The Sun. — London, England, 1835-03-18 00:00:00

e Chaff h e same the Ml had been ?claration g e minvht Lord's ....--- _ i e lr asn 1 1 ,( 7 ,t 54, —.--.. 7 t0 an the o b ject of the Act passed during that year add to the religious ceremony of marriage, but tely to p revent the frequent frauds which had for some time Revious to the passing of the Act been prevalent. Therefore, b il n ', a king the Pcivil ceremony essential to the validity of the iir' a efe, and leaving, it optional to parties to superadd the teigious ceremony if they chose, which was the plan li e it t l l iow theroposed, they would be acting not only in conformity t the , principle s of the Bill of 1827, but in conformity to in l la_w as it stood previous to the passing of the Marriage to l ' e a4 "( Hear, hear)—but not only was that the case, but e l e' s- 'Pinion the principle which he had adopted was i .°, ennity with reason and good sense—( Hear, hear)—namely e% t rr ea .ve to every religious denomination the right to have the nut l'ge ceremony solemnized according to their own tenets. ,be ostlsthat principle was even admitted by the existing . lam, - e 4s '_the Act of 1754 did not require persons of religious per t°e '?il differing from the Established Church, in every cas of th e their marriages according to the forms and tenets d i .°1 Church of England, for it is said that the Quakers and it e wi were excepted from the operation of the Act. He liew err be said to he doubtful whether, under the provisions 1,4, be At, the children of Quakers and Jews were legitimat h e, legit believed that the whole stream of decisions on thewsuere dvsei;_, were in favour of the supposition that such marriages e at ° for, all the purposes of legitimatizing the offspring and . terv'tinttingproperty.—( Hear, hear.) But in Ireland the in cessfstion of a minister of the Church of England was not ne e.staarYnitvand in,. India marriage celebrated by a Catholic cler brate, as valid, but it was doubtful whether a marriage eele e°TY a P resbyterian minister was so. alte r r e 'dt4UH l NGTON said that the law in that respect was to Sir I L, PEEL continued—Then in Newfoundland the iu rooo-nt'on was not necessary at all. He was afraid he had said e i 4 ll to show that the marriage law in the colonies was e I t , est ,cig but in a satisfactory state.—( Hear, hear.) Th ' Q ade l°ll i the e was, whether they could not devise some other p lifters °Y the adoption of which they could relieve the is- f ro a , f , t ,. °lll applying to the Church for the pe . rformance rn o_ eiqorslage contract ; and at the same time relieve the . i ter eton o f the Church from the obligation of performing the ted also between parties who objected to their intervention,_he. lice, ' 0 see whether they could not, by a simple form of Pelei,g h ? far to remove the necessity for the present system of Cli aro ,'_cg bans, By this means, also,. a . ministe t r he of a th n e s ofrosr"ewould be relieved from the publication of b the eertwo'age between parties where he had not to perform Sposed He need hardly say, that by the . course . which he . e e t° adopt, he intended to make the civil contract bind 4biti e n tlai he repeated, if he relieved the Dissenters fr oto ye publication of bans in the Church, and the clergy eereiol'e necessity of publishing them, and allowed a f civil r l'ese d a Y to be binding with the Dissenters, he went a be,,e attaining the great object in view.—( Hear.) It would . letel eci ce ssary to have certain forms, and those which h . e in with dt°Propose would be very simple ; at the same time he tcoeii sansfactorlyn s_therieielirtisst,,,uatd:,3 that if theywere not altogether adequate for the D' rc "' he trusted thathe should have the assistance of devA i sieg h s?m t e other method which would be of this measure would be to hiier ev d e all Dissen.te c ° j t e li c e Established Church, of what nok frome l ltali en, rs who objected to the performance of the t `,, ; .e f, a i ge t ,„, r l,' ° ' by Ministers of the Church. He did not, ho t w u: l i tY of to to propose to deprive Dissenters of the o . ppo t r hat walel l "e'ng Married in the Church. If a measure . like ell o , te rta ll in ePr° h P°sed was carried, he thought the objections now ?e t', ett ad -3 : i many against the present ceremony, would be b. 6 Cl e s ti :?! - ""eY ought not to be deprived of the opportun i ty I's o r trrie daccording to the form prescribed to the me - while the Establ ;bed Ch ch if they desired it. In short, taill hekendeavoued to . remove ir, the objections now enter thetacil - e' at th L E„,_, e same time, wished . to invite the Dissenter ~Nlit " 14 , wished Church in this case. —( Hear, hear, and a ciat: r ,l' He meant to say, that he did not wish . to re tti°,l, biTte„.D.iss.enter in the performance .. of the marriage cere- Ca d all o w invite him—if his religious . feelings . and scruples t he Ch W h 'in SO to join—to take part in the rite prescribed i - . ler ° nin_ reh • - -( Hear hear.) He proposed that the el ;:ettet„4,",Snould onl beperformed between parties who ob -41Pet."°e married: rite of the Church ; and to render them 1 4 N•e ar e11 , , t , ,for the performance of the ceremony, it would be ti Nt as 8,4:r Pre or both of them should have . resided at 'ate da ys Pvious in a certain hundred, before the ma- P4l. °I. wh . h The & Its w hick the proceedings were to . take place. ~, , ..siek °aid have to give notice to the magistrate, who would , th e the ; iv t , ll , e c performance of . what he ( Sir R. Peel) would L.,,eitilowzi eremony of marriage—( Hear, hear)—namely, th, l 'a ir ow pt'uement of the contract . between the parties.. f t he ' t hen have to give a written certificate, stating e /r / 4 :„ i r slie ack 0.1 de d the contract to be binding. The 74 It t - 0 11 1 be fou n nd v' in e the schedule of the Bill which he pro ee'ar.) len the table, and was of the most simple form— e, oth, ten party would then sign a form, acknowledging t i sd a e-risittaaelt standing in the relationship of husband or wife. lark 1 fetrt a cknowledgment . must take place after a pe rietioet r e t ell days, and within three months of the de_ h,°'strat e t ie preferred the proceedings . before a single Oitl e , ' although he was aware that it might be said,_ l ' 4 , t e ll e Pr il e e s e 2 l ritY would be greater if the ceremony took place th of t h 'nee of several ; but when he recollected the na '4,, e eeremon • and the character of those who so ge . - I ' °ll l6, 4 telld d ), el ,b e . at the petty sessions, he was satisfied that it e a to4 , ! relief to the parties about to enter into the strict t atr• ta li e t „ . 1 7. ,atotr,hseeque. nt on the contract, if he enabled them to ti,l l, :lit - th t t before a single magistrate.—( Hear, hear.) . He . p eq . ,if th grace and value of the gift would be dimi bad°lN L ei made it requisite that the ceremony should be t o ",,coe lilv e cfar e a number of magistrates.—( Hear, .hear.) He rer c ks t l'tioned the nature of the . relief which he intended "Ni t ' and the nature of the l contract he wished to ee 'eth a d fo ' • d the performance of the 4 d On i i r those ho objecte to 4 : e elkra t il ; t ile church. At present it was necessary to make to t t i e c , o 'e• 6 °4 previous to procuring a ' mialarrriadgeeclara t . th 1 e intended to propose that a . sim h er l , l oe d t aleZtipea the made before the magistrate, on e - Peei e 'ag 4 1 i 'ue civil contract ; and the same oath. as the 'ti-t w s . We le , ce n,ce, would be administered, .namely,—that aei t Citli th e a bove the age of twenty-one ; that the contract to "er or ' c ensent of the parents or guardians . ; and that th e 1 til '0 del te kr y e m were aware of any legal nothingimpedimweanst limltti vi , ! a g'e•—( Hear, hear.) At present,_.e ! t4 ;t ta ,, l tee - e r the publication of bans ; such . acomplete change kte 14 ey ein the state of society since they!vere th a e dopted, were te,,_ 4( lee •Ve no security for the object for which te e : d ta4 ) ,,,.." was convinced that most of the illegal o y r chond beCkblisil4ges that took place, were those where bans a t he l Pabli s h e l. In many populous places, parties might have Under e ko .. s Yste iw e u, and their names escape observation. lle'aiie a , w hieli he proposed, there would be no greater efel.otiee,s`t,ultsillegal marriages than there was at present..- If teiL the in complete, of course the magistrate would not forN•gtoo, contract to be completed. Where there were no tit,'; btu.set,u,Ples • s not intended to alter the present ? 4 1.- au h ' " a • • - • to relieve those who . 0 , 4 4 " tat h 0 had in vtew was Ocl• ''' hi e • the marriage ceremony being per hosehi i ii the etions to 11 th. „chnrch by the clergyman.—( Hear.) It appeared ti e alnei`ne securities he had taken were quite as valid as fh l ,he eon " !Itisted on applying for a licence.—( Hear, hear. su e p a e r.2 te t ' s see t4 ,l!!lced that if he were to . attempt to k 41 re lief "e 5 he would only be nishing the value_of t a; l : l ,Pre wh o i fh, he was anxious to afford.—( Cheers.) He ki lade I,,, u r slY have stated, that he also proposed that the t ill iatle "'" ° re Whom the acknowledgment of the contract h itt g ales'. thelild take two or three copies of the form, r ale e 'idel; t 0 be signed by the parties, which would be the #11,. (5t the Benc e that could be obtained of the . contract, and and that le,:c tie e°Pies should be sent to the minister of the parish, NnttY it , , civil eon ,ee.e re. woliici be to keep the register of the , 4 ''' ' s ' o et i ,afth i t a e. . : The Dissenters would noltvobuel would broughttransm transmit t n t t o o ~stir . ° , - of t b - Minister, but the magistrate l iti`l 4 bit a ", e , Copies of the certificate, that the parties had q t ' 4l ey n „ ',lle contract.