Number of descendants.

generations! What then, as each generation doubles the number, must it be in a hundred generations, which would carry us back to about the Christian era, perhaps only about one-third of the age of man!* Hence, in the very nature

* Let us consider this matter, in the descending scale. Take the ten children of John Rogers, and suppose them to have, on an average, five children each, and each of these, five more, and so on for thirty generations, except allowing eight each to the eighth, an estimate that will probably fall short of the fact, as the Rogerses generally have nearer tens than fives. This will give him five hundred and two grand children, six thousand two hundred and fifty descendants of the fifth generation only; thirty-one million, sixty-five thousand, of the tenth generation, (more than the whole population of Great Britain;) ten billion, three hundred and twenty thousand, three hundred and twelve million, and five hundred thousand, (10,320,312,500,000,) of the twentieth; and one hundred sixty-nine trillion, one hundred and forty-thousand, two hundred and eighty-eight billion, seven thousand eight hundred and twelve million, five hundred thousand, of the thirtieth generation, (169,140,288,007,812500,000.) And then, by adding all the intermediate sums together, you have the number of his descendants in thirty generations, supposing, on an average, each of his ten children has five, and each of every generation has five, except the eighth, who are allowed to have eight. But let them have ten apiece, and he will have had a hundred grand children, a thousand great grand children, ten thousand (quite a little army) of the fifth generation, a hundred thousand (an army for Bonaparte) of the sixth, a million of the seventh, and a hundred thousand million of the tenth, or present generation; ten hundred thousand million (or more than the present entire population of the globe,) of the eleventh generation, and ten trillions of the twentieth generation (some three hundred years from now;) and ten hundred thousand quadrillions, of the thirtieth generation. This estimate is probably too large; perhaps the other is, but it goes to show the rapid ratio in which the human family increases, and how vast the number of those who, in all coming time, are to be born of each reader who has, or may have, children that live to bave other children, and also how vast the number that die with every one who dies without issue. Some errors may perhaps have crept into the above enumeration, yet there is no calculating the amount of happiness which it is in the power of parents to impart to mankind, by becoming the parents of healthy and virtuous children, rather than of those who are vicious; for, be it remembered, that the character of every parent in this vast line of ancestors is transmitted to every one of these descendants. Who can look at this subject in this light, and not shudder at the inconceivably momentous consequences necessarily attached to becoming parents!

Facts showing the effects of marrying cousins.

of the case, there must be crossing of the breed, and to an inconceivable extent, from which, let man learn not to marry blood relations.

But, to the law and to the testimony of facts let us next appeal, and, in this appeal, I again quote our former contributor, Joshua Coffin.

"I will now relate such facts as came under my own observation, concerning the consequences of breeding in and in, or, in other words, marrying blood relations. Whatever may be the cause, the fact is undeniable, that those families who are so foolish as to intermarry with blood relations, very frequently, if not always, degenerate, both physically and mentally. Independently, therefore, of the divine inspiration of the laws of Moses, they are founded on strict physiological principles, which we should do well always to bear in mind, as they cannot be violated with impunity.

"N. P., of W., Mass., a fine-looking and intelligent man, of good sense, married his own cousin, and what a set of children! One of them is clump-footed, another has but one eye, and all three of them are very weak in intellect, small in person, and have heads shaped like a flat-iron, point turned downward, flat on top, and their chin making the point.

When engaged as a school-teacher, in M., Mass., in 1829, I had several children, among them two sons, by the name of E., whom I could not help noticing especially. One of them was nearly an idiot, and the other son was not to be compared to either the father or mother in point of intellect. On returning, one evening, from visiting the family, I inquired of my landlady, if Mr. and Mrs. E. were not blood relations; she said yes, they were cousins. I told her I thought so, solely from the fact that the children were so deficient in intellect. On stating this fact to Dr. Wisner, pastor of the Old South Church, Boston, he made the following observation:- Do you recollect, Mr. Coffin, that singular-looking man, that comes to my church, that has the St. Vitus's dance?' 'Well,' said he, his parents were cousins.' His name I do not recollect; you never saw such a looking object in your life. He appeared not to have any command over any muscle in his whole body. I could mention several other cases. For instance, a family in N. B., Mass., where were a number of foolish children, whose parents were cousins. The Rev. Mr. Duffield, formerly of this city, told me that he knew of two or three families in the interior of this state, who, for the sake of keeping their property among themselves, have married in and in for several generations, till their posterity are nearly idiots. There is a family in E. D., in fact, there are several families of the

"

Further facts showing the evil effects of marrying cousins.

name, who have intermarried so often, that there is one or more idiots in almost every branch. In fact, no point is better estab lished than this, that breeding in and in deteriorates the race of men and the breed of cattle, both physically and mentally, i. e., if mentally is applicable to animals.

"Those young men, therefore, who wish to have intelligent children, must obtain intelligent women for wives, who are not blood relations. I often think of the lines of Savage

"Dr. F. A. Pinckney, of Keywest, told me that he had seen many of the inhabitants of the Bahamas, and that all of them were deformed in body, and deficient and dull in intellect. He had never been there, but had understood that the specimens which he saw were but fair representations of the inhabitants of the islands. They generally have large heads, are employed in the meanest cccupations, and have not capacity enough to take the lead in any pursuit. Dr. P. understood and supposed that the cause of their physical and mental infirmity was owing to intermarriage, and to that only.

"Dr. P., also spoke of a family in the town of P. in N. Y., (12 miles from G.,) where the parents were cousins, and all of the ten children were fools; he also mentioned several other cases now forgotten.

