propaginum or­dinibus dirimens, longiùs abiret, ac pro­pinquitas esse desisteret, eam nondum longè positam rursus Matrimonii vinculo colligare & quodammodo revocare fugientem. And if you shall still further continue to demand, what the true Barrier and Boundary of these Prohibitions was? I answer, That it was Second Cousins, who were called by the [...]a­tines, Sobrini quasi Sororini or Sororum filii, to intimate, that so far they were looked upon as Brothers and Sisters, and were prohibited to Marry with one another, as I shall make it in due time undeniably to appear, by comparing the Capitulars of Charlemagne which are now Eight Hundred years old, with the Laws of the Ancient Wisigoths, and with the Practice of the Jews and Ro­mans.

But though the Prohibition were extend­ed generally thus far over all the East, yet it was more obligatory to the Jews than to any other Nations, because being forbidden Commerce with any of the idolatrous Na­tions, and being always at enmity with them they had the more need of a strict Friendship and good Understanding be­tween themselves; and if the Obligation were so strict to the Jews, it is still more so to all Christian people, because the Design of the Gospel is Peace, and the Improve­ment of Charity and good Nature among men; but it is still of the greatest and most indispensable Obligation of all to this part of Christendom, and to these unhappy times into which we are fallen, wherein almost every man is at Enmity with his Neighbour; that for the composing mens minds, and for the allaying their Animosities by the Caresses of Love, men should Marry at a good Distance from themselves into a new Interest, and a new Dependance, and that the several Parties and Factions should intermarry with one another, which added to a vigorous Exe­cution of the Laws with a constant and im­partial Justice by the Civil Power, is pro­bably the only way to allay our Heats and Divisions, and to bring us all to a more cha­ritable Sense and Understanding of one [Page 15] another. And I am humbly of Opinion, that among all the wise Laws by which the Roman State was governed, and was by degrees brought to that heighth of Great­ness and of Power, there was none that contributed so largely to that effect, as that Law which was passed by the great Wis­dom and Policy of one of the Tribunes, de Maritandis Ordinibus, whereby the Pa­tricii and the Plebeii, who were before at Mortal Jarrs, were made intermarriageable with one another, which was a very natu­ral Expedient of calming and composing the Disturbances, which the Animosities and mutual Resentments of the two Factions had created. And I do further propose it to your most serious and impartial Considera­tion, that it would have been impossible the Roman Empire should ever have arri­ved at that greatness, that it should ever have been so strong, and so compacted at home, or so formidable abroad, had not these Matrimonial Prohibitions been esta­blished by their Laws and Customs, to make the Cement of Society more strong and la­sting; so that since I have already laid it down as a certain Truth, that the Prohibitions a­mong the Jews and Romans were the same, all the Question is, Whether Cousin Germans were included in the Roman Prohibition, [Page 16] which I will prove they were, out of a Pas­sage in Plutarch in his Questiones Romanae, and out of a Fragment of Ʋlpian published by Pythaeus, in the Author of the Collati­ons of the Mosaic and Roman Laws, and out of the Digests of Justinian, under the Ti­tle de Ritu Nuptiarum, and that this Pro­hibition extended still further to Second Cousins, I will make it very highly proba­ble from a Passage in Athenaeus.