—( Hear, hear.) It had been said frigfi'e eeti."glit not to call upon clergymen to enter the namestper- n e tt, b e i s in the register, when the ceremony was not _ tt'attreh`°eMselves but he was sure that the tyanis e. ref ' 1 .0 1, , ho b weldd not'ob'ect to being reg:strars. W hateverthre , t i l ' 4,''S if ' ev er was ado j ted, he thought it desirable that make aedt'ctiee.Plhasible, make Pit a common register, and . not sl ;i t ' tli e - r His own earnest wish was to leave this register, te 'me p4rbesent state of things, in the hands of the ministers hi Illtlle 'arri s t'' b eing convincecrthat they would be less I.a c 11 : 1 , was e 'es than an other parties that could be cho!en. !l ei : 1)44441vare that there were some points that he . might_ a, ele hi, - ° ,vcr, but he trusted that the House mould It * I t - /v nea they considered the number of . matters le att he 114 Consider during the sitting Parliament. of rtant t hiotl4 et Possible for him to give several imp tga he attention which he was anxious. Among other It h till t e tn ad be en unable to give the consideration ,. lie desired 4 4 1 , 1 0 .1 e to4Bllre fora general civil registration. I. they i le t"iat.i age h O k i ' ~y, hr. new a general registration l on a general principle p Y th c , di ewis ', thought that it was desirable . in the mean time t kitt' teed elves of that form of register which they had. t tlp o r Yi e e which he proposed they would have a civil ti tr e t to "e Place and a religious one in another. With 4,4, 14 % ',hie cw t .. f compensation, and the fees to the ~a1.1,37164-e'creithe si s mp o l r e registration, he had . little to say. 1t e ., 4 of hYlat When those matters which affected the ‘llo,,loit than were removed, that there would be less to the L'h - h . -a n at present to the performance of the ceremony ii i til :i ttt 7 l , 4k ikA ti e t e r o il a p co a t l eo d f Still less to the payment of fees. He ill ,ivt 14iied this ease that the whole amount of fees payable in marriage should not be more than seven ki:Pt il l l'here would be no necessity for payment for a any . more than at present,.. when bans were V ilti bti . ... Q ut of this fee of seven shillings he proposed that t he t lie. r should go to the parish officer or clergyman who Ras the' pi Bole ;by this eans he was ustified in saying th t at °role expense fh l hp Ptege nt ~. o agarriage would be less than it : 4 , , tl at f .."( ttear, hear.) He felt much obliged . to 1 4 t :ei °I. the attention with which they had listened he g qpeli e j ° f " Hear, hear")—on a matter on which e , t h " NI A !as informed than those who had made the lam s o N I 'le te t late N 'loge t 50 . 11 d.Y. He had not felt himself called upon Ihiekas refinements on the subject, but had likitt,,as shortly and simply as possible, to explain the "'t th etee . ' c . n ieli . he trusted would" have - the effect . of remov ohltn:4ls tentious objections of those who dissented from Aj Q :cli r' and at the same time relieving the minister of the 11.0.t.t0.1;941 the publication of bans between parties who I ,,Qt t leet h e had the ceremony. If he succeeded in le 'l l l4 ' "ad in view he should rejoice at removing one of k 'o . d tas es w hich had tended to alienate the minds of those kr 44 1 , eut ed fro Ni.q h , - ,1 1.. , rn the doctrines of the Church from its ,ettli d "Fn more than anything connected with the cere „,,N did °lanipensate to them. (Hear, hear.) In present propose the slightest change in the pres . ent th' hy t — Te with respect to the members of the Establish ''4t'etißio/vt.th them the civil contract would still be subject .I t• it te.the'l .sanction. He was sure that no one would .h k its , a n!i he put in for the members of the Estabhs .- ) 0 , ae d f c?ntinuance of that law- which best suited their ‘ s tiit !e!lngs, and civil cont which superadded the ht religi on• ous sane ract.—( Cheers.) The Ri H Gen g tleman then moved for leave to bring in a Bill for the relief of persons dissenting from the Church of England, in regard to the celebration of marriage. Mr. WILK S felt bound, on the part of the Protestant Dissenters, to thank the Right Hon. Baronet for the tone and manner in which he had brought the subject forward, and pro posed to effect a change in a matter which every member of the church must feel to be of the deepest importance, and highly objectionable as regarded the ministers of the church. The early and strict attention given to the subject by the Right Hon. Baronet, added much to the feeling of obligation which he, on the part of the Dissenters, entertained. All the body to which he alluded would deeply feel, that notwithstand ing the immense variety of objects which must necessarily have occupied the attention of the Right Hon. Gentleman, that, unsolicited by them, he had come forward with a view of making arrangements in matters which had been so long com plained of by them as grievances.—( Cheers.) He should not do justice to his feelings towards his Parliamentary friends, to whom the Dissenters were under such deep obligations for their exertions to get rid of the Test and Corporation Act, which were felt by them not merely as a conscien tious, but as a great political degradation, if he did not take the opportunity of thanking them for the measures brought forward last year, and above all, for that on the subject of Dissenters' marriages, which was withdrawn for the pur pose of being remodelled in the interval between the last ses sion and the present, and also for other measures for the re lief of the Dissenters, which he knew it was intended to bring forward. He had no doubt that arrangements would have been made of a satisfactory nature, both as regarded a general civil registration and the removal of the Church-rates, and also other measures which would relieve the Dissenters from grievances under which they had long had reason to complain. With respect to the present measure it was impossible to deny that the Right Honourable Gentleman had taken a very calm and considerate view of the subject, as well as a candid re-, view of the measures that had been brought forward during the last ten or twelve years for removing the conscientious ob jections which Dissenters felt, to that which was now the legal form of marriage in this country. Measures had been brought forward for the attainment of this ob ject by many of the warm and steadfast friends of Dis senters, and above all, by the Noble Lord, Lord J. Russell. There were objections, however, against the Bill of the Noble Lord, which it was found diffi cult to overcome, above all, as regarded the publication of bans, and also connected with the registration. The Dis senters would have been extremely glad to have accepted the boon offered them; but it was owing to the objections that were raised, both by those who objected to the measure, as well as those upon whom it was to confer a benefit, that it was withdrawn. The measure of the Right Hon. Gentleman obviated many of the objections that were raised against the Noble Lord's Bill, but still it was liable to many Objections. He was anxious to do full justice to the Right Hon. Gentle man, but he should be guilty of unfairness, if he did not at once state that he was sure the measure would not be perfectly sa tisfactory to all classes of Dissenters. He was satisfied that many would object that Dissenters' marriages were only to be regarded as a civil contract, and not also as a religious contract. An HON. MEMBER believed that circumstance would give the greatest satisfaction to the Dissenters. Mr. WILK S said that_ all the Dissenters required was per fect social equality and equal rights with other of his Majesty's subjects, obtainable in as nearly as possible the same way. They had no wish to subvert the Church Establishment, nor would they accept of the revenues of the Church, if offered to them, for the maintenance of their ministers. If the Right Hon. Baronet had taken them back to the state of the law that existed before the passing of the Marriage Act, he would have given general satisfaction. There would have been no com plaints if he had gone back to the old law of England —to that which was now the law of France, and as well of the greater part of the civilized world. Many of the Dissenters would consider that the present measure would draw an invidious distinction between members of the Establishment and them selves. It would be imagined by many that the Dissenters were to be married in a different way, and were not to have the religious ceremony, because they did not belong to the Church—( Oh !oh !)—or because they were persons of degraded intellect.