The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1871-04-04 00:00:00

imperial farliantrnt.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

IIOXDAT.--LOTtl Payton!" Mond thalleoOnd reading of the
Rol for /opining Marriage with • Deoesomd Wife's Sister.
Thin was the eixth time the mentors had come up to thee
lordship. The majorities by which it had been hitherto
rejected had been steadily decreaaing, until last year the Bill
had been thrown out by a majority of only four. On the
come hand the petitions to both Houses in favour of the Bill
mo gone on impinging until, this year, their Lordship had
been aekedeto pals the Bill by 118,000 petitioneri, of whom
44,000 were women, and 5,0111 were Dissenting ministers. The
other House had affirmed the principle of the measure in 40
divisions. Si. or eight years after the Act of 1836 a comminion
compile If Persous of considerable distinction. wan appoininl
to in estigate the question. They reported that accordin, b.
an inquiry set on (-sit by private persons in 1446, and con-
ducted bv gentlemen of eminence and integrity, 1,3G6 mar-
riages o 'Olin the prohibited degree. had been centrastad since
the posing of the Act within the Oneida inquired into, up-
ends of 'blebs of these being marriages with a deemed
wile's sister. The Commiesioneri reported that these marriages
were contracted by persona of unimpeachable character and of
. religious principlio. that the Act of 1836 had tailed to attain
ite object, that when a poor man lost kin wie SOnta Simi/ta
was indispensable, for which he could not afford to pay, that
all the dreumetanee pointed to the &distance of the decease -I
wife's enter, and that when she once became an inmate of the
house cohabitation, with or without marriage, was almost
Inevitable. The then Bishop of Lichfield, Sir Stuart Wortley,
and Sir S. Luthington were the persons who signed this
report. Turning to the a:1;11one to these marriages., he
should doubtlien he told that such union, were contrary fe
divine law. Its would not discuss this point but would aim.
ply remark that men of the greatest learning Lad piety, and
of the highest position in the Church, held an opinion not
on's+ to the Bill. The late Arethishop of York did
not believe these marriages were forbidden by Scripture, and
Archbishop Whately maintained that they were contrary
neither to Scripture nor to expedience. The present primate
had signed a petition which affirmed that, whether considered
In a religiouomoral, Sr metal point of view, they were unob-
jectionable, chile in many circumstances they contributed to
the happiness of the pieties, to the welfare of motheaten
children, and, among the poor, tended to prevent immo-
rality. Dr. Chalmers, Dr. Adam Clarke, Dr. Bunting,
=toted that Wesley was of the lame opinionL and many ,
ting min
ministers had taken the mine view, while all
Christian communities in the world except our
.Ler.:l.l"ld
sasept ponsibly soots Swiss cantons, permitted these
In Russia they were allowed by licence till 1832, ni.n.7e=3
time they had been free; .IMr the French Protestants they
were allowed by hence, and in Roman Catholic countries they
were matter of dispensation, a circumstance which was not all
material, for as long as they were permitted it did not matter
what form or fee was necieseary. The cpinios of politiciana
such s. Lord Palmerston, Sir Convoyed Lewis and Lord
Clarendon bad been given on the same side. Di:. Vaughan,
whom none at tenet was familiar to their lordehips, in • letter
which he had not seen till yesterday, dated that these mar-
riages were, In his opinion, • sin of man's cresting, not God's,
that the Scripture argument utterly broke down, and that
hie experience if social life among the poor in a northern iiii-
trict led him to lament We arbitrary hindrance to the legal
union of two penceis whom illegal union was the certain
alternative. N's. how wee it possible, in the face of such
opinions and facts, that the existing law could maintain the
moral assent of the people/ The opinion of the main of the
people was always on the way to become the law of this
country, and he hoped their lordship. would not interpose a
sixth impediment to the paring of the Bill. The Act of 1835
WIG baud at the time oa the view taken of the Divine law, but
It warn now upheld on =al grounds by many who thought little
of the scriptural objection: It was urged that a man', relation
to his sieter-imew, one, by common consent, on a very agree-
able character, would be seriously affected if the Bill paned,
, but he see at a loss to know on what DID notion was
founded. Ile hail never heard that in other countries the
relation was diff.rent from that existing here, or that before
11136, when these marriages were frequent, the relation was
different in England from what it was a 1 prevent—(hear). It
was mid that the possibility of the husband marrying his
seta would give discomfort to the wile during her life, and
In a letter quoted some years ago in ths House of Commons
a lady mid she had several sisters, and that if the 14111 pined
sive could not Invite them to her home, as she should be
jealous of every one of them—(a laugh.) This would be un-
fortunate, but he feared the lady had been a great sufferer
through life, and was likely to be so whether the Bill pained
or not. It WlB thought that if the hosband had the power of
marrying the sister, the wife would be jailoin, but he could
not undeatind why the presence of the sister ehould put Ono
the huthen,i's head the possibility of his marrying her In the
event of hi+ wife's death. Hen did not speculate in that way
on their wife's death and on • second union. Audio it was
urges' that afar toe wife's death it would be impossible for
the sister to li+ c in the house. Now, whether, if after
the wife's death the slater came to live in the house,
eople would think it right or wrong, would depend on
the age of the Tadao on their characters, and other
c(rcumstances. He could understand such a ca se
being frequently the subject of scurrilous remark, but
the competency of the parties to marry, instead of increasing
the *caudal or the difficulty attending stick a 'mention, would
tend the other way, for if the parties had an affection for cash
other they could marry sad the fast that they did
not would show that they had no Inclination, where.
