I-LI
650
ILLEGITIMACT
the Church of Toledo and defend the rights of the
metropoUtan see.
Antonius, Bibliothera Hispnnn vclus, I (1696), 286-302; FixjREZ, Espana smjruda, V (1750), 275-91; 470-525; cf. XXIX (1775), 439-43; Gams. Kirchcngeschichte Spaniens, II (1S74), i, 135-38; von Dziai-owski, Isidor und Ihiefons als Lillerarhisloriker (Miinster, 1898), 125-60; — for ancient biogra- phies, see Bibl. Hagiogr. Lat., nos. 3917-26: — formodem works, see Chevalier. Rtprrtoire des sources hislorigues du moycn nge: Bio-Bihl. (Paris, 1905), s. v. Ildcphonse. The principal edition of the saint's works is that of Lorenzana, SS. PP. Tolctn- norum opera, I (1782), 94-451, reprinted in P. h., XCVI, 1-330.
Albert Poncelet.
I-li (Kuldja), Prefecture Apostolic of. See China.
Illegitimacy. — As generally defined, and as under- stood in tliis article, illositimaey denotes the condition of chiliiren l)orn out of wcdlocli. It should Ijc noted, however, that, according to the Roman law and the canon law, an illegitimate child becomes legitimate by the subsequent marriage of its parents. This legal provision has been adopted by many European coun- tries, but it docs not obtain in England or in most of the United States. Illegitimacy is probably more general, more frequent, and more constant than the majority of persons are aware. Owing to the ab.sence of statistics, no estimate can be given of its extent in the United States and Canada. The following tables show the percentage of illegitimate Ijirths (that is, the proportion which they form of the total number of living births) in the principal countries of Europe at different periods during the last thirty years. The figures in the first column are taken from " Der Einfluss dcr Confession auf die Sittlichkeit ", l)y H. A. Krose, S. J.; those in the .second are derived from the "statesman's Year Book" for 190S: —
Au.stria
(1887-91)
14.67
(1904)
12.81
Belgium
- '
8.7.5
(1905)
6.41
Denmark
(1887-89)
9.43
(1902-6)
10.01
England and Wales
(1887-91)
4,52
(1905)
4.00
Finland
"
6.42
—
—
France
"
8.41
(1906)
8.85
German Empire
(1886-90)
9.23
(1901-5)
8.50
Bavaria
'*
14.01
(1906)
12.36
Prussia
"
7.81
- •
7.24
Saxony
"
12.45
(190.5)
13.40
Wiirtemberg
"
10.03
(1906)
8.30
Greece
(1876-80)
1.19
—
—
Holland
(1887-91)
3.20
(1900-4)
2.37
Hungary
8.61
(1906)
9.80
Ireland
'*
2.78
"
2.60
Italy
(<
7.30
5.33
Norway
"
7.33
(1905)
6.72
Portugal
(1886-90)
12.21
(1904)
11.04
Roumania
"
5.75
—
—
Russia
(1895)
3.00
—
—
Scotland
(1887-91)
7.93
(1900)
6.74
Servia
(1887-89)
1.00
—
—
Spain
(1886-92)
4.70
—
—
Sweden
(1887-91)
10.23
(1904)
12.02
Switzerland
(1887-89)
4 . 63
(1905)
4.06
These figures are sufficiently disturbing, and yet
they do not exhibit the full extent of the evil. Many
illegitimate births are registered as legitimate, while
many others escape registration entirely. This hap-
pens in all countries; probably it is particularly true
of Greece and Servia. While the percentages in the
first column are aboiit the same as those which ob-
tained for a long period previous to 1S91, those in the
second column indicate a decline in the rate of illegiti-
macy in most of the European countries since that
date, and in some countries a very notable decline.
All authorities agree that the rate has decreased dur-
ing the last tw-enty years, but not all admit that the
downward movement has been quite as pronounced in
some coimtries as represented by the "Statesman's
Year Book ". At any rate, the decline does not neces-
sarily indicate an improvement in sexual morality.
Nor does a high rate of illegitimacy in a country prove
that the inhabitants are less chaste than those of some
other region where the rate is low. The number of
illegitimate births implies at least an equal number of
sins between the sexes, but it describes neither the full
nor the relative extent of such immorality, nor docs it
represent the relative resistance offered by a pco|)le to
temptations of this kind. Illegitimacy is suliject to
many social influences, some of which tend to increase
and some to diminish the illicit intercourse from which
it results, some of which diminish it without lessening
such intercourse, and some of which increase it in the
statistical records without increasing it in the eyes of
God. In general, illegitimacy is an index of compara-
tive sexual morality only among peoples having the
same laws, customs, and social conditions.
It is not difficult to enumerate all the important factors that tend to increa.se or diminish illegitimacy, but it is practically impossible to measure accurately the relative weight of each. Poverty, heredity, igno- rance, town life, religion, have all been set down by one or more authorities as the predominant influence. In this article nothing more will be attempted than a general description of the significant factors and their apparent influence.
Poverty is tmdoubtedly a factor within certain limits. Owing to the lack of privacy in their homes, the absence of decent facilities for the entertainment of young men in the homes of the young women, and the temptation to which the latter are svil)jected of ex- changing their virtue for material advantages, the poor, at least the very poor, are confronted by moral dangers that do not threaten the rich or the comfort- able classes. Moreover, poor girls are generally less familiar with methods of forestalling the consequences of lap.ses from virtue, and less able to conceal these consequences. On the other hand, poverty that is not so deep as to be degrading is more conducive to the formation of a strong moral character than circum- stances w'hich make possible a life of ease and abim- dant material satisfactions. In some cities, notably in Paris, a considerable number of couples, who have never been united by a marriage ceremony, live to- gether and rear children. Probably the great major- ity of these are impelled to this cour.se by poverty. In so far as the average age of marriage is later among the poor than among those in better circumstances, it will tend to increase illegitimacj'. On these points, how- ever, as well as on the influence of poverty generally, statistics give us little information. They tell us, for example, that there is much less illegitimacy in Ireland than in England and Scotland, but they do not prove that this condition is to be attributed exclusively, or even mainly, to the greater material comfort enjoyed by the English and Scotch. Other factors are opera- tive, such as differences in religion, heredity, and tow'n life.
The particular influence of poverty can be observed only where all the other important factors are the same. As a matter of fact, this situation is scarcely verified in the case of any two countries, and it is not often verified as between different sections of the same country. Thus, the rate of illegitimacy in the County Mayo, which is probably the poorest county in Ireland, is only one-tenth as great as the rate in the prosperous County Down, but the latter includes part of the large city of Belfast, and its people (litTer largely both in race and religion from the iniiabitants of the former county, .\gain, the proportion of illegitimate births is much greater in the prosperous West End of London than in the poverty-stricken East End, but the marriage age seems to be earlier in the East End. while the proportion of domestic servants is very much greater in the West End. Both these circumstances have a well recognized influence