—(oh, oh !) This would be ar gued by some of the Dissenters, when they were told that marriage with them was only to be a civil contract. He wished to have an uniform system for all classes. There would also be some difficulties as regarded the Dissenters going be fore Magistrates to enter into this contract. He believed that one-third of the Magistrates of England were ministers of the Established Church. It would be a great hardship to compel Dissenters to go before these Magistrates for the pur pose of being married, and, in point of fact, would be no re lief whatever. It would not be the substance, but merely the shadow, of advantage. It would he attended with great prac tical inconvenience to make the Dissenters attend before the clergyman of the parish when acting as a Magistrate. He was convinced that the feelings excited in the minds of Dis senters, by adopting this course, would be of such a nature as to be almost insuperable. He was afraid, from the experience they had hitherto had of parish clergymen, that they would not be found in this respect, more than in others, adequate public Magistrates. He was convinced that the only satisfactory registration that could be adopted was a general civil register of births, marriages, and deaths. If they had suc an institution, the offi cial agent to enter the registration would be neither Ma gistrate nor clergyman. All that would then be required was a simple form of registration, not only for Dissenters, but for all classes of his Majesty's subjects.—( Hear.) He was glad that the Right Hon. Gentleman had introduced the Bill, which he was sore manifested the favourable regard which he entertained towards the Dissenters, and which required his acknowledgments on their part. He was satisfied that the measure was liable to some objections which he had stated; but he would gladly co-operate with the Right Hon. Gentle man in his desire to promote such a good understanding as would lead to a satisfactory settlement of the question. In conclusion he was most anxious to lessen the feelings of asperity which he deplored existed between Churchmen and Dissenters, and to promote a stronger feeling of mu tual benevolence. Lord JOHN RUSSELL colld not let the question be put without making a few observations on what had fallen from the Right Hon. Baronet. In the first place he would allude to the Bill which was brought in last year, and which turned out to be unsatisfactory to those whom it was intended to relieve. A great many objections were raised against it, some of which he thought were well founded, while others were, in his opinion, captious ; but such were their nature that, altogether, he found it impossible to proceed with the Bill ; be, therefore, withdrew it. The field, therefore, was entirely open to the Right Hon. Gentleman • and he felt bound to say, that the spirit in which the Right Hon. Gentleman had proposed his measure was of the most liberal kind—(cheers)—and which he (Lord J: Russell) trusted would always prevail in the fu ture discussions on this measure, and which would be found more advantageous in legislating on this subject, than by pursuing the course which had hitherto been followed. He admitted the value of many of the suggestions of the Right Hon. Baronet ; but he thought it would be going too far if he then attempted to follow him into the details of the measure which he had brought forward. He wished, in the first place, that the Bill should go forth to the world, and should be fairly considered by the Protestant Dissenters ; and he hoped, when they had done so, that they would fairly and openly state their opinions on the subject. If they objected to it, that they would state their objections in such a reasonable manner as to entitle them to the serious consideration of the House, and not meet it in a spirit of opposition, but in such a way that their just wishes could be best satisfied. Therefore, throwing aside, for the present, the details of the measure of the Right Hon. Gen tleman, he thought that he was right in taking the opportunity of declaring that the great obstacle that he found to the success of the measures he had brought forward for the relief of the Dissenters was, that they considered the measures of relief themselves as the remains of the system which they felt so strongly during the continuation of the Test and Corporation Acts, and as tending, in some degree, to degrade them. That these measures, intended to remove difficulties under which they laboured, had in them something insulting and degrading : such opinions, however natural, they were in no way justified in entertaining. He deeply regretted the feeling which ex isted between the members of the Establishment and Dissen ters, and was most anxious to remove it. With this view, he confessed, before the introduction of the Bill of last year, his feeling was, that the first object of the Legislature was to form a system of general civil registration ; that the registry both of members of the Church and of Dis senters should be purely of a civil nature; that all should come equally under one head ; and that all should merge in one civil, not ecclesiastical register. This was not a scheme of the Government to which he belonged, but it was a plan which he had intended to bring into Parliament on his own responsibility.—( Hear, hear.) He was the more convinced of the propriety of this course from the consideration he had given to it; and he was sa tisfied that it was the most efficient plan that could be carried into effect, and that all attempts at a change in the law as regarded the present subject would be found de fective until it was adopted. In saying this,_ he begged to repeat that 'the Government to which he belonged did not feel called upon to bring forward a measure on the subject ; therefore he could not be supposed to blame that of the Right Hon. Gentleman for not having proposed such an extensive measure. With respect to the present measure, he could not say whether it would give satisfaction or not ; but at any rate it was brought forward in such a spirit of liberality and justice to all classes of his Majesty's subjects, that at least so far it ought to give satisfaction. Dr. LUSHINGTON, before he made any general obser vations on the measure, wished to ask whether, on signing the contract before the magistrate, the parties had to make any declaration as to their religious opinions ? If there were no necessity for signing such a paper, the messure would be full and ample, and might be made to include all classes of his Ma jesty's subjects. Sir R. PEEL said that the parties, on presenting them selves before a magistrate, would have to take an oath and sign a declaration to the effect, " I, A B, of the parish of C D, in the county of E F, not being a member of the Established Church of Great - Britain or Ireland"—( He had stated in his opening speech that he did not intend to alter the law as re garded the members of the Establishment, but only as affected those who objected to be married by the present law)— " dwelling in the Parish of —, and being of the full age of twenty-one, and, not knowing any lawful impediment to my marriage," &c., and so on in the form now used in marriage licences. Dr. LUSHINGTON regretted that the form did not go further, so as to admit all classes of his Majesty's subjects. He was convinced that if the Right Hon. Baronet had adopted the principle of his Noble Friend's Bill, he would have found the difficulties inextricable, and the result would have been that he would have given satisfaction to no party.—( Hear.) When he declared that he gave his cordial approbation to the THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1835. indifference, and not possessing that solemn character which the performance of the ceremony in a church gave it. He thought, however, that these differences of opinion and objec tions were easy of solution. The principle of the measure of the Right Hon. Baronet opposite was not to make the mar riage contract civil ; indeed, it was less so than the mea sure introduced in 1834, by the distinguished advo cate of religious freedom who sat near him ( Lord John Russell). If the measure was for social purposes to be made civil, why should it not be enforced on all ci tizens alike, leaving them afterwards to go from the house of the magistrate to celebrate the contract with what religious acidity they pleased ? or, if they preferred, by an expression of their feelings in such a joyous and so cial mode as they might think proper? Let every one follow his own fancy or prejudice, and omit to perform such religious observations as his judgment shall direct. lf, therefore, marriage be made a civil contract, with this per mission, we at once dissolve all the objections raised. When Hon. Gentlemen should give this their further attention, he could not doubt they would see this to be the best mode of avoiding any difficulty. Unless a proper method of regi stration could be adopted, it would be better deferred until it could be completely carried out by some other and gene ral measure. Whether the registration should be made by the clergyman or the magistrate, they could not remain as they were. One complete measure of registration should be made for the three principal objects for which it was required—namely, registration of births, marriages, and deaths. He hoped that the intention of the Government was to prepare some general and perfect measure of regis tration, and if so, he thought the principle of registration sought to-be established by the present Bill, had better be deferred until it could be carried out in some future session. He thought that any Hon. Member would be acting an ignoble part who should make any objection to the present measure on account of the quarter from which it came. He had shown no eagerness to make any objection, but he had freely expressed his opinions of the measure. He, for one, would not hesitate to say that whatever objections may be made by Dissenters on the details of this measure, it spoke a kindness and regard for the feelings and situation of the Dis senters, which entitled the Right Hon. Baronet ( Sir R. Peel), and gentlemen connected with him in office, to the gra titude of the country.