The Sun.
London, England, 1849-02-28 00:00:00

"It a 1 kl

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1849.

Mr. STUART WORTLEY'S Bill for the amendment
of the law of marriage, by removing the absurd and
useless prohibition against marriage with the sister or
niece of a deceased wife, was yesterday read the first
time in the House of Commons, and the second
reading is fixed for Tuesday, the 13th March. The
Right :Hon. and Learned Gentleman is entitled to
much credit for the clear and able manner in which
:he brought the subject under the consideration of the
House, and the unanswerable arguments adduced in
support of his views, when asking leave to introduce
the measure. The Report of the Commissioners ap-
pointed " to inquire into the state and operation of tha
law of marriage, as relating to the prohibited de-
gree of affinity, and to marriages solemnited abroad
or in the British colonies," was perfectly conclusive
on the subject. It removed the only grounds on
which restrictive enactments could be justified. It
showed that the Divine law was not in any degree
violated, that no social inconvenience was occasioned,
that the restriction only led parties of the highest
moral character, honest and worthy citizens, delibe-
rately to oppose a law which most unnecessarily inter-
fered with that civil and religious liberty to which, as
Englishmen, they felt themselves to be entitled.
The report proves this to be the case ; it says that
-"among the parties contracting these marriages, since
as well as before the Act of 1835, there are to be
found many persons of station, and property, and of
unimpeachable character and religious habits." It is
no light or trivial matter to bring persons of this
description into open and undisguised disobedience
to
the law. It is an evil of the greatest magnitude.
The law should be respected not merely for the pe-
nalties with which its violation may be attended, but
still more for the general assent to its propriety. But
in this case that general assent is altogether wanting.
A large majority of the
people recognise the absolute
inutility of such a provision, and the only penalty falls
upon the innocent and helpless offspring, who are
unfairly punished, by being rendered illegitimate,
anti in many instances stripped of the inheritance to
i which they might otherwise have been entitled, by
the operation of this
most unjust and impolitic
statute. And, cui bond, for what end or object has it
been enacted ? Merely to gratify the bigoted feelings
of those who desire to exercise a jurisdiction over the
consciences of others. If they entertain religious
scruples on the question there is nothing to in-
fringe thereon ; .they are not compelled to
enter into such connexions. But they de-
sire to legislate for *others to control the
opinions which equally conscientious men may
honestly entertain upon the subject. This was part
of the system, now happily obsolete in other respects,
when any dissent from the doctrines of the Church
by law established was attended with civil and reli-
gious disabilities.' The law prohibiting marriages
within certain degrees of affinity is a remnant of
intolerance, and it must be swept away so as to re,
move every trace or vestige of the code.
_ That it was not contrary to Divine law was proved
by
yrits
constant occurence:among the Patriarchs and the
earlier Jewishand Christian Churches. The only text
that could be cited bearing on the question is the 18th
verse of the 18th chapter of Leviticus, and that only
forbids the marriage during the lifetime of the first
wife. "Neither ,
the
take a wife to her sister
to vex her
besiieother in her lifetime :"
Here the prohibition is expresslyimpliziatteidoninititas chaar-s
rac ter, and, therefi;re, by a
f4ir
that it was not otherwise objectionable.
If itpp:ere
to be forbidden at all times, and under every. circum-
• stance, the latter part of the verse would have been
omitted. It would not have been prohibited merely I
.'" during the wife's lifetime," and this view
of the case is further confirmed by the
• fact that there is no such addition in
any other verse. It may, therefore, betaken,
that. so. far from being forbidden by the Scrip-

ture, it is expressly sanctioned after the first wife's
death.

