The Sun.
London, England, 1856-04-22 00:00:00

without dread of penal consequences, and worship
his CREATOR in the manner which in his soul and
conscience he deems most suitable, without
being subjected to any disability, save one—

and that of the most vexatiou3 character,

He may be prevented from contracting a marriage
calculated to insure his own happiness, and to
greatly benefit his orphan children ; and this,
although satisfied that it is not prohibited by
the law of GOD, and that, if he possesses
wealth sufficient to leave the country for a tem-

purary residence abroad, the matter ou which his
heart is set, may be legally effected. It is a cruel, an
iniquitous law, and the more so, because