--( Hear, hear.) Mr. J. S. 'WORTL E Y could not avoid congratulating the Right Hon. Baronet ( Sir R. Feel) on the spirit with which he had introduced this measure ; and though there were a few objections, and though it did not come up to the expectations of all, yet the people of England and the Dissenters would consider it as exhibiting a liberal and generous' spirit. He was attached to the ceremony of marriage, and he there fore gave great praise to that part of the Bill which left the Established Church in possession of the power to marry those who might approve of its mode of worship. The measure was not only for the benefit of the Dissenters, but for the security of property.—( Hear, hear.) He thought there did not appear any difficulty in the case where two persons wish ing to be married were of different persuasions. In marriages where at present one party is a Catholic and the other a Protestant, it was the custom to have the ceremony performed in a Protestant Church, and afterwards in the Catholic Church ; so in the case when, under the pro posed Bill, one party belongs to the Established Church and one is a Dissenter, the ceremony can be performed in the Established Church, and there will be no necessity for any thing else. Observations had been made by the Hon. and Learned Member for the Tower Hamlets as to the opposition by the Members of the present Government to a measure simi lar in principle to the present, and which passed through that House in 1827, and went into the House of Lords. That measure had been supported by the late Archbishop of Can terbury, the Bishop of London, and the present Lord Chan cellor. He thought this measure was one which might have been expected from the present Government; arid at the late election (which was a time of great excitement and party-feel ing), he took upon himself to say, that if they (the people) would wait, he knew the Right Hon. Baronet (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) would give them measures in a just and liberal spirit—( A laugh)—that he would propose such mea sures as would astonish them.—( Laughter.) He did not say they would be astonished at the change in the Right Hon. Baronet (the Chancellor of the Exchequer), but he told them that, from a reference to his votes and measures, he was sure he would deal with the country in the highest spirit of liberality. Mr. LEONARD congratulated the House on the spirit which had pervaded the discussion ; he thought the measure would be productive of great benefit, and it had given him great satisfaction. He hoped that this particular measure was only the precursor of several others to be brought forward by the Right Hon. Baronet (the Chancellor of the Exchequer). He trusted Dissenters,would receive this as a payment of what was owing to them, and that they would co-operate in making the measure as perfect as possible. Mr. E WART would gladly be one of those who would be willing to co-operate in that design ; but he confessed that the measure would have been more consonant to his views, if the Right Hon. Baronet (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had been able to say to Dissenters and Churchmen that marriages should be a civil contract, as it existed in ancient times, and during the Commonwealth, and up to the year 1754, without interfering with their opinions. He much regretted that any distinction, or the sha dow of a distinction, should exist. The time would come when this distinction would no longer exist. An objec tion had been urged as to persons of particular religious per suasions being compelled to go before a magistrate, who fre quently would be found to be himself a clergyman of the Church of England. However, it was likely there would be an alteration of the magistrates of the country take place, and (as we understood the Hon. Member) they would be made stipendiary, and clerical persons would no longer be suffered to be in the commission of the peace. The Dissenters de sired not to have recourse to the Church of England. There was in all countries except this only one civil office for regis tration, and he thought the establishment of a general regis tration of births, marriages, and deaths here, would secure the rights and property of all. While these qualifications of the measure were temporary, its principle was eternal, and would confer honour on the Right Hon. Baronet when the objections were swept away. Lord SANDON thought the measure, from its general out line, would be productive of many advantages. Mr. ROEBUCK wished to extend all civil privileges to every class of the community. The Right Hon. Baronet (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) gets over the difficulty felt by the Noble Lord. (Sandon). He takes the leap, and de clares what he never heard a Minister of the Crown declare, that " a marriage was a civil contract."—( Hear.) Though the law would interfere to see that there was no fraud, and though it attached a religious sanction to it, yet, as far as the law considered the contract, it was only a civil one. If it were true as a general principle, it was also true as to the Church. He thought, that treating marriage as a mere civil right, was not trenching, in the least, on the feelings of re ligion in the community. As to the difficulty felt by some, as to a clergyman keeping a register of marriage, he confessed he did not feel that difficulty, nor did he see any thing ob jectionable or degrading in a clergyman acting merely as a registrar. Indeed, he could not see a more useful purpose for a parish priest than that. He thought that the registrar might still be kept in the same place as at present, the certifi cate being sent from the Magistrate. He did not see why all should not go before the Magistrate, and the register to some part of the country, to form a general registry. The opinions of philosophers in propounding such doctrines as he had alluded to were d►sagreeable to the Noble Lord ( Sandon.) Lord SANDON would ask whether the lion. Gentleman was entitled to give a lecture to the House on arrogance or acrimony ? Mr. W. PR AED looked with delight to the tone of the discussion on this ,question, and to the just compliments paid by the Hon. Gentlemen opposite to the Right Hon. Baronet (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) ; and lie felt assured that no less justice would be done, from that side (the Ministerial side of the House), to those measures of amendment which might come from the Opposition side of the House. Many objections had been thrown out to the proposed measure—all .of them, he had no doubt, in a perfectly fair and justifiable spirit; he would notice one or two of them. Some Hon. Gentleman—the Hon. Member for Liverpool, he believed,---(" No ! " from Mr. Ewart.)— some one else, then, had observed that the Dissenters would object to the payment of the fees. But that objection would not stand on any reli gious ground—it would not form any part of the religious ob jection which the Dissenters urged to the present state of the law. The Hon. Member for Kircudbright (Mr. C. Fergus son) had made an objection to this effect—that the ceremony of marriage ought not to consist in the performance of any rite or vow before the magistrate ; that that performance, indeed, ought to be evidence of the ceremony, but that the ceremony itself ought to consist in the proved consent of the parties. That uas not a stable or a fair objection. The Hon. Mem ber for Leeds (Mr. Baines) had asked why not insert a clause in the Bill, pointing out the desire of the Legislature that marriage should be a religious obligation ? The Hon. Member for Kircudbright, on the other hand, said, why not make it entirely a civil obligation? This circumstance would show how great was the difficulty of meeting the wishes of classes of Dissenters whose principles were so opposite as those of the two Hon. Members ; nevertheless he did think that the present Bill fulfilled the desires of both. He himself thought it desirable that marriage should be a religious obliga tion ; but he did not think it desirable that it should be made so. by an Act of Parliament. principle of this Bill, he felt some reluctance in observing that he could not altogether adopt the reasoning which the Right Hon. Baronet had made himself master of, and had used in his introduction of the Bill to the House. He could not agree with him in what he declared to be the principle of mar riage in a former period of the history of this country. He should not consider it worth while to make the objection, were it not that 'the debates of the House became public : and he considered it much more desirable to state here any dif- ferences of opinion entertained, than to leave theirs to ob servations to be made out of doors.