The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-27 00:00:00

PUBLICATIOL OF BANNS.

The following letter has been addressed by the Lord
Bishop of Llandaff to the clergy of his diocese:—
" Deanery, St. Paul's, April 7, 1846.
" Rev. Sir.—Frequent complaints have been made to
me of irregular marriages being celebrated by banns in
parishes where the parties did not reside. The evil of
late years seems to have increased, and some flagitious
instances have occurred of bigamy, and of incestuous
marriage, obtained by these means, which have caused
great scandal to the church. In every instance the
fault has been traced to a want of due inquiry on the
part of the clergyman, as to the actual residence of the
parties in the parish in which their banns are published.
" I will not now enlarge upon the evils which flow
from this negligence. They are sufficiently manifest,
and they are the very evils which the law has provided
against in the most efficient manner. Theclergy n_
wh
e
neglects to make the inquiry, for which tbheeenlanautlows
ample time, has no excuse, even if he has deceived
of a moral
obffyenfalse
but i s statements,
liableo iatnhde ipsennaolttioenslyof "thle.
ity
law.
"By the 4th Geo. IV. c. 76, s. 7, it is enacted, ! That
no parson, vicar, minister, or curate shall be obliged to
publish the banns of matrimony between any persons
whatsoever, unless the persons to be married shall seven
days at least before the time required for the first publi-
cation of such banns, respectively deliver, or cause to be
delivered, to such parson, vicar, minister, or curate, a
notice in writing, dated on the day on which the same
shall be so delivered, of their true Christian names and
surnames, and of the house or houses of their respective
abodes, within such parish or chapelry as aforesaid, and
of the time during which they have dwelt, inhabited, or
lodged in such house or houses respectively.'
"If the clergyman omits this precaution, he does so
at his own peril. He cannot plead afterwards that he has
been taken unawares. He may indeed obtain assurance
of the fact, by personal knowledge or inquiry, without
exacting this previous written notice, and in small rural
parishes, where the clergyman is resident, it may be
perhaps superfluous. But, as a general rule, and espe-
cially in populous parishes, I strongly recommend that a
written notice be in every case required, containing the
information specified in the clause above recited, before
the banns are published fsr the first time; and that after
publication, due inquiry be made whether the parties
have actually resided in the parish until the day of the
marriage.
" Besides these wilful and fraudulent violations of law,
there are eases where districts have been recently
formed, not always under the same Acts of Parliament,
which may lead to doubts whether the inhabitants are
confined to their district church for the celebration of
marriages, or have their option of being married either
in that or in the mother Church. Doubts of this kind
may readily be removed by inquiry at the office of the
Registrar of the Diocese as to the Act of Parliament
under which the district was constituted. The general
rule is, that there is no such option ; but there are some
exceptions to this rule.

" i trust the admonition will be taken in good part by
all my clergy. But I think it right to declare, that when-
ever an irregular marriage may have taken place, no
indulgence will be shown to those who cannot prove that
they have used all due means to guard against it.
"I remain, Reverend Sir,
"Your faithful servant and brother,
"E. LLANDAFF•"

A DISSENTING CHAPEL USED FOR A STRANGE PUR-
POSE.—A few days ago, after a splendid run With the hariers of the
lion. Mr. Ward, of Crogen, the appetite of the Nimrods getting keen
from the air of the hills, it was determined to adjourn to the Boot, a
public-house about half-way between Corwen and Bala, to have an
ample meal. As the company was rather numerous, and the house
snugly
but a small one, mine host was, for a short time, nonplussed where
to obtain a room of sufficient dimensions in which to accommodate
the party. At length a bright idea struck him, the Independent
chapel, at the back of the house, would be exactly the tI •
thing, g. No
sooner thought than done." Our were jolly puss-hunters w soon
seated, and doing ample justice to the boiled beef, &c.,
hastily got ready to satisfy their hunger. It that had been
there might have been a more devout, but n was Observed, that
con-
gregation in the place than the one as ever a more earnest sembled
0ce.44911,..-cOrtigt"Vint Itarckl. on this extraordinary

LON lON SESSIONS. •
ST. CLITYEST DANES tr. OT. CRIPPLEGATE.

In this case the pauper had been the subject of appeal for
rafly twenty-one years; and it was now proposed .that the
matter shottld be referred to a bari.ster, to deeitle on the
settlement.

The RECORDER said if It stood over for three menthe;
reflection might bring both sides to their common sense, and,
the a2peal to years of discretion.—(Laughter.) The pauper
was made a perfect shuttlecock.

ST. LEONARD, SHOREDITCII, V. ST. GILES. CEIPPLEGATE.

The pauper in this appeal was a lunatic, and had been.
confined in a private lunatic asylum. The order for confine-,
meat did not set forth that there was no lunatic asylum for
the City.
The RECORDER said that the City was a county of itself:
The City could build an asylum, or, under the new Act of
Parliament, have one in any adjoining county. The fact
ought to have been stated that there was no such asylum in
the City. The appeal, therefore, could not be heard.
It appeared that both parishes had made themselves liable
to indictment, but the matter was arranged.
A very lengthened argument took place in several CaSCS as
to the time required forgiving notice. By the New Poor-law
Amendment Act thirtr-five days were allowed, but it was
contended that was on yadmitting a different mode of relief
by appeal, but did notalt.er the Act.
The COURT decided that it was peremptory that the notice
must be given within twenty-one days after the order was
served, and notice of the ground of appeal within fourteen
days further. The Court also decided that an appeal could
not be entered anti respited, but that notice of the intentioa
to apply must be given at the first session, as a matter of
course, although it was strenuously urged that it had long
been the practice of this and the Middlesex sessions. The
Recorder said uo practice could be maintained contrary to
an Act of Parliament. These decisions were considered of
great importance.

