The Sun.
London, England, 1822-10-03 00:00:00

LITERA,RT NOTICE.

A LETTER addressed to the Right Hon. the Earl of
ELDON, Lord High Chancellor, &c. &c. upon the MAR-
RIAGE ACT AMENDMENT BILL. By Joux
STOCICDALE HARDY, Deputy Registrar of the Commis-
sary Court of Leicester.
We never remember an Act which has occa-
sioned such a general outcry against its provisions,
as the recent Marriage Act. The extensiveness
of the complaints may be easily traced to the al-
most universal operation of the Act itself ; and
affecting, as it does, all classes of society, it can-
not be matter of surprize that its contents should
be minutely scrutinized, and its ill effects severe-
ly reprobated. The country, in point of fact,
rings with complaints, connected with the Act,
and it is therefore probable that the Legisla-
ture will take the earliest opportunity of rectify-
ing the errors into which we of course are quite
convinced that they have unintentionally fallen.
The interim, however, will be a period of severe
trial and suspense to numerous parties ; doubts as
to the validity of marriage are amongst the most
agonizing that can possibly afflict the human
mind ; and in proportion as the late Act has in-
creased them, will the quantum of uneasiness
and misery be extended. We cannot here avoid
expressing our sincere regret, that a Bill so use-
ful and (generally speaking) so just as the one
originally introduced by Dr. PHILLimo RE, should,
in its progress through Parliament, have been so
dreadfully mutilated, and, in our opinion, ren-
dered so universally obnoxious. The motives
which dictated the alterations we certainly be-
lieve to have been good ; but the parties who
made the alterations appear to have been utterly
in the dark as to the practical part of the subject.
A great' portion' of the Letter now before us
appeared in this Paper, and Mr. ST 0 CKD ALE
HARDY, being officially connected with the exe-
cution of the Act, has endeavoured to call the
attention of the public to the anomalies, ab-
surdities, and contradictions which, according to
his judgment, beset the Bill at every turn.
" It is well known (says the Author) that hitherto, in cases
where both parties have been' alleged to have attained twenty-
one years of age, it has been sufficient for the party seeking the
licence to make affidavit of his own age, and his belief as to
the age of his intended partner. The new act requires each
party to swear as to his or her age, and as to his or her belief
of the age of the other party.* In addition to these affidavits,
copies of the registers of the baptisms of the parties are to be
produced, and their authenticity, as well as the identity of the
parties, established by the affidavit of a person who has exa-
mined such copies with the original registers. Now, my Lord,
I cannot help thinking that the affidavit of the Lady might
have been dispensed with; I may be wrong—probably am—
but to me there is an appearance of absolute indelicacy in the
proceeding. A young Lady on the eve of forming the most
interesting and delicate connexion that can be conceived, is to
be hurried into the presence of an official person, to do what ?
why (inter alia ) to swear that she believes her intended hus-
band to be of age! The provision was probably intended to
guard against fraud in cases of minority ; but in such cases, I
fancy it will be found, on inquiry', that the female has generally
been the party injured ; it has not very frequently happened
that a man of full age has been entrapped by a minor. Of what
use, I ask, is it for a female to be sworn as to her belief with
respect to the age of her intended husband ? She at best can
only swear as to her belief—according to what he has told her
—and by being dragged into publicity in the way required by
the act, she will, in the event of any deception on the part of
her intended husband, or any undue ascendancy he may have
gained over her mind, only render more certain that confisca-
tion of property which the 10th section of the bill will pro-
duce, and upon which I shall hereafter observe ; at all events,
in cases of majority, where registers are to be consulted, this
unpleasant proceeding, as far as the female is concerned, might'
have been dispensed with.
" With respect, my Lord, to the production of the copies of
registers at the time of granting the licence, I am fully con.
vinced that the absolute impracticability of doing this in,some
cases, and the great trouble and inconvenience in all, have not
been sufficiently considered. The act provides, that no licence
shall be granted (after Ist Sept. next), where both or either of the
parties is or are alleged to be of age, until there shall be produced
to the person from whom the licence shall he required, an extract
or extracts from the register of the baptism of such parties
or party so alleged to be twenty-one (if such register be in Eng-
land and can be found), such extract or extracts to be proved
on oath by some other person or persons, to be a true extract,
&c. Now really, my Lord, allow me to direct your attention
for a moment to the extreme inconvenience and (under some
circumstances) absolute impracticability of all this. We will
reduce the act to practice, and suppose a party applying for a
licence to a clerical surrogate in a provincial town or village.
The applicant has perhaps travelled one hundred or more miles
to marry a person resident near the town or village. The mar-
riage arrangements for probably the very next day are all com.
pleted, but an insurmountable barrier is at once opposed
to the grant of the licence. He must obtain a copy of the
register of his baptism from a distance,—the affidavit of a
friend to prove it a true copy,--and that the entry relates to
himself, before any further proceedings can take place: added
to these inconvenient circumstances, the case will not unfre-
quently happen that no register can be found : then, according
to the act, a more circuitous method must be pursued ; and
in cases where parties of undoubted full age apply for li-
censes, but whose baptisms were deferred until within the
last twenty-one years, (and which fact appears from the
copies of registers produced) how are the provisions of
the act to be satisfied ? With respect, also, my Lord, to
the registers of dissenting baptisms; whatever may be the
legal construction of the act in consequence of the copies
of such registers not being evidence, I fancy that some
persons will feel considerable difficulty in snaking oath
that there are no registers, &c. when a baptismal entry is in
existence, the original of which is evidence to a certain extent.
My Lord, the framers of the Bill appear to have been entirely
ignorant of the manner in which licences are obtained in gene-
riil.—They are usually procured from the Clergy (surrogates
to the different ordinaries) throughout the country ; and, in
numerous instances, parties have to come many miles
to obtain them t. As the law stood before the pass-
ing of the act of the 22d ult., the parties seldom went
away from the surrogate without having obtained their object
—without taking home the licence in the pocket ; and it is
well known, the application for the licence is an act generally
deferred until almost the moment of the solemnization of the
nuptials. Now, what will be the inevitable consequences under
the new system ? The parties, when every preparation has
been made for the nuptials, will have to retire in disappoint.
ment—either the female to swear she believes her intended
husband to be of age--the father's and mother's certificates of
consent in cases of minority properly sworn to—or the copies
of the registers properly authenticated, will some or other of
them not be forthcoming ; and I hesitate not to say, that, from
these causes, amongst certain classes of society, the most de-
, plorable and ruinous consequences will ensue."
(To be continued.)