—(Hear.) The truth was this : In ancient times in this country, marriage was good and valid without the interference of a priest ; then came the Council of Trent, which declared that marriage should become a religious ceremony. At the time of the Reformation, the provision of the Council of Trent was refused, and if a man accepted a woman as his wife per verba de prcesenti, that was a good and valid marriage ; but some Courts had the power to compel marriage according to ecclesiastical form, to secure the inheritance of real property. Such was the state of things till 1754, when the marriage law passed, which was confined in its operation to England and Wales • but some doubt havi n g arisen as to whether it w as intended to include Presbyterians, and the subject having undergone the serious consideration of Mr. Justice Bosanquet, Mr. Canning, who was then at the head of the Board of Con trol, brought in a Bill to declare the marriages in the doubtSul cases to which he had alluded valid. He made these observa tions, feeling that unless he noticed the subject, it might be supposed that prior to the year 1754 marriage was solely a civil contract, and no means existed of compelling persons to celebrate marriage in facis ecclesice. He thought it would be unbecoming in him to trouble the House at any considerable length at the present time, but he begged to be allowed to state that in his opinion one of the greatest difficulties the Right Hon. Baronet would have to contend against would arise from the making of the registries.—( Hear, hear.) He thought it most desirable, if possible, to establish a system by which clandestine marriages might be prevented. Few people knew the misery that frequently resulted from un fortunate marriages of that description • and the reason was obvious, for when it happened to families that such cala . mities befel them, it became their interest to conceal the un fortunate circumstances. His great anxiety, then, was that such regulations should be made as would give the necessary publicity to prevent the solemnization of clandestine mar riages, and, at the same time, would not throw what might be considered improper difficulties in the way of the solemni zation of marriage, when it was not liable to objection. He certainly hoped that those who were about to contract mar riage would not consider any little restriction that might be proposed intolerable, when they reflected on the incalculable mischief which resulted from clandestine marriages.—( Hear, hear.) He rejoiced that the Right Hon. Baronet had the courage to come forward with this measure ; and when he re collected how anxious some of the members of the late Admi nistration were to administer complete relief to the Dissenters, who complained of grievances, he could not but regret that they knew they were in that situation that, even had they pro posed such a measure as would receive the approbation of this House, it was certain to be defeated elsewhere.—( Cries of " No, no ;" and " Hear, bear.") Mr. P. HOWARD could not refrain from offering his hum ble tribute of gratitude to the Right Hon. Baronet for the measure which he had propounded to the House : it would give satisfaction not only to the large body of Protestant Dis senters, but also to that Church to which he belonged. It would give great satisfaction to the Roman Catholics of England. _ _ Mr. BA INE S w ished to unite his tribute of acknowledgment to the Right Hon. Baronet at the head of his Majesty's Govern ment for the friendly spirit towards the Protestant Dissenters in which this measure was conceived, and for the clear and sa tisfactory manner in which he had conveyed his sentiments to the House.---( Hear, bear.) He did not think that there would be felt amongst the Protestant Dissenters any objection to the Bill, as far as related to constituting marriage a civil contract, or to the registration of their marriages through the medium of the magistrates; but there might be objections to some of the details ; though those, he hoped, might, without much difficulty, be removed.—( Hear, hear.) To give the greater solemnity to the marriage contract, he thought that some religious service ought to he engrafted upon that contract, and that the service should he performed by the minister of the religious body to whom the parties were attached. With regard to the registry at the parish church, he hoped that this was to be considered a tempo rary, and not a perimanent arrangement, subject to alteration from a general registry bill ; because, as a permanent measure, he did not think that it would be satisfactory to the Protestant Dissenters that their marriages should be required to pass through the register of the Established Church. He knew that a strong feeling existed on this point amongst the persons whose grievances this Bill was intended to redress, and that they considered it as an implied admission of subserviency or inferiority to the Church with which they claimed an equality of privileges. The changes mentioned by the Right Hon. Gentleman were also open to objection. To persons in bum ble life the fee of seven shillings would be considered unduly high, and would operate as a barrier against the poorer classes availing themselves of the privilege of marriage according to the proposed form. There was another topic on which he wished to make an inquiry. What was to be done when the parties contracting marriage were of different religious per suasions, one of them being of the communion of the Este ' blished Church, and the other a Protestant Dissenter ? Ac cording to the certificate, or declaration, that had been read by the Right Hon. Baronet, the husband's faith was to regu late the wife's. Was this intended ?—or was it meant that if either of the parties were members of the Establishment, that the other was to conform ?—( Hear, hear.) In offering these suggestions, he hoped that it would be understood that he did not wish to cast any unnecessary impediments in the way of the Bill. He was of opinion that it would prove a tranquil lizing and healing measure. Of all things on earth, matrimo nial contracts ought to give rise to harmonious feelings—( A laugh)—and it was his earnest desire that the measure might be carried to a happy consummation.—(Laughter.) Mr. C. FERGUSSON contended that marriage ought to be a purely civil contract,—that no religious feeling or cere mony ought to form part of it.--(" No, no !" and " Hear, hear.") Such was his opinion ; he would have marriage a civil contract alone, deliberately to celebrate it by any cere mony that they preferred.—( Hear, hear.) He could not agree with his Hon. and Learned Friend (Dr. Lushington) in his statement, that there was the least doubt as to what the ancient law of England was respecting marriage : it was merely a civil contract. The Act stated that it was not meant to extend to Scotland, Ireland, or parts beyond the sea ; there fore there was no occasion for the Act passed in the time of Mr. Canning, which was, in fact, merely a declaratory Act. There were now cases of inheritance depending, large amounts being involved, which arose out of marriages in India. There were some parts of the present Bill that he thought would re quire amendment. The husband might belong to the Church of England, and the wife might be a Dissenter; but the de claration required the party to state that they were Dissen ters. In his opinion, it ought to be suScient for the party to declare that they objected to be married according to the Church of England ceremony—( Hear, hear)—the first part of the declaration read by the Right Hon. Member ought to be omitted.—( Hear, hear.) No similar declaration was re quired from the Roman Catholics ; he believed the oath re quired by the measure for the relief of the Roman Catholics might be taken by any person who was not a Roman Catholic. He trusted that the measure before the House was but the prelude to a more perfect one. Mr. P. THOMSON said it was impossible for any one to feel more political hostility towards the Government of the Right Hon. Baronet than he did—but that hostility should never lead him to oppose measures proposed by the Govern ment that were calculated, in his judgment, to benefit the country. When he had heard the separation of the Church from the State recommended, lie had not hesitated to express his dissent from that recommendation—but at the same time he had always stated to the great body of Dissenters constitu ting the larger portion of his constituents, that it would be his earnest endeavour to aid in all measures which were cal culated to relieve them from their grievances. Entertaining these feelings, lie had heard with great satisfaction the speech made by the Right Honourable Baronet, and be concurred especially in the principles which he had there laid down. He hoped that those principles would be the ground-work of the Bill, which he must see before he could express his unqualified approbation of it : if they were, in his opinion, much, as regarded this particular point, would be gained by the Dissenters. He thought it desirable that some religious ceremony should accompany the perform ance of the contract ; and in this respect he differed from his Hon. and Learned Friend. He considered the religious rites calculated to impress more deeply on the mind the solemn obligations the parties were entering into.