as under the existing law no ends conclusion could be
drawn—(hear. hear.) What, on the other hand, were the
social advantages of the change? • man in humble election
dances whose wile died wu obliged to hays some one to take
ears of his children, and the wife's eider wro the natural per-
son for the post, as ehe might be supposed to be attached to
thine children. In humble dwellings where • woman took up
that position cohabitation was inevitable, and the only ques-
Moo was, whether a man should have the power afteirLirviz
with her POM throwing
C years of rowing her amide If Is fancy changed,
or if a dingreement arose, any Issueof the union being
illegitimate. This was a cruel position in which to place a
woman—thear, hear),--andhe would ask whether, in the face of
such consideration, • ea pposel difference In the agreableneen of
=relation between a =mend his sisterils-law was a proper
basis for legislation 1 Again, lima urged that the Bill would
infringe the guiding principle of the marriage law, that the
relations .1 the wife were the relations of the husband, so
that the wife's sinter was, in fact, the husband's sister. It
would be imporible, however, to carry out that principle,
and the present law did not attempt it. If the veife's sister
were the husland's sister, the husband'. brether should be
the wile's brother, and the law ought to prohibit two brothers
Inning two eiders. Bo alio with the father and son. The
lid not recognise this misty notice that the relations at
the husbaad were the relations of the wife and vie wiewl. If
• man died and the nearest of kin succeeded to the property,
the wife'. relations were looked on aa absolute strangers, and
In amee if legacy to num front his decearred wiles rester, he
Was resented a, a stranger in Mood, and was charged the
higher did). no relearn In life, indeed, wan thin principle
reeognlaa.l. A not, Auk., opposite quoted lan Semion on the
discussion of this Bill • paregraph from an American news-
paper, stating, among other absurd results of a man In
America having married the daughter of • widow who married
his son, that that son became his own grandfather. That
paragraph woo quoted Ur the purpose of showing the
effect of the lax notion in America with =poet to
marriage, but a. the law now stood there was
nothing to prevent what WY described in that pangrsph
from happening in Inland. The absurdity mac toned
In that paragraph was an absurdity occasioned by con-
sidering husband and wife as one fifth. If their lordship
desired tint the marriage law should be rested upon a more
sound foundation, it wales snore important that the law should
command the willing assent of the community than that
It should he bued upon any such abstract notion as that to
which he had referred. He therefore ventured to ask their
lordship. not to be terrified that if marriage with a deceased
wife'. 'inter were legalised the whole met= upon echich the
marriage law of restriction was based would fall to the ground.
There were many people who were afraid of this Bill because
they looked upon it as the small end of the wedge. If it was
anything at all, it wee the whole wedge. There was no desire
for any alteration of the law except with reference to
this articular marriage, lagraXed then lordship. to recollect
the qua. ters from which this demand had =se. This agitation
repreeenal the struggle of a eat= number of people
who felt the present law ao be a heavy burden, and thegrow-
ing
support which this measure received "preened the sym-
pathy which was every day more widely extended to it by those
who felt that perfect liberty ef action In all thlup just and
remanable wan the first of political blessings.
Two DURK Nomnommature, dowsing that the second read-
ing be peaporved for sic month; argued that prohibition now
sought to be repealed had been imposed not only by the Jewish
law, but by the law of 0.4 Christian Church for eighteen ran-
torM. Replying to Unsocial considerations relied open by Lord
Posuees, he laid seem upon the jealousy and au cion which
would be introduced into ramilies by this Bill, the mental
torture likely to be endured by the wife who had reason to
believe her husband and sister longed for her death in order
that the latter might take her piece. That &considerable num-
ber of pers.= had violated the law was no realm why it should
be changed. It would be, on the contrary, most pernicious
example by IS Pet feels
bruk lletwon. el this kind people
should be encouraged to
After a few words from Lord Lwow", who held that these
marriages were often °entrained from the holiwat and purest
motives, and at the with of a dying wife,
Their Lomita= divided, when the Bill was thrown out by
57 Not-oontents against 71 Contents.
TOILIDAY.—There mean animated discussion raised by Lord
Vivian, on the powers of Lord Lieutermite to appoint officers
In the reserve forces. Bold Ittrathrialni called attention to
the defect in the education of our army officers, in that they
are not taught strategy. The Duke ef Cambridge said that
the necessity for improving military *doodle° had long been
under disco...ion, but hitherto there had been • difficulty in
getting the public to appreciate its importance. Tmoretical
Instruction war =lois without opportunities of putting it in
prod= ; and if the Continental ystem of reviews and
military =oeuvres were adopted the public must be prepared
for a large outlay li. order to compensate landed preprieton
sad tam= for Injury done in passing over their fields The
offieers only wanted opportUraties 01 Instruction.
araDllaDAY.—Thelr Lordships paned the Consolidated Fund
£442,590) Bill.
Turmosv.—Lord Lauderdale elicited that we have no iron-
clad* drawing less than 16 feet of ender.
FILIDAY.—Lord NOSTIIIIOOII, In answer to • questiOn, said
It was intended this year to call out the militia in September,
attar the harvest, in order that they might take part In more
extended duille and =oeuvres.
Their lordships
day, Aprll 20. adjourned for the Easier recess until Thurs-