There are other natural Reasons, which may be assigned why the Marriage of Cou­sin Germans is unlawful, and which I do now purposely omit, that I may not de­tain you too long from your Occasions; but yet however since the main Reason, and since all the Reasons that can be assigned, are founded in the Interest of Human Society, it is as much for that Interest, that all the Marriages of this Nature already consum­mate by carnal Knowledge, should stand good and indissoluble, as that all such Mar­riages should, de futuro, be hindred; nay, rather more, because the Inconveniency which the Dissolution of such Marriages would produce, would be so suddain and so present, as well as so great, by branding so many Families or their Descendents with ignominious Names, and by punishing them with other legal Inconveniences to the in­finite [Page 17] Detriment and Confusion of the Ci­vil State; whereas, as to the time to come, these Marriages having had their ultimate and final Consummation in the Bed, are va­lid upon the same Reasons for which they were naturally prohibited before, which na­tural Inconveniency not having been com­puted by the Parties concerned; nay more, they having been told by all the Lawyers and Divines, That it was Lawful, certain­ly men that have not leisure to make a par­ticular enquiry themselves, may very well be excused; and they are so far from having any need to blush, that they have done no­thing, but what any honest and good man in the same Circumstances would have done; neither do I so much blame the Divines, nor the Lawyers neither, who in such Cases are used to follow one another; and the o­pinion of one great man, as, humanum est errare, is usually the measure by which they all proceed; besides that, they are therefore also the more to be excused, be­cause what they have determined in this Case, was out of Charity and good Will, that they might not create Disturbance (though that according to these Principles they need not have done) in the Common­wealth, and because they went upon that [Page 18] Principle, of C. Tit. de Reg. jur. 56. t. & 122. Gajus in the Civil Law, semper in dubiis benigniora praeferen­da sunt, and of Ib. 179. Paulus l. 16. ad Plautium, Libertas omnibus rebus favorabilior est; and of Ib. 192. Marcellus l. 29. Digestorum. In re du­bià benigniorem interpretationem sequi non minus justius est quam tutius; who likewise tells us in another place, in obscurâ volun­tate manumittentis favendum est Libertati Ib. 183.. The meaning of all which, is plainly this, That the Nature and Design of all Laws, being to put a restraint upon human Liberty, they are constantly to be expoun­ded in the most favourable sense, because to do otherwise, would be to put a greater Restraint upon those, to whom the Law was given, then was perhaps intended by the Lawgiver himself; and if men from the plain and unavoidable Signification of Words, will have recourse to what they may possibly signifie, or to the possible in­tention of the Law-maker in them; this possibility of Intention or Interpretation, is a thing of so great Latitude, as makes the Signification of every Law uncertain, and consequently under pretence of laying a greater Obligation upon men, it leaves them under none at all.

But I do humbly conceive, that in this case these Rules are not concerned: First, because it is by no means a doubtful Case, for I of­fer to demonstrate as plainly as Demonstra­tion it self, That Cousin Germans were inclu­ded within the Levitical Degrees; and only to mention that Case now, because I cannot stay to insist so long upon it, as I intend to do hereafter, I affirm that the Instance of the Daughters of Zelophehad does suffici­ently prove it.

For that being a Dispensation in a parti­cular Case it is manifest, that no particular Dispensation ought in its Consequence to be extended further, than the reason for which it was procured, which being only for the better Preservation of the Mosaical Partition of Inheritances in the same Fami­ly and Line, it cannot be lawful in those places where the same sort of Partition, to­gether with a Design to preserve it to Po­sterity, does not obtain; and this is a Rule of Ʋlpian, quae propter necessitatem recepta sunt, non debent in argumentum trahi; and it is likewise another common saying among the Lawyers, exceptio firmat regulam in non exceptis; so that this being a Dispensa­tion in a particular Case, it is manifest, that it ought not to be extended further than [Page 20] that particular exigence for which it was procured.

Besides that had it been Lawful be­fore, being so expedient as it was for the Preservation of the Mosaical Partition, which was the Design of so many Laws, that against Usury especially, and that a­bout the Return of the Land, in case of Mortgage, at the year of Jubilee, upon which Laws I cannot now stay to insist; and yet for all this, Moses and the Elders not daring to determine this Case without applying themselves immediately to God himself, nor presuming to act otherwise, than by Divine Inspiration, this is a De­monstration that it was a new case, and that it was not lawful before; for that which was not only lawful in it self, but also ex­pedient, nay, necessary to the great end of so many of the Jewish Laws, which was to preserve the Inheritances in their proper House and Line, might certainly have been done either by the private choice of the Parties without consulting Moses, and much more by the Authority of Moses and the Elders themselves, without consulting the voice of God; which, since they did not do, this is the most Emphatical, and the most remarkable way that could have been [Page 21] contrived to shew us the Unlawfulness of the Marriage of Cousin Germans in all or­dinary Cases, but only in this which was peculiar to the Jewish State, unless you will except the Laws of Athens, which took their Copy from thence; and where the same Laws were observed, and for the same Reason, as I have proved more largely in some o­ther Papers which are now in the Press.