--( Hear.) While he said this, however, he thought the Right Hon. Baronet might have carried his principle a .little farther, and extended it to persons belonging to the Church of England who might object to being obliged by law to perform the marriage cere mony according to the tenets of the Church. The distinction made by the Right Hon. Baronet was likely to leave a point of grievance to the Dissenters. He might be told it was imaginary only, and so he admitted it was ; but it was natural for men not to be content if they did not consider themselveg in such matters on a perfect equality. The alteration pro posed with respect to the registration he hoped would be the first step towards a general system of registration. Mr. D. W. HARVEY hoped the same good feeling with which the measure was received in the House would charac terize its reception out of doors ; and that in the spirit in which the Right Hon. Baronet had made his speech he would receive any suggestions offered to him for the improvement of the measure. Many Dissenters, he believed, would object to what they would consider magisterial control. There was a general prejudice against the interference of magistrates, and the interference now proposed might tend to increase the pre judice. On the other hand, the Dissenter might still further object to the registration of the marriage by the clergyman, when the magistrate should have transmitted the certificate to him for that purpose. So that, whether it be considered as a religious or civil ceremony, the measure would be open to ob jection by one or the other. If it be considered civil, then the objection against the interference of the magistrate would be urged by the clergyman of the Established Church ; and if religious, then you array, on the part of the Dissenters, the whole force of the objections encountered by the Noble Lord ( Russell) in the introduction of his measure relating to marriage during the last Session. Thus, if a marriage contract be made only civil, you have the hostility of the clergyman of the Established Church ; if religious, that of the whole Dissenting community. Another objection had been made by the Hon. Member fee Boston (Mr. Wilks), as to making wider the present distinction which exists between parties of different persuasions in contracting marriages, by removing the imposition of any declaration of creeds, or other wise, for that ceremony. Now, going to that extent, it was bjected, would induce many to consider their alliances with out religious sanction, as open to the imputation of levity, or Mr. EWART and Mr. C. FERGUSSON explained Mr. S HEIL said that there was much good in the Bill; but there were some points on which consideration was necessary. There was much difficulty about the matter of registra tion ; and he thought it not a little curious in the pro posed arrangement that while the magistrate, before whom the civil contract was to take place, would receive two shillings for his fee, the clergyman who was to register the marriage would receive five. Might it not be feared that Dissenters would consider the difference of the fee as a proof that there was to be a difference, to a certain extent, in favour of the Established Church ? But the Right Hon. Baronet had stated that his mind was not fully made up on this subject; he (Mr. Sheill) might be allowed, therefore, to trust that there would be a public functionary appointed for the purpose of making the registration. There was another point worthy of notice : the Bill would only apply to cases in which both parties were Dissenters, and not to those in which the one party was a member of the Church and the other a Dissenter ; the consequence of this would be, that instead of attracting persons to the Established Church, it would have the effect, possibly, of seducing them from it. He trusted that the Right Hon. Baronet would give them as large and as comprehensive a measure with respect to the Church of Ireland. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that no objection had been brought against the principle of the proposed Bill ; all the observations made referred only to matters of detail, which would be fit subjects of discussion when the Bill was in Committee. Although a zealous and sincere friend of the Esta blishment, he had always thought that no Dissenter ought to experience any disadvantage, and that no member of the Church ought to enjoy any benefit, on account of his religious opinions ; that for all secular purposes,' for every matter of civil and social life, for every profession except that of the. Church it self, all persons alike ought to he placed on the same foot ing. It had been said that. marriage ought to be made a civil contract for all persons. He claimed, on behalf of those who, as members of the Church of England, had been long in the habit of considering it as a solemn and a religious ceremony, that if Dissenters were allowed to relinquish the religious ceremony, and adopt only- the civil one, they on their part should be allowed to abandon the civil contract and adopt only the religious ceremony. He asked this for himself, and for all conscientious members of the Church ; and he asked no more than he was willing to grant to others. Mr. EST COURT fully concurred in what had fallen from the Hon. and Learned Attorney-(mineral. He (Mr. Est court) was not disposed to quarrel with those who' wished to consider marriage as a civil contract ; but he claimed for the members of the Church a similar liberty of freely regarding it as a religious ceremony. He expressed his gratitude to his Right Hon. Friend (Sir Robert Peel) for the introduction of the measure, and thought it by far the most likely to conci liate the opinions of all classes of-persuasions, of all the mea sures which he had seen brought forward in the course of his parliamentary life. Sir JOHN CAMPBELL believed that the measure was brought forward in a due spirit of liberality, but said that it would offer the first instance in which a difference had been made between the members of the Church and Dissenters as to the mode in which the relation of marriage was to be con tracted. Such a distinction had never existed as the Right Hon. Baronet had mentioned. Before Lord Hardwicke's Act, both classes were at liberty to enter into the relation per verba de prassenti, without the intervention of a priest. This was a civil contract, and was followed by all the consequences of a valid marriage; the children were legitimate, and were entitled to inherit both the real and personal property of the parents. By Lord Hardwicke's Act marriage was made a perfectly religious ceremony, and none could be valid without the intervention of a priest. By the present measure the com munity was to be divided into two portions, for one of which there was to be one kind of marriage, and for the other another kind. The Bill brought in by his Noble Friend last year, although it was defective, still went on the principle of esta blishing one sort of marriage for all of his Majesty's subjects. His Noble Friend had probably thought, as he him self thought, that it ought to be a civil contract ; that a civil contract should constitute ipsum matrimon ium ; but consider ing that the public might not be fully prepared for that, lie made his Bill declare that it should be a religious- one, still following the Jgreat principle of having one sort of marriage for all persons. The present Bill said that all who belonged to the Church should be able to contract marriage only by the intervention of a priest, but that those who did not belong to the Church should go before the civil magistrate. This ar rangement would not cure the existing evil in many instances, for he believed that many classes of Dissenters looked on mar riage as a religious ceremony.—(Hear, hear.) There would be no hardship in adopting the same system as prevailed in Catholic countries—where marriage was regarded as a sa crament—of requiring the parties simply to go before a civil magistrate before they went to the altar. There was one point of detail he wished to notice ; if the magistrate were to be the person who was to receive the notice, before whom the ceremony was to be performed, and by whom the certificate was to be transmitted, he feared that he would dis charge no one of those three duties well. Before Lord Hard wicke's Act, there were parsons who were willing to celebrate clandestine marriages for a small sum ; if the pro posed Bill were to pass in its present form, he feared that there would be found magistrates acting improperly in regard to one of the three duties mentioned. He thought that it would be necessary to have some public functionary appointed by the Crown to discharge them in a particular district. Another clause of the Bill he begged to enter his protest against—that which required an oath to be taken that the parties did not belong to the Church of England ; it was a needless multiplication of oaths. He should be willing to render every assistance in his power towards effecting any im provement in the provisions of the Bill. Mr. WARBUiZTON considered the Bill to be intended for the relief of the Dissenters, and thought the Right Hon. Baronet had completely fulfilled that intention. If any party had a right to complain of the measure it was the member of the Church of England, who might say that he was not placed on precisely the same footing as the Dissenter. With refer ence to registration, the same complaint might equally be made by both : the Dissenter could not be said to have any griev ance imposed on him in this respect. Mr. M'CANCE congratulated the Right Hon. Baronet on having become a Reformer, and said that if he pursued the same course with respect to the Irish Church as with respect to this subject he would be safe in his present situation for this session—( Hear, hear, and laughter.) Mr. J. KENNEDY (we understood) believed that the present measure would be more unpalatable to the Dissenters than that of the Noble Lord (Lord John Russell) last year.