fore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh," Gen. ii. 23, 24. Again, "they twain shall be one flesh," Matt. xix. 5. And again, "so ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife, loveth himself—they two shall be one flesh," Eph. v. 28, 31.[1] If these terms have any meaning, worthy of divine inspiration, they indicate that, consistent with distinct personal identity, and individual responsibility, there is, if not a physical, still at least a moral union produced. And whether, in a certain respect, both are not comprehended, we, most assuredly, are not competent to decide.
2. That it is an union which constitutes a root or centre of new relations and kindred. The parties stand no longer separate, but their mutual relatives, as it regards the married persons, are completely blended and consolidated.
3. That it is an union which renders the communion of bodies legitimate and honourable; or,
- ↑ Vidimus hic duo non pluribus opponi, sed uni. Ante foedus matrimonio duo erant, postea pro uno censentur legis interpretatione.—Grotius.
