The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-31 00:00:00

CRIMINAL LAW.

Lord BROUGHAM m•ived that tho Archhislmp of
Dublin bt• added to ;fin C<•tnrnit:et' on C,iniinal Law.

THE LAW OF MARRIAGE.-_
141 -
Lord GOR 1' presented a number of petitions from
Bristol, Cheltenham, and various other place', against
the law protriuiihg marriage with a deerui,e(l wife's
sister. The petitiou was signed b) in lily acing
ministers and in,!dieal
mtern) n. who is b .re testimon)
to the contusion ere LEA in families by the preselit law.
e,
Lord BROUGHAM 'presented a petition signed by
42 attoretes and 2.barriSters of the city of Bath upon
the same subject, complaisibig of the uncertainty which
hung over the law as it tit, present. stolid. He begged,
however, to state his opinion that chi re was no uncer-
tainty hanging over the law at present, for, by an Act
carried through their Lordships' House by Lord
Denman in 1835, such marriaees were declared null and
void, without being declared void by the ecclesiastical
law, as was required by the statutes of Henry VIII.
They add the fact, that a great number of marriages
had been contracted since 1835 on the speculation that
the general principle of these marriages would be made
valid ; and they wished, above all, to know whether
the innocent children were to be legitimate or not. He
thought, therefore, that there was a sufficient reason why
the general principle should be opened up, for it was but
natural that parents should desire to place their children
under the protection of those who were the nearest re-
lations to them, and there was, therefore, sufficient
reason for a full investigation of the whole question.
Lord CAMPBELL did not rise with a view to ex-
press any opinion upon the subject, for upon that his
Ipwh reaaosrvriinleeicdnfetdshi.
rtheUedei
her
toefnraa,rat
andhebdi
bigamy, and
tdr
mouth was closed by the result of a recent trial in the
hrfaantathe prisoner's wife he
d tt womanhhier dwaws
defencei sftt
ill
in was that that marriage was void, because the
alive
he left her and married a third wife. He
was indicted for bigamy, and the defence put
second ceremony had been celebrated between him and
the sister of his deceased wife. The cause thus raised
the question, and it had been brought by writ
of error before their Lordship's House ; there-
fore, he thought that that was enough for
their Lordships refusing to give any opinion at pre-
sent upon the question. He would be very sorry to see
the law upon this subject, the marriage of a man with
his deceased wife's sister, altered, for the law which had
been instituted against incest affected affinity as well as
consanguinity.
Lord BROUGHAM was very sorry that he had not
been made aware of this case coming on before he ex-
pressed his mind, but still he would hear counsel upon
the case, and if he saw reason, no doubt he would change
his opinion.
ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE.—THE NEW
HOUSE OF LORDS. .

Earl GREY, with the view of meeting the conveni-
enco of Noble Lords in Ireland. proposed that their
Lordships should adjourn till Thursday tha 15th, instead
Of Tut,sday, the 13:b, and he begged to give notice that
after the holidays their Lordships would meet in the
new buildings, her Majesty having been graciously
plen,ed to appropriate a portion of her palace to their
Lordships use. _ _

'Their.L,,rdships accordingly adjourned to Thursday,
he 15th of April.

HOUSE O COMMONS, March 30.
The SPEAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock.
ASSKSSED TAX COLLECTORS.
Mr. 13LNBOW presented severul petitionw from the