THE ETHICS OF MARRIAGE.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sra,—Some of your correspondents have been affirming the mediaeval doctrine that the sexual relation in married life is only justifiable when there is the distinct intention to produce offspring. It is strange that no one has thought of pointing out that the Church of England has- a very clear and definite statement of her doctrine of marriage in which this mediaeval rule is set aside and implicitly disowned. The words of this statement are so frank that they are apt to offend our ears, and in consequence they are often omitted from the marriage service. But their meaning, authority and importance can hardly be questioned. In the introductory exhortation in the Form of Solemnization of Matrimony the " causes for which matrimony was ordained " are defined. These causes are said to be three : (1) For the procreation of children ; (2)' for a remedy against sin ; (3) for the mutual society, help and comfort, that the one ought to have of the other.
Any one of these causes justifies the sexual relationship in marriage. The second is, of course, based on St. Paul's rule as given in 1 Corinthians vrk. 9. The third is based on the broad human fact that men and women are so constituted that, when united in marriage, their affection must inevitably express itself in the natural way, and that this physical relationship helps to draw them together and to augment their love. The Church, in fact, has set its seal upon the great truth of nature that the physical relationship is the proper expression of married love. Could there be any clearer proof of the wisdom and the sanity which guided the minds of the great scholars and thinkers who shaped our Prayer-book-?—I am, Sir, &c., THEOLOGIAN.
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