"The J. family at C. S., affords some melancholy cases of the bad effects of intermarriage.

"C. H., of N., Mass., a clear-sighted, shrewd man, married his own cousin, lost three children while young, have four (1841) living, eldest 14, all under mediocrity, parents sound; the father died in 1837.

66

Mr. E. S. and wife, of N., Mass., were own cousins, both of them of sound, strong mind, and firm nerve, and sound health; he died, Sept., 1840, aged 75, of rheumatic fever. His wife is now living; had seven daughters and one son; three daughters deranged, (two of them dead), the rest of feeble health, and very nervous-a good family.

"H. L., of N., Mass., married his second cousin, has one daughter of 14, nearly an idiot. I do not know the condition of the rest of the children.

"T. A. married his cousin's daughter, had five girls, (no boys,) two were complete cripples, and very deficient in intellect-almost idiots-one was quite so-one daughter was married, and died childless-the other two married-the children of one of them are apparently below mediocrity-do not know about the children of the other.

Further facts showing the evil effects of marrying cousins.

“Mr. P. P., of B., married his second cousin; their oldest child is too deficient in mind to take care of himself; the other children are not what are called bright, though fair.

"Dr. H. W., of B., N. H., now of B., told me that he knew of four men, who had married cousins, each of whom had a fool for a child. The other children were below par.

"Mr. N. G., from D., N. H., said that he and his mother counted about twenty-five families in D. who had intermarried, and of all their children, not one could they remember of ordinary capacity.

"I was told that a Mr. P., of Me., married his own cousin, Miss W., both now dead, leaving five boys and three girls,two girls and three boys blind-parents' eyes good.

"J. L. A., of N., married a cousin's daughter, has three children, apparently healthy, but heavy-minded.

"R. D., of B., Me., had for his first wife his cousin's daughter, a Miss G., of H., N. H., their oldest child, a boy of 18 years,— lame in the hip,-the other two of feeble health and failing.

"Dr. C., of N. M., N. H., son of Prof. C., married his cousin, Miss B., of U., Mass., bad two children, both dead,-Dr. C. died 1810, in N., Mass., having lately removed there-his widow is at her father's.

"J. P., of W., (now dead,) married his own cousin,-of their children, one died an idiot, two sons died at the age of 23, of feeble bodies and irritable minds, and one girl has diseased eyes. Some of the boys are club-footed, wry-necked, &c. One daughter, married (lately, to a cousin, I think)-he lived a year or two, then died-had one child.

"Mr. E., of M., Mass., married his cousin-had five daughters and three sons. One of the daughters is an idiot of so painful a sight, that the parents board her out (on Cape Ann.) Two of the other daughters are foolish the other two are weak-one son weak-minded-has been made lame-one son ran away with some of the town's money-the other son is a worthy, upright man, but unfortunate in all he lays his hands to.

"S. L., of N., married his cousin, Miss S. A., they were second cousins, that is, their parents were own cousins-had eight sons and two daughters-all living (1841)-two sons and one daughter are unable to walk, and are hauled about in carriages made for the purpose,-their younger child is deaf and dumb, besides being born like the others mentioned. A. L. once told me that he was born well, and that, in early years, he lost his sense of feeling in his toe joints, which afterwards became numb, and, in process of time, to use his own expression, they "lapped," and so it was, joint after joint, upwards in his arms, as well as his toes and legs, till every joint was affected in his whole frame. Perhaps he was about twenty when he became utterly helpless,

Further facts showing the evil, effects of marrying cousins.

and then took to his carriage-the others grew lame in the same way. J., though now twenty-two or three, can walk a little.

6.

Rev. Mr. B., Episcopal clergyman in B., N. Y., married his own cousin, Miss B., of N., N. J.,-her health has declined, though sound before-had two children,-both are dead.

"A Mr. (natne not known,) of W., M. county, N. Y., married his cousin, had many children, all crippled, none could walk, all bright.

"Mr. D., of O. county, inarried his cousin, had thirteen or fourteen children-all are dead but three, and those are in bad health. The father became deranged some years before he died. "Mr. W. H., of M., married a cousin-has had several children-do not know their condition-the mother has been deranged for many years in the Charlestown Asylum.

"T. C., of P., married his cousin; their only son is an idiothave six daughters of ordinary minds-I think I understood that they all had a hard squint in their eye, taken from their mother.

"Judge C., of H., Ó. county, N. Y., was married to a cousin, had several children,—died idiots--of the two now living, but one can be said to have common sense.

"Mr. N. S., of N., married his cousin, a Miss Pettingal,-they are not over bright, and their children are decidedly under bright, and are a by-word.

"Mr. J. O'B., of P., married his cousin, II. O'B., of B., Me., and lived a year and a half afterwards, and died in 1839.

"E. M. married his cousin, M. A. M., both of G., Me., moved to the West, (Ill.,)-she died a few days after giving birth to the first child.

"The Bradstreets and Grants of G., Me., have intermarried, and I am told the children show it.

"N. and S. W., of T., brothers,one married his cousin, his ebildren are full of mishaps, feeble in body and mind, blear-eyed, e. The children of the other brother are upright, manly, handsome people."

A valued friend of the author's boyhood, fell in love with his cousin. (the fathers of both being brothers, and the mothers of both being sisters.) but was opposed by the whole family, and Combe's Constitution of Man" was put into the hands of the girl, and what he says on this point was shown her, and he was remonstrated with, in order to break off the match, but to no purpose. They married. Nearly three years elapsed before the birth of their first child, which lived but fifteen minutes. He was told, beforehand, that,