Further, the play of Aeschylus, which I have mention'd, I will prove to all the World to have taken its Plot from this Story of Zelophehad and his Daughters, and there the Poet making only a Fiction of the case, and supposing the Father to be alive, who in the Writings of Moses, and in the truth of the Story, was dead, hath contrived the Business so, that his whole Tragedy is but one continued Declamation against the Marriage of Cousin Germans, [...], because the Father was not yet deceased, as the Scholiast upon that Author does expresly say.

Lastly, when it is made lawful by the Law of Moses, for the Brother to raise up Seed unto the Brother, nay, not only law­ful but a Duty, in case the elder Brother died without Issue, shall we from thence in­fer, that it was lawful in all other cases be­sides, [Page 22] notwithstanding it is expresly prohi­bited in the Eighteenth of Leviticus? And if a particular Dispensation must not be ex­tended in one case beyond the reason for which it was procured, why should it in a­nother? when, besides that such Marriages are forbidden in Leviticus, the general rea­son why it ought not to be extended to any other case, is this, that a particular Dis­pensation is in its own nature distinguished from a general Licence, and to extend any Grant further than the reason for which it was obtained, is to say, in effect, That it was obtained for such a reason, and it was not obtained for such a reason at the same time, which is a Contradiction. And this, besides the reason of the thing, and the O­pinions of the greatest Lawyers among the Romans, which have been already produced, is still further confirmed by the Authority of St. Ambrose in his Epistle to Paternus, where speaking of Theodosius his Prohibi­tion of the Marriage of Cousin Germans, who yet reserved to himself a Power of dispensing in particular Cases, as Theodo­ric did afterwards, as may be seen by the Form of the Imperial Dispensation in Cassi­odorus, he hath these words: Sed dicis alicui relaxatum, verum hoc Legi non praejudicat, [Page 23] quod enim in commune statuitur, ei tantum proficit cui relaxatum videtur.

But I foresee you will object, that the Prohibition of Cousin Germans is not ex­presly set down in the Eighteenth of Levi­ticus, as that of the Brothers Marrying the Brothers Wife, in any but the case excepted, is; to which I answer,

First, that whether this Prohibition were positively set down in Leviticus or no, yet this hinders not, but the Lawyers Rule concerning Dispensations, quae propter ne­cessitatem recepta sunt, non debent in Argu­mentum trahi, may, and ought to take place in this, as well as in any other Instance whatsoever. But secondly, I do humbly propose it as an undeniable Truth, That the Marriage of Cousin Germans is expresly prohibited in Leviticus it self; but if, when I say expresly, men will needs understand it of some one word that does, without a Pe­riphrasis, signifie a Cousin German; this is not to be expected, because there is no such word in Hebrew, neither does [...] sig­nifie in its first notion properly a Cousin German, but in general, any, whom by rea­son of too near Consanguinity, it is not lawful to Marry, as I can, and will, in my larger Papers, prove; but to insist upon this [Page 24] matter now so fully as I ought to do, would spin out my Discourse to too great a length; therefore I pass on in the second place to ob­serve, that this Rule of the Lawyers, that all doubtful things are to be interpreted in the most favourable sense, though it should be applied to the Case of Cousin Germans, yet it would do it no good; for where a private and a publick Interest interfere with one another, that is always to be inter­preted the most favourable Sense, which is most favourable to the Interest of the Pub­lick, it being very unreasonable, that any private Member of a Commonwealth should live upon the Spoils, and by the Dammage of it, as it hath been demonstrated, that it would be in this Case, not only in its self, but likewise in its example.

Again, because it may be objected, that the Dammage accruing to the publick, not being much, discernable nor, from the Marriage of Cousin Germans, it would be unreasonable to call such Marriages in que­stion, when the Dammage is so little of let­ting them alone; and the Inconveniency that would happen from disturbing them, would be so great; to this I answer: First, that we cannot easily compute what Detri­ment hath already been sustained by the [Page 25] Marriages of Cousin Germans, unless we would tell where they would have Married, had they not Married one another, nor con­sequently what Friendships might have been made, nor what Quarrels prevented or reconciled; only of this in General, we are certain, that the odds is great as to point of publick Interest, and for the Promoting of Friendship and Interest among men, be­tween the Marriage of Cousin Germans, and those that are at a further distance from one another; and if you shall consider with your self what a mighty influence the Discon­tent or Animosity of one single man may sometimes have upon the publick Peace; certainly no means ought to be neglected, by which so many Quarrels may be pre­vented, so many Friendships made, and so many Piques and Enmities reconciled.