Again, on the question of social convenience, it is
shown that the law occasions tenfold the inconve-
nience that would arise, if parties were perfectly free
and unfettered on the subject. The effect of the
prohibition was clearly explained by one of the wit-
nesses, who said that, "in the families of the poor,
the result of the death of the wife, when a sister was
domiciled in the household, was, either to turn that
sister away, out into the streets, or if she remained,
to bring about, if not marriage, at least cohabitation
with the widower." The same witness added, " Mem-
bers of poor families are thrown into such immediate
contact, that if they had no hope of marriage they
would probably continue to live together with-
out it." Which state of facts then is
the most desirable, whether to have a
legal and binding marriage that cannot be set aside,
that renders the husband bound to support his off-
spring, and subject to punishment if he commits
bigamy, and which gives the innocent children the
rights of freeborn citizens ; or that which leads to
illicit connexion that may be dissolved with impu-
nity, and under which, the unfortunate children are
branded with shame, a shame that should rather fall
upon the legislators that enacted a law so unjust and
so impolitic.
But there is another reason, no less cogent, why
that law should be repealed. It is practically useless,
and of no effect. The Commissioners say—

" We cannot avoid the conclusion that the statute 5
and 6 William IV., c. 54, has failed to attain the objects
sought to be effected by its prospective enactments. It
has not prevented marriage with the sister or niece of a
deceased wife from taking place in numerous instances
—whether more or less numerous than before the pass-
ing of the statute we have
,not, as we before observed,
sufficient data to enable us to form an opinion. But
without reference to any comparison of this description,
the number of such marriages is so great as to
justify us in saying that the provisions of that statute
rendering them null and void have not generally
deterred parties from forming such connexions.. .
. . . On a low computation such marriages
must amount to thousands; but from the nature of the con-
nexion, and the secrecy that often attaches to it, their
number cannot be ascertained. The evil is great; for as
beyond all reasonable doubt such marriages, when cele-
brated in England or Ireland, are void, the consequences
are disastrous to the parties and their issue, at once
affecting all the relations—duty and obligation, as well
ac the rights dependent on status; nor less pernicious in
a public view, as exhibiting avowed disobedience to law,
by the open assumption of a sacred character which
the law expressly denies."

These are clear and powerful arguments why there
should be an immediate repeal of the obnoxious
statute. The opinions of the Commissioners were
fully warranted by the evidence adduced before
them. They found from inquiries instituted in five
detached districts, of very different characters, agri-
cultural as well as manufacturing, that no less than
1,364 such marriages had taken place since 1835,
which were absolutely void under the provisions of
the statute. As those districts in which the investi-
gation took place bear a small proportion only to the
population of the entire country, it is more than
probable that Mr. STUART WORTLEY'S calcu-
lation was not above the mark when he
said that perhaps from 80,000 to 50,000 of
such prohibiteid marriages had taken place since the
passing of the Act, arid if the usual average of
children had followed, there would be from 90,000 to
150,000 rendered illegitimate under the law. Is not
this, then, a great moral and social evil that should be
redressed, and that without a moment's unnecessary
delay? Expunge the useless law from the statute-
book, and pass an Act rendering all such marriages
that have hitherto taken place valid and indisputable,
and legitimatizing the issue thereof. Such Acts
have been passed for the benefit of members of the
aristocracy. Let Parliament legislate for all, and
extend that justice to the poorer classes which would
not be denied to the richer and more powerful.

Gradual and almost imperceptible as the progress
of the negotiations at Frankfort appears to have been,
they have nevertheless advanced, and are still advanc-
ing, slowly and surely, towards an ultimate settlement.
Another diplomatic note from the Berlin Cabinet to
the Prussian Plenipotentiary at the seat of the Central
Executive—a note which was published in our im-
pression of yesterday—marks the exact point at
which these remarkable negotiations have arrived.
It shows that although impediments have arisen to
retard for the time being the onward movement,
those impediments are not wholly and stubbornly
insurmountable. Prussia still adheres to the prin-
ciple announced in the proclamation issued by her
SOVEREIGN on the 18th of March, 1848—the principle
which tends throughout Germany to the transformation