— ( Hear, hear, and laughter from the Mi n i s t er i a l b enc h es .) Th e objections which the Dissenters entertained to that Bill affected only its details—such as the necessity of a publication of the bans and a connection with the Establishment by the mode' of registration propos e d ; th e p resent measure was o bj ect i ona bl e in detail—it went to draw a line of demarcation - between the Dissenters and the members of the Church—to establish two kinds of marriages, one of a civil and one of a religious cha racter,—and to degrade the Dissenting clergy by placing them in a position of inferiority, of which they would justly complain. ' Sir R. PEEL rose to notice a few' observatiens which had been made on the proposed measure, which appeared to him calcnlated,to prejudice it in the eyes of the Dissenters, and said that he never felt more satisfied than he did now that he could convince every rational and impartial body of DisienterS that there was nothing in the Bill calculated to make any invi dious distinction between them and the members of the Esta blished Church ; and that there was no one single clause in it, which, if it did make such a distinction, made any other than one which was inseparable from the nature of dissent, and the nature of the required remedy. He wished to acknow ledge in the first place the fair and liberal spirit in which the plan had been received by the House, and to state Hs conviction that no observation had been made with a view to, prejudice in any, manner the progress of th Bill. What was the object of the measure which he had proposed? There had been complaints made by the Dis senters of practical grievances, to remove which it was his duty to endeavour to discover a practical and effectual remedy.--( Hear,. hear.) Then the course which he had pur sued was the most natural which he could take to attain that object. He had read the speeches which had`' been made on the Bill 'of last session ; he had looked carefully at the petitions which had been presented with reference to this sub ject ; he had weighed all the objections which had been urged against former measures ; and the conclusion to which he had come, after the fullest consideration, was, that the provision of the present Bill with regard to marriage must tend to satisfy the wishes of the sensible and rational portion of the Dissenters, while it paid due respect to the religious feel ings of the members of the Church of England. His con viction was, that, with respect to marriage, the members of the Church of England were satisfied with the existing law.— ( Hear.) There might, perhaps, be some individual members of it who were anxious to have marriage made a purely civil con tract ; but looking at the great mass of the community, he was satisfied that neither on the part of the members of the Church of England nor on the part of the Dissenters, did there exist any objection to the observance of the ceremony of marriage, so far as the Memb ers o f th e Ch urc h were con cerned. He thought, therefore, that it did savour of that re ligious intolerance which the Dissenters appeared so strongly to condemn, that their advocates in that House should say, " We not only require relief for ourselves from those hardships which press so severely and unjustly upon us, but we think it our makingduty to insist upon your such alterations in the cere - mony of marriage of the Chum% of England as may be neces sary to accommodate it to our notions of the grievances under which we labour."—( Cheers.) So far from wishing to place the Dissenters on a different footing from the members of the Church of England, his first wish had been to make mar riage, as regarded all sects and religions, a religious ceremony. His earnest wish now was that it should be a religious cere mony ; but he saw great, and, he believed, insurmountable obstacles, to the attainment of that object. —( Hear, hear.) If he had observed, and laid down in the proposed Bill a material difference between the Dissenters and the Members of the Church,—he had been compelled to adopt this course, from the variance which had ex isted between the circumstances of these two classes of the community, and not from any desire to subject the Dissenters to any degrading or invidious distinctions.—( Hear, hear.) What was the nature of the Established Church ? The members of it professed certain principles, and adhered to certain doctrines ; it was easy, therefore, to prescribe for those who belonged to it the unanimous observance of some one form of contracting the relation of marriage. Upon the same principle, if the House had only to legislate for some one body of the Dissenters—say the Presbyterians or the Inde pendents—there would be no difficulty in laying it down as a rule that the performance of the religious ceremony should be sufficient evidence of the existence of time civil contract.— ( Hear, hear.) The Dissenters, he belieied, entertained dif ferent opinions with regard to the ceremony of marriage ; and it was because he was convinced that this variance existed, and because he knew that a great number of different deno minations of Dissenters existed in this country, that he, wish ing to pay that respect which was due to their religious feel ings, and not to do any thing which would tend to prevent them from adhering to their tenets, shrunk from introducing into his Bill any one form to which all would be bound to subscribe.—( Cheers.) There were, too, some classes of Dis senters—such, for instance, as that of the Quakers—who observed no religious ceremony, and who entered into the relation of marriage as a civil contract. How, then, could any measure be introduced prescribing one form-of religious cere mony for all, without being justly open to the objection of being distinguished by the strongest spirit of intolerance to wards that body of Dissenters to whom he had just alluded ? ( Hear, hear.) How was it possible to frame an Act of Par liament so as to meet the wishes of the various Dissenting bodies upon this point, and providing at the same time for one mode only of performing the ceremony of marriage ? It was, then, the force of circumstances and the nature of the law, and not any wish to place the Dissenters upon an unfair footing with the members of the Church of England, which left him no other course to take but that which he had adopted.—( Hear.) It might be said, however, that the observance of this ceremony might be accommodated to the views of three or four of the leading denominations of Dissenters • but if he, acting on th e opinions of those few cla sses o f the Dissenters, brought forward in the most conciliatory spirit any measure embracing their suggestions, it might be fairly met by the advocates cf the other sects, whose wishes he had not consulted, with this re monstrance—" We have a right to share in the benefits of that principle of toleration which you have acceded to in the case o others, and upon which we require protection for our preju. dices, or at any rate for our natural and .just feelings."— ( Hear.) With respect to the objection which had been urged against the present measure, upon the ground that every teacher, minister, or preacher, should, as a necessary con sequence of his taking such a religious office, be entitled to perform the civil contract ; lie thought that the adoption of such a principle as that laid down by the opposite must be attended with the most inconvenient results, and could be acted upon only in an intolerant spirit, inasmuch as though the Government would have no right to inquire into the ca pabilities of ally individual to perform the religious duties of his ministry, it would have the right, ;when he became a civil functionary, of inquiring into his qualifications for the Office.—( Hear, hear.) The Government - was not called upon to interfere with the ignorant man in the performance of the religious duties of any appointment which he might hold, but they were bound to deprive him of the pi wer of performing the ceremony of marriage as a civil contract, and attended, as such, by all its legitimate consequence s.--( Hear.) As he had before said, his first wish was that m.arriage should be made a religious ceremony ; but he had been obliged, from the circumstances to which he had referred, to fall back upon the intended provision in his Bill, which, whilst it did not prevent the Dissenter in n having marriage performed according to the rites of his particular persuasion, required at the same time the acknowledgment of the obligation of the contract before a Magistrate.—( Hear, hear.) As to registration, he thought Hon. Members had displayed considerable ingenuity in the objections which they had urged against the proposed measure on this point. The Dissenter was not brought by the proposed measure into any contact with the Minister of the Established Church, as regarded his religious opinions, but merely registered his marriage according to the present sys tem of registration, which he (the Chancellor of the Exche= quer) thought the best. The House, however, was not thereby precluded from considering whether any beneficial al- teration might not be effected in the present mode of registra tion. With respect to the amount of the fees to be paid to the clergyman, he would only observe, that in every Bill which had been introduced on this subjeet the claims for com pensation, on the part of the clergyman, had never been re sisted. He had made those observations, ;not so much for the purpose of replying to those who had urges 1 slight objections against the proposed measure, as because .he was anxious to remove the impression which might remain o n the mind of the Dissenters if those objections had gone forth unnoticed or un answered.