The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-23 00:00:00

THE SUN, 1,0141.D0N, THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 23, 1856

re-organisation of the two Principalities. It is
probable that the Austrian and Turkish Govern-
ments woifiii much like to give the Moldavians
and Wallachians a reglement organique ready cut
and dried, but it can hardly be the intention
of the Western Powers to permit the whole of
the Treaty of March to remain a dead letter.
At the end of last July the Porte forwarded a
circular to England, France, and Austria, in
which it communicated its opinions respecting the
organisation of the Principalities. The document,
which is a very long one, has just found its way
from Jassy to this city, and an epitome of it will
now be laid before you. I. Moldavia and Walla-
chia must have an independent and national inter-
nal administration, but the form of government
must not be in opposition to that of the country
whose feudatories they are (dont dies relevent).
2. The administration of the two countries
must be under national control. The interests of
all classes must be represented by assemblies. 3.
There is a party in the Principalities which de-
sires their union under one prince, but the Porte
disapproves of the idea, although it has found
favour with some of the Sultan's' allies. The
union of the two provinces would inevitably lead
to a state of things which would more or less clash
with the sovereign (?) rights of the Porte, and,
besides, it would probably seriously interfere with
their material development. 4. Although the
Porte objects to the union of the two Princi-
palities, it does not see why they should not to-
gether form a military power, which might serve
as a vanguard for the Turkish empire. 5. There
could be a customs, post, and telegraph union
between Moldavia and Wallachia, without their
being under one Government. In the concluding
part of the circular it is to be seen that the Porte
is inclined to " shirk " its engagements to the
Powers. The Porte professes to understand that
those articles of the Treaty of Peace which refer
to the Danubian Principalities only give the na-
tion a right to assist in the revision of the for-
mer reglement organique, inasmuch as it would
be contrary to the conservative ideas of the
great European Pewers to take the opinion of the
two provinces respecting their form of govern-
ment and their relations to the Turkiah empire.'
It is stated in the circular that the firman for the
convocation of the Divans ad hoc is being drawn
up, and it is possible that copies of it have re-
cently been forwarded to the members of the
Paris Conference.

" The marriage laws which have just been pub-
lished tend to confirm my so often-repeated as-
sertion, that the Concordat between Austria and
Rome will be carried out to the very letter. Ac-
cording to the Austrian civil code, marriage is a
contract concluded between two persons of diffe-
rent sexes, who in a lawful way do bind them-
selves to live together, &c.; but in the first para-
graph of the new law it is said that marriage is
a union between man and woman instituted by
GoD's will for the propagation of the human race
and for mutual support.' Thus the fundamental
principle on which the new marriage laws are
based is, that marriage is not a civil contract,
but a sacrament. The great majority of the 251
paragraphs of which the laws consist do not re-
quire any particular mention, but some of them
must be given. A minor offends against the
law if he marries without the consent of bis
parents or guardians—but still the marriage
cannot be considered invalid, because the
Church recognises its validity.' The marriage
of a boy of fourteen with a girl of twelve is not
valid, but the parties are to be separated until
they are of age.' In paragraph 66 it is said that
the ohurch abhors (eerabsclauet) marriages between
Christians and those who have quitted the pale of
Christianity ; and it is added, The Church dis-
approves of matrimonial unions between Catholics
and non-Catholic Christians, and advises her
children not to enter into them.' Some of the
paragraphs which relate to mixed marriages are
so vague that they are interpreted in different
ways by men learned in the law. A divorce is
admissible in a mixed marriage, if both parties
were originally non-Catholics, and one of them
subsequently joined the Roman Catholic Church,
but only in this one case. Marriage being
a sacrament, the matrimonial union of Catholics
is indissoluble, so that if married Catholics
change their religion no divorce can take
place. According to par. s'7, a regular promise
of marriage (sin guitiges Ehe-Verlobniss) is an
impediment to a matrimonial union with a third
person. A marriage between persons in the
fourth degree of lateral' relationship is invalid,
but the Pope, and in some cases the Bishops,
can grant a dispensation. The affianced persons
o
must confess and receive the sacrament before
they
m canay
notbe v lunitedieh
together
et
er
in the marriage. Affianced
per-
sons
se samehouse
before they have received the blessing of the
priest in the church. People think that such
exotic laws cannot do good in Austria, but they
are afraid to give expression to their thoughts.
For a long time the nation flattered itself that the
Concordat would be but, a dead letter, but natu-
rally all self-deception is now at an end."