of a State Confederation in a Confederate State. It

will not have been forgotten that that memorable pro-
clamation appeared simultaneously with the thea-
trical procession of King FREDERICIL WILLIELM
through the strcets of his capital, wearing the Ger-
manic tricolour, black, red, and gold, in his helmet,
and riding on horseback under the shadow of the na-

tional gonfalon. Subsequent occasions have damped
and very nearly extinguished the credence of the
multitude in the patriotic enthusiasm of the Monarch.
The people cannot fail to see from his recent pro-
ceedings, that his fair speaking at the moment must
arise from some very powerful stimulus, rather
than from any disinterested anxiety to protdote
the cause of the population of fatherland.
They must be startled into a suspicious mood by the
abrupt recurrence of the Prussian Government to the
democratic sentiments enunciated shortly after the
French Revolution of February ; and their suspicion
'oust acquire a forcible corroboration from the re-
membrance that the imperial diadem of the
Confederate State has yet to be bestowed by the
representatives. For that diadem FREDERICK
WILHELM is an aspirant. He enlarges through the
Ministerial document transmitted to Frankfort-on-

the-Maine, for the guidance of his plenipotentiary
extraordinary, upon the sacrifice which Prussia is
prepared to make for the advantage of the aggregate
nationality. He dilates with self-sufficient emphasis
upon the capacity of his own kingdom to remain in
its present vigorous isolation, and insists that in
joining with the other Powers of the Confederation
to construct a homogeneous empire out of a chaos of
heterogeneous principalities, Prussia is conceding a
vast deal, without obtaining anything that can be fairly
termed a compensation. " Prussia," says the Note,
" needs not, on its own account, this Confederate State.
Its greatness, its political consistency, enable it more
than most other states in Germany to suffice for
itself; and, in case of necessity, to defend

tself. It seeks no aggrandizement in power or

, -
influence. If, upon its side, it desires a Con-
federate State, it is for the sake of Germany,
not of itself. The sacrifices which it brings to Ger-
many, the burdens which it takes upon itself, it
brings and bears for the sake of the community."
What a marvellously Pecksniffian assumption of mag-
nanimity ! What a very threadbare robe of pride—
revealing throughout that very greed of power and
influence which is so ostentatiously repudiated I The
whole is too transparently a bait thrown out for the
Imperial sceptre. It reminds one of the compla-
cency with which Louis XTI. announced to the
States- General, the readiness of the nobility and
the clergy to. forego their privileged exemption
p
from taxation, as if in so doing they were
spontaneously bestowing an alms
upon the
Tiers .Etat! The Yiria, through his diplomatists,
upon the mind of
impresses Germany the magnitude
of the sacrificea made by Prussia in furtherance of
he
that national e
g welfare
but he whispers not a word
about which he is.notoriously known to
t rfare ;
covet as the recompense of his concessions to the
Germanic multitude.

----
It will be well, however, for the Central Execu-

tive at Frankfort to avail themselves of the selfish
motives of the Prussian Monarch, in the furtherance
of their own aspirations. It will be most judicious
for the really patriotic representatives in the National
Parliament to receive the co-operative efforts of the
Berlin Cabinet, as the Prince Lours NAPOLEON
has received those of the reactionnaires and
counter-revolutionists—allowing them to labour se-
dulously in his Lehalf, under the delusion that he
would prove merely the preparative for some power
more congenial to their tastes. By imitating the
PRESIDENT of the French Republic in this particular
the Members of the Central Germanic Diet will be
forwarding, in the most effectual manner, the wishes
and interests of the people; and when all shall have
been
definitively accomplished, the Ministers of the
King of PRUSSIA will find themselves as agreeably
disappointed as Messrs.
found in Bonapartism notTn s and MOLE, who have
the mere perishable