—( Cheers.) The motion was then agreed to. OMNIBUSES AND HACKNEY CARRIAGES. Mc. Alderman WOOD moved for leave to bring in a Bill for the better regulation of Cabriolet and other Hackney Coaches, or of OMnibuses and other Stage Coaches, for short distances, used in and near the Metropolis, and of the drivers and attendants thereof. Colonel SIBTHORPE supported the motion. Mr. ROEBUCK opposed it. Mr. Alderman THOMPSON said that property had dete riorated from Charing-cross to the Bank of late years, in con sequence of carriages being unable to stop with convenience at any warehouse or shop, in consequence of the confusion created by the omnibuses and cabriolets. Dr. BOWRING expressed his conviction that the superin tendence of the magistrates would be sufficient' to remedy the evil complained of. Sir T. FREMANTLE thought that some legislative enactment on the subject might be very beneficial. Sir J. WROTTESLEY thought there was as much dan ger from the driving of carriages of other descriptions as from that of cabriolets and omnibuses. Mr. WARBURTON was of opinion. that the assemblage of carriages before the doors of the principal shops was a greater obstruction than that complained ot; Mr. CLAY admitted that Parliament occasionally ex hibited too great a fondness for petty legislation, but did not think that the present case was a ease liable to that censure. Mr. GLADSTONE trusted that the worthy Alderman would not be prevented by clamour from proceeding with his proposition. Mr. Alderman WOOD did not wish to curtail in the slightest degree the privileges of the people ; he merely wished to regulate what he was quite ready to allow would be, if regulated, a great public convenience. Leave was then granted to bring in the Bill. MERCHANT SEAMEN. Sir JAMES GRAHAM did not anticipate any objection to the bringing in of the Bill for which he was about to move. The first measure which he should propose was to amend and consolidate the laws relating to the merchant seamen of the United Kingdom, and to form and maintain a register of all the men engaged in that service. This was almost the same measure as that which he had introduced last year. The prin cipal object in view being to render the mercantile navy the means of manning the royal navy when required—the first step was to protect the seamen of the mercantile navy from evils to which they were 'at present exposed. He intended to propose that all seamen, whether employed in the coast or in foreign trade, when they embarked with the master of a merchant-vessel, should. do so under a written agreement. Having thus protected the men, he should proceed to protect the masters from some evils under which they at present laboured; especially against the harbouring of deserters from their ships in other vessels. He should then proceed to re-enact the law at present exist ing with respect to the number of apprentices; and he in tended to provide that ships in the foreign trade should, on their return to an English port, be visited by the Custom house officers, and that their apprentices and seamen should bd mustered and accounted for, under heavy penalties. This would in a great measure obviate the hardships to which mer chant-seamen were frequently exposed, by being, in conse quence of frivolous disputes with the master, left in foreign countries with large •arrears of wages due to them. By the last part of his measure, he hoped' to secure an efficient registration of all the seamen of the mercantile navy. He had endeavoured to obviate the objections which had been made to the Bill of last session, and had availed himself of many of the suggestions which had been thrown out, espe cially by the late Member for the City of London. Instead of the regulations contained in the of last session, re specting muster-rolls in every ship, h e h a d substituted a mode of return less voluminous and less inconvenient, to be made by masters of coasting vessels half yearly, and by mas ters of vessels engaged in the foreign trade on their return home ; all through the Custom-house. He had every reason to believe that this regulation would not be found onerous on the ship-owners. He had now gone through the principal pro visions of his first measure ; and would proceed shortly to de scribe his second, which was for the encouragement of the vo luntary enlistment of seamen, and for makiug regulations for more effectually manning his Majesty's navy. Last session, when lie introduced a Bill on the subject, he was very sanguine 'in his belief that a system of registration might be substituted for impressment, in consequence of an analogy which he then believed to exist between that system and the existing system of balloting for the militia. Further reflection, however, had convinced him that such analogy did not exist; and that any regulations founded on its supposed existence would be either illusory and inefficient, in consequence of their mildness ; or that if efficient, they would be impressment under another name, and in a more severe character. The circumstances attending the registration of a land force and the registra tion of a sea force were essentially different. The demand for militia men was small, and, the -supply was great. When a' ballot took place for the militia, the men on whom the lot fell were resident on the spot, and were therefore ready immediately to serve either in person or by sub- stitute. Directly the reverse would be the case with the sea force. Supposing that seamen were registered and balloted for, such were the circumstatsces of the seafaring po- , pulation, that so far from the greatek number of that popula tion being within the realm ; two-thirds would be on the waters, absent from home, and not available for the public service. As the ballotted men would not be forthcoming, it would be necessary, in cases of emergency, to have recourse to the men who had escaped the ballot, which would be a double hard ship. What then did he propose to do ? He proposed, in the first place, to declare that the, Crown had a right to the ser vices in time of war of all seafaring men. In the next place, he proposed to limit those services. First, with re spect to their duration. He meant to propose that the ser vice should in no case exceed five years in duration, and that having served five years, should always be a protec tion to a seaman against being called upon for further ser vice. Having done that, he t was desirous, with a view to consult the kelings of those who were anxious, if pos sible, to avoid all compulsory service, to exhaust every inducement to voluntary enlistment. He meant, therefore, to provide that before his Majesty, in the event of war, should be empowered by proclamation to compel the service of merchant-seamen in the royal navy, a period of grace should •be allowed to elapse, during which all sea men who entered voluntary for five years should receive a double bounty. Last war the bounty was 51.—lie proposed that it should be 101. He proposed also that such volun teers should sooner derive the benefit of a pensi on ; and that during war, one year of voluntary service should reckon for two years of service in peace, or of cumpulsory service. He proposed, likewise, that if the war exceeded five years in du ration, at the expiration of that period, a seaman, whether serving compulsory or as a volunteer, should be entitled, if he chose to enter for five years more, to receive a bounty of .5/. He also proposed that a seaman Who had served twenty years, and was entitled to a pension, should be allowed to draw both, which was the cause of the frequent loss of some of the best men in the navy. He luiped the House would be induced to sanction those propositions as strong inducements to seafaring men voluntarily to enter into the King's service in time of war ; although at the same time he thought it highly expedi ent to retain the power of impressment, were it only with the - view of increasing those inducements. He hoped he should be allowed to bring in his Bills, and at a future opportunity he should be happy to afford any more detailed explanation of their provisions that might be required. At present he was unwilling to trespass further on the indulgence of the House, and would at once move for leave to bring in Bills in confor mity to this notice. Mr. G. F. YOUNG begged to express his heartfelt grati fication at the announcement made that evening, and to bear his testimony in favour of the plan developed by the Right Hon. Baronet as the right one, for the accomplishment of what he knew had for years been the object of his wishes-- the abolition of the practice of impressment. When the sub ject was brought before the House last session, be took the liberty of stating that the mere introduction of a system of registration, unaccompanied by some plan as a substitute for impressment, would neither be satisfactory to those who were to be under the operation of the law, nor conduce to the at tainment of the object the Right Hon. Baronet had in view. He was glad to see that the Right Hon. Baronet had united these objects in an intelligible form, and in a way which would be satisfactory to all parties. He spoke not without knowing the feelings of the brave body of men to be affected by these Bills ; and on a recent occasion he was placed in contact witi I:''