• The act provides, that, " if a licence shall be required for
the marriage of parties, both or either of whom shall be alleged
to be of the age of twenty-one years, such parties shall re-
spectively make oath that the?! are respectively, and that each
of thetn believes the other to be, of the full age of twenty-one
years or upwards !" Supposing only one of the parties are
alleged to be twenty-one, how can this provision be complied
with ?
t For my present purpose, I consider it sufficient to treat the
above as the general practice pursued in obtaining licenses,
without noticing any questions of law or expediency, which
htt,ve been started with respect to it.

CONVICTION under the ALIEN AO'

a French;
UNION-HALL.—Jean
map, was brought before R. J. CuoinE9s ist,
R. HEDGE &qrs., charged with having v•G
ed several of the Clauses of the Alien Act. 118"
Alien
Mr. Capper, Inspector of Aliens, stated that the
that •
violated the Act of the 56th of Geo. 3, c.B6,which
pOrtl
every alien coming to this country shall produce a .Pass-
which his name shall be truly stated." In the present case,--"/
f met
alien had passed by two names, having, on the 26th "' Co''
sailed from Brighton to Dieppe by the name of Charles C
bonne, by which he returned to England in the followingra°6
gat the
the name by which he had previously presented lliaseimi the
Alien-office being Jean Trouillard. The passports by w"l"were
defendant came into the country, by the different naill,es,V
produced by Mr. Capper, who stated that it was the wis''„"try
vernment to prevent foreigners from coming to this ell-do for •
different names, which they could only be supPuse" °ere 001
improper purposes. Mr. Capper also said, that thes, were
pthreodouncleydnraencieeisptrns efodrefmenodnaenytswigennetdbby, ithnepdroeoffenodant wt••vinedth:
name of Guilielme Charle, which a FrYench witness Pr°' of
be the defendant's handwriting , „tiles
The alien stated, through an. interpreter that toe 11-- who
the Continent were in the habit of using different 113111,e5, their
they travelled out of their own country, sometimes 11.1"
Ito
songlieS
first name as their surname, and sometimes taking tne
of their mothers or wives. t
Mr. Capper here observed, that all foreigners Coro de,
this country were bound to conform to its laws, which.,st bis
nfeamndeanstheovuilddenbtelyfhualldynsottatdeodnien, ahsistheaslsapwortr,equired oot
done in this alien's case, who also violatedp the Awchticbhilvi;thisre.
porting himself at the Alien-office on his last arrival°.
country. t! it Its.
Mr. CHAMBERS said, that fact was quite sufficien'ksosiw
probable the defendant was a smuggler, who went un-airA
ais)utrilileosVoshf
and forwards from this country to France, by dilferen-
and without a passport. Peel
maller.aCnaelpaerm pslaei,dforitthwe
tice. t he
The Magistrates, on referring to the Act, found that
tmlifW'
soner, by not reporting himself at the Alien-office on hete-rta 11,e
became subject to a month's imprisonment, for ivhic"
was sent to the County gaol.
•
nga stop t° tile r
pouftt. Mr. Secretary now