rescence of an idle and ephemeral popularity, but the
conviction, ti:v vitality, and the energy of the French
Republic.
One sentenco in the Prussian note is of conspicuous
truth, and its exam ness may be almost said to be
touching from its embarrassment. The sentence is
simply this—" The situation of Germany requires a
speedy decision." We say that this declaration is
touching from its embarrassment; and assuredly any
one who cordially sy mpathises in the movement of
the German race tow:Ards the consolidation of its
nationality, must allow that our remark is more than
justified by the urgency .of the Germanic question and
by the difficulties that s till obstruct its settlement.
Before anything satisfactory can be accomplished to
this end the problem which has been raised in regard
to Austria must be solved; we mean the problem as
to the manner in which a vast Germanic Power like
Austria—the principal power in all Germany—may
be closely united with the rest of the Confederation
without loosening in any degree the bonds connect
ing it with its non-German provinces. There is no
question but that the natural effect of such an union
between Austria and the rest of Ger-
many would lead inevitably and immediately to
the emancipation of the Sclavonic races, of
the Tyrolese who belong to Switzerland, and of the
Lombards who belong to Italy. But it is equally
certain that nothing but absolute necessity will induce
the Imperial Government of Vienna to relax her hold
upon those superb and wrongfully subjected states.
Great events must therefore take place before Austria
is forcibly disembarrassed in this regard; and before
Germany is thereby relieved from one of the most
formidable obstacles to her regeneration. When
Hungary shall have achieved its independence,
when Lombardy shall have acquired its right to be
numbered amongst the divisions of the Italian
peninsula—then, and not till then, will Austria find
the difficulties of her position as a Germanic and a
non-Germanic empire removed—then, and not till
then, will the Central Executive at Frankfort receive
a cordial co-operation in their glorious exertions from
the Government of Vienna. When these things
shall have occurred—and, whatever may happen, they
are ultimately inevitable—Prussia will find the
golden circlet slipping from her fingers. For the
antipathy expressed by the Baron DE CETTO, the
representative of King MAXIMILIAN to the Court of
St. James's, is not peculiar to Bavaria—the vast
majority of the people of Fatherland look with joy
upon the prospect of a Germanic empire, and with
dismay at the notion of having King FREDERICK
WILHELM as the Germanic Emperor.

Thanks to the exec tions of Mr. BERNAL OSBORNE,
aided by Mr. GEORGE THOMPSON and Sir W. CLAY,
the perpetration of a gross clerical job was yesterday pre-
vented, and the inhabitants of the parish of St. Mary's,
\Vhitechapel, were saved from the imposition of that
a' mystery of iniquity," a rector's rate. It appears that,
the rector of that parish claims a right to levy certain
large sums upon his parishioners as tithes and Easter
offerings, but that he cannot get those large sums
without instituting a Chancery suit, at a graat
expense to himself as well as his parishioners,
but which Chancery suit, according to Mr. GLAD•
STONE, is sure to be decided in his favour—(it
would appear as though Mr. GLADSTONE had
of late been studying judicial astrology as well as
controversial divinity)—when he will be enabled to
enforce certain large and undefined claims, the which
he is willing to compromise for 1,0001. a year cer-
tain, to be paid out of the poor-rates. To this
proposition the parishioners very properly demur ;
there had been already frequent litigations on the
subject, and those litigations had always terminated
(pace Mr. GLADSTONE) in cutting down the rector's
claims ; and for that which was seven years
back valued at 3001. a year, and which last
year only actually produced 1411, the corpo-
ration of Brasenose College, Oxford, the patrons
of the living, actually now sought to ob-
tain by the intervention of Parliament 1,000/. a year
certain, and facetiously entitled their Bill " a Bill
for extinguishing the rights of the rector." Mr. OS-
BORNE, however, would not accept of an extinguisher
upon such terms; he, like a worthy son of the Church,
insisted upon the maintenance of the rights of the
rector, whole and intact. It was in vain that Mr.
GLADSTONE extolled the Christian liberality of those
who were willing to accept 1,000/. a year certain, in
lieu of 1411. a year, and claims of a large and unde-
fined nature, it was in vain that he was pathetic in
his appeals to the House to spare the parishioners the
expense of litigation—the parishioners had no objec-
tion to litigation, seeing that they had always here-
tofore beat the rector; it was in vain that he
spoke of some Dissenters and a Jew being
in favour of the Bill, the House would
not sanction a measure degrading the rector
into a pauper receiving out- door relief from the
poor-rates, and the Bill was rejected by a majority of
19. On this occasion Mr. OSBORNE, Mr. GEORGE
THOMPSON, Sir W. CLAY, and Sir DE LACY EVANS
did their duty admirably ; they all spoke, and they
all spoke well against this gross attempt at jobbery
on the part of the Fellows of Brasenose College,
Oxford, who are the prime movers in the affair, with
which we believe the actual incumbent, Mr. CHAMP-
NETS, has little to do. We cannot, however, extend
our praise' to Sir EDWARD BUXTON, who gave
the measure his support. It ill becomes a
eol - disazt member of the liberal party,
to return whom to Parliament the Liberal voters of a
county constituency have encountered all the risks
which Liberal county voters invariably incur,
when they vote according to their conscience—
it ill becomes a representative so returned to swell
the ranks of the clerical jobbers on such a question
as this.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Faris papers of yesterday.
The Patrie, the recognised official organ of the
French Government, announces the entry of the
Austrians into Ferrara, in the following terms :
" The news of the entry of the Austrians into Fer-
rara, and that they were marching directly on Rome,
was given to-day as official."