MERRY CONCEITS in the FRENCH

CHAMBERS.
theT}hierreencihs ncohtahminbgerins Ponunnclaivmaloree,ticrnomatiescal; tanhadn
wa
hdileeb at ea imn
making extracts from it, I tremble to think that I must pass_
for a mock Punch—a travestie of that great work of plea-
santry—so droll are the mock-heroic fables that I offer.
Monsieur Mercier, the spectator of the battle of Trafalgar,
thus entertained his audience on the 16th of April:—
" I have seen the French sailors contend honourably with
the English ; the crews of Admiral Villeneuve's fleet were
composed of men fresh from the English prisons and the
English hulks. They were animated by the love of country.
I beheld our captain nail sixty flags to his mast, and de-
clare that when these pavilions were shot away he would
surrender! His ship (141 not surrender. She sunk!—le vais-
seau coulou!—sbe of the sixty streamers lies in the depths
of Cadiz Bay. Vice sensation In the Chambers; still more
vif in old ocean's dark unfathomed caves, where such a trophy
was never seen before: No doubt the watei• nymphs that in
the bottom dwelt Held up their pearly wrist, and took her
in,' and the flags are now all turned to coral."
_ _

This fable, worthy of Ariosto, has no foundation; for no
French line-of-battle ship was sunk in that action on that
day, pavoise or not; but some 18 were taken, carrying 1,400
cannon, and about 1,400 men.
Glorious as this tale is, Monsieur Mercier has in reserve
greater glory—a revelation indeed. " Qu'il me wit permis
ici de reviler un fait qui n'est pas asses conuu." This un-
known, unrecorded fact is, that when Nelson, in the Victory,
of 100 guns, ran on board of the Redoubtable, he narrowly
escaped being made prisoner by the French 74, Capitaine
Lucas. "Le drapeau tricolor eut flotte sur ce vat,seau
amiral, si le vaisstau trois ponts, la Bretagne, n'etait pas
venu a son secours." Two ships of 100 guns to take the
French (truly) Formidable of 74. Now the Britannia of 100
guts was never near Lord Nelson in that engagement, nor
likely to have been, as her commander, Lord Northesk, was
third iu command of the fleet, and busy elsewhere. So says
James, the most impartial of naval writers, by the admiztsiell
of M. Dupin.
When Admiral Latouche Treville, escaping out of Toulon,
wrote home that Nelson had fled before him, Nelson dr
Glared that if he took him be would make him eat the libel.
Monsieur Mercier should not be invited to 'eat his bounces,
for they cause a great " sensation" in France, and a very
agreeable Arabian Night's diversion in England, furnishing,
too, a good measure of the French power of swallowing with-
out choking. " The salt-sea shark's gulf and ravening maw"
is less capacious, less national. Bait your hook with sixty
tri-colour flags, and your Chamber will swallow them all,
with the Victory to boot; perhaps, morally,, the Britannia
herself. Moral— Great nations have great swallows and diges-
tions, a l'autruche." P.

NURSERY RHYME.
THE STORY OF THE REPEAL OF THE CORN-LAWS,
" SUITED TO THE MEANEST CAPACITY."
(From Punch.)
There waii a little lady who had 24,900,000 babies, and
she wanted to get cheap bread for them, but she could not,
because of the corn-law. So she went to the Lards, and she
said—

"Lords, Lords, repeal this law, or I cannot get cheap bread
for my babies."
Then the Lords said to her, " Pooh I we are the lancied
interest; what do we care for your babies? The Tories to
a man will stand by us." So she went to the Tories, and she
said—

" Tories, Tories, desert the Lords ; the Lords won't repeal
the law; and I cannot get cheap bread for my babies."
Then the Tories said to her, " Madam, we have no objec-
tion to eat dirt ; wedo it every day; but at present we are
under the orders of. the Duke." So she went to the Duke,
and she said

" Duke, Duke, order the Tories ; the Tories won't desert
the Lords; the Lords won't repeal the law; and I cannot
get cheap broad for my babies."
Then the Duke said to her, " F. M. the Duke of Welling-
ton is Commander-in-Chief of the army, but he is neither a
malster nor a miller. All communications to his Grace must
be made through Sir Robert Peel." So she went to Sir
Robert Peel, and she said—

" Peel, Peel, speak to the Duke; the Duke won't order
the Tories ; the Tories won't desert the Lords; the Lords
won't repeal the law; and I cannot get cheap bread for
my babies."
Then Peel said, " The Tories brought me in, I knew, but
I should like to rat and cut the snobs. However, Ai yet,
there is no pressure from without, there's no great fact to
frighten me." So she went to look for a great fact; and sbe
heard a voice, saying to her, " I am ready to come to your
help, if you will only get somebody to form a League, and
call me into notice. There's Richard Cobden." So ahewent
to Richard Cobden, and she said—
" Cobden, Cobden, form a League ; the League will soon
become a fact but there's no fact yet to frighten Peel,
and Peel won't speak to the Duke ; the Duke won't
order the Tories; the Tories won't desert the Lords; the
Lords won't repeal the law ; and I cannot get cheap
bread for my babies." •
Then Cobden began to form the League ; the League began
to become a fact ; the fact began to frighten Peel • Peel
began to speak to the Duke; the Duke began to order the
Tories ; the Tories began to desert the Lords; the Lords set-
to to repeal the law; and so the little lady got cheap bread
for her babies.