9. Practical Considerations

From the purpose of matrimony follow its basal principles. The individual purpose demands not only free choice but also a reverence for the families of husband and wife. The conditions for the realization of the ideal marriage are mutual inclination, relative equality of education and rank, and possession of the highest aims in life. An ideal marriage between Christians and non-Christians is therefore impossible, as also between Protestants and non-Protestants. Since marriage has to depend upon public recognition and in its effects touches public life, it is a duty to submit to public regulations regarding it, while the Christian should also seek the sanction of the Church. In theory, marriage should be indissoluble, but owing to the guilt of sin this ideal can not always be realized. The Christian must always feel that separation from a living husband or wife contradicts duty. Where divergencies of temperament or moral defects in either party hamper the realization of the ideal, one must, according to Matt. v. 29-30, save his soul, even if in that way the individual life is shortened. In case of unfaithfulness, Christian love must strive to condone even such guilt. The statement that adultery is de facto annulment of marriage, rests upon a one-sided emphasis upon the physical phase of marriage. Adultery may be committed also without the sin of the flesh (I Cor. vii. 2-15). But it may be right or even a duty for the married to discontinue living together if the moral power is not sufficient to bear the burden thus imposed by guilt or if pardoning love sees no prospect of change in the guilty party; and, in case of second marriage on the part of the guilty person, one's own moral danger may justify a new marriage. These ideal ethical norms can not immediately be transformed into legal norms for State and Church, for both must take into consideration the weakness of their members and must adjust their legal measures to the greatest possible ethical effects. When the death of husband or wife has intervened, a second marriage should not be contested, since it does not involve unfaithfulness to the deceased. The abiding relationship is by death transferred to the spiritual world.

(J. Gottschick†.)

10. Misalliance and Morganatic Marriage

classes were considered misalliances, and the wife of lower birth was not raised to her husband's rank, while the children belonged to their mother's class. This condition of affairs was partly obviated by the introduction of the Roman law, except for the nobility, which, in virtue of its autonomy, was able by family laws and agreements to prevent the principles of Roman jurisprudence from interfering with their family rights, and thus to conserve the traditional theories of Teutonic law. In the ancient German kingdom, as to-day, the nobility were able to restrict the concept of the misalliance, so that the marriage of members of noble families with those not belonging to the high nobility was to be considered in conformity with class requirements. The so-called morganatic, Salic, or left-hand, marriage (matrimonium ad morganaticam, ad legem Salicam) is normally a marriage between persons of unequal rank, but differs from the misalliance in the strict sense of the term in that its effects are based on a special contract instead of on law and custom. The term "morganatic" is apparently derived from the morning-gift (Germ. Morgengabe) which was usually given at such marriages. The expression matrimonium ad legem Salicam, which is yet employed, is unexplained. The phrase "morganatic marriage" is now the one in common use, and such marriages still take place only in ruling families and those of the high nobility.

(E. Sehling.)