The Jfoniteur du Seir has the following on the
subject of the agents accredited by the Roman to
the French Republic
It is known that the Roman Republic has sent two
agents to Paris to -negotiate the recognition of this Re-
public by the French Government. It is said that the
President of the Republic, and the majority of his Cabinet,
have decided that the two Roman Envoys shall not be
received. The intervention of the Secondary Powers for
the reestablishment of the Pope in Rome is still under
consideration."

The National, in commenting on the above official
announcement, says—

" Thus the invasion of the Roman territory by Austria
is an accomplished fact—an invasion without pretext,
and with the avowed object of crushing the Roman re-
volution. What will the French Government do in pre•,
sence of this violation of a friendly country by a foreign
army ? Such a question ought to answer itself; and yet
our disquietudes are great. The language of the Minis-
terial journals is not of a nature to re-assure us as to the
intentions of the Cabinet. The calm tone with which
the Patriej registers a fact calculated to make all hearts
bound, and the satisfaction it seems to express at the
taking of Rome by the Austrians, are alarming symptoms.
Have we arrived at such a position as to make us regret
Casimir Perrier? Is -the young Republic less proud
than was the Monarchy of July? The French govern-
ment ought at once to send a fleet to Civita Vecchia,
and into the Adriatic."

Reviewing the events of the last few months,
this paper calls to mind, that the Government
had resolved on an expedition, by way of precaution
against a danger which now exists, in point of
fact, and calls vehemently on all parties to join in assert-
ing the honour of France, which would be for ever
tarnished if Austria be allowed to crush the Roman
Republic. In conclusion this paper observes that the
Piedmontese were to have entered Tuscany on the 19th,
the day the Austrians crossed the Po, and it suspects
that we shall soon learn the fact of the Neapolitans
having advanced.

The National then recall to the recollection of
President LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE the part
which he himself took in the Roman insurrection
of 1831, in which his brother was killed, and quotes
the words of M. ODILON BARROT, who said, in re-
ply to CASIMIR PERRIER, in 1832, that France would
be degraded if she did not interfere to prevent
Austria putting down, by the bayonet in Italy, those
principles of liberty which France had consecrated by
her revolution.

The Assemblee Nationale contains the following
paragraph :
" The Bourse was much occupied to-day with the
official news of the departure of the Imperial Guard
from St. Petersbargb. This guard, composed of 52,000
men_of troopa d'ilite, has not left St. Petersburgh since