Secondly, we are not so much to consi­der what real Inconveniency hath actually happened, as what would happen, if the Marriage of Cousin Germans were universal­ly practised, by dividing Mankind into so many petty Societies and independent Ca­bals, as a man for robbing upon the High­way is apprehended and hanged, not because he himself hath done so great a Dammage to the Publick, but because if this were u­niversally [Page 26] practised and permitted, we should be actually in a state of War, and there would be no face of a Common­wealth any longer; and the same reason holds in Proportion in Cousin Germans, if it be true, as I have said, that the universal practise of it would destroy the State; and therefore it ought not to be allowed in a par­ticular instance, though it had not been for­bidden by the Law of God, as it is manifest it is.

But for those Marriages of this Nature that are already consummated by the Copu­la Carnalis, I am so far from disturbing them, that I wish them all much joy with all my heart, and I should never count it a Disparagement, but an Honour, if they were otherwise vertuous and good People, to be descended of such Parents; for they proceeded upon the best grounds they could, they did not understand the inconveniency that such Marriages bring to the Publick; and they had the Concurrence of many great Lawyers and Divines for what they did, so that upon all accounts they are ex­cused, they ought to persist in what they have done for the very same Reason for which, if they had been further informed, they should have avoided it before; and [Page 27] what they have done, is so far from having any thing of heinous in it, that it is not so much as an object of Repentance; and so as I have said already, I wish them all with all the Reason and Justice in the World, much Joy and Comfort in their Conjugal Embraces, neither ought it to derive any Envy upon me, that I have thus elaborately made it my Endeavour to hinder all such Matches for the Future; for if they be ma­nifestly against the Interest of Mankind, no man ought to be displeased at me for do­ing that, which is of so manifest tendency to the Publick Good, and indeed ought ra­ther to thank me, that I have thus adven­tured at a Critical and dangerous time to stemm the Torrent of Prejudice and received Opinion, of which there are but few men that would not have been afraid, and if besides its being prohibited by the Laws of Nature, it be likewise forbidden by the Scripture it self, certainly every man that hath not a mind to proclaim a Waragainst Heaven, must at the same time of necessity be at peace with me.

But whatever the case of Private Persons may be, I do allow, that it is a part of the natural Prerogative of Princes and Persons nighly related to the Crown, to Marry [Page 28] a Cousin German, and this I speak without any Court Flattery or Parasitical Design, as a thing following evidently from the Prin­ciples I have laid down, and of the Natural­ness and Easiness of the Consequence I will make my Adversaries themselves the Judges.

For in the first place it is so much for the interest of the Publick, that the mind of a Prince should not be discomposed, and his Councells rendred by the disturbance of his mind, less judicious and steady, it is so great a Prejudice to the Civil State, that the Passions of a Prince should be enflamed beyond the Bounds of Discretion, that up­on the same Principle of Publick Interest, it is allowable to him to Marry a Cousin Ger­man, for which it is forbidden to others; and this seems to have been the case of Re­hoboam, who Married a Cousin German.

Another Reason which may make it not only lawful, but necessary for a Prince or any that have a probable Relation to the Crown, to be dispensed with, is for the peace and safety of Mankind, for the uniting of two great Interests together, which might otherwise be a mutual Nusance and De­triment to each other; and this justifies the Marriage of his Highness the Prince of [Page 29] Orange, with the most Illustrious Princess the Lady Mary, a Daughter of England, neither is this only my Opinion, but it is allowed likewise by Hemingius in his O­puscula, and by Zepperus in his Excellent Treatise of the Mosaic Laws in the Case of Maximilian the Second, Emperour of Ger­many, who likewise took a Cousin German to Wife, at which, notwithstanding the Luthe­rans do acknowledge it to be lawful, yet many were offended at it, as a thing of bad Example, and such as afforded matter of Scandal to the Adversaries of Religion, and to the weak Religionists themselves, from which case of Maximilians, the Inference is easie, that if the Lutherans were offended at it, notwithstanding they did acknowledge it to be barely lawful; then much less ought it to be allowed in any private Person, where it can be proved so plainly to be prohibited and unlawful; and so much for this time. I desire you seriously to consider of what I have written, and to expect what remains with Patience, as well as to judge of this with Ingenuity and Candor.