The  biU  of  Mrs.  Turton  passed  upon  a  principle  less  re-
condite, but  not  less  certain  and  intelligible.  It  was  held
that  the  tie  of  affinity  which  subsists  between  a  husband
and  his  wife's  sister  was  one  of  a  very  delicate  and  sacred
character ;  a  tie  which,  by  reason  of  the  innocence  and


garet,  widow  of  James  TV.  of  Scot-
land ;  who  having  married  Henry  Lord
Methven,  endeavoured  to  get  herself
divorced  on  the  ground  that,  before
her  marriage,  she  had  been  eamaliter
co^ita  by  the  Earl  of  Angus,  who  stood
in  the  fourth  degree  of  consanguinity  to
Methven  ;  thus  occasioning,  as  it  was
alleged,  an  eficcu  impaUmentum  to  the
marriage.  The  decree  is  published  by
Mr.  Riddell  in  his  Scottish  Peerage
Law,  p.  187 ;  and  the  proceedings  en-
able us  to  comprehend  what  was  meant
by  Lord  Thurlow  when  he  said  that


if  Mr.  Addison  had  had  intercourse
with  Mrs.  Addison's  sister  before  his
marriage,  that  circumstance  would
have  been  an  obstruction — an  eficax
impedifRentum — ^to  his  marrying  Mrs.
Addison.
In  dealing  with  these  ancient  canons^
it  must  always  be  remembered  thai  it
was  the  policy  of  the  Church  of  Rome
to  multiply  impediments  to  matri-
mony ;  the  power  of  dispensation  be-
ing a  fruitful  source  of  ecclesiastical
revenue.
