THE FUTURE OF SOCIETY 221 



created in the public mind an instinctive aversion to 

 unions of near kin, which among primitive races are 

 freely entered into ; and we may expect this feeling 

 by and by to cover all unions which, if not con- 

 sanguineous in name, are so in fact — that is to say, by 

 the physical or mental predisposition of the parties. 

 Many couples are to be found in a large town, or even 

 in a populous parish, who, although not related in 

 blood, are, on account of the similarity of their 

 constitutional defects, as unfitted to marry with each 

 other as the brothers and sisters of a family in 

 which there exists a streak of insanity. We have 

 seen how neglect or ignorance of this principle leads 

 to the deterioration of all exclusive aristocracies and 

 castes. At present not only is the question of the 

 moral fitness of a bride and bridegroom left out of 

 consideration, but there are few people able to learn 

 with certainty anything of the idiosyncrasies of their 

 own grandfathers or grandmothers. 



We may look, further, for a strengthening of the 

 existing sentiment in favour of marriages of afiection, 

 so that the parent who constrains his son or daughter 

 to make an objectionable match will incur public 

 reprobation, A wholesome contempt is already felt 

 in English middle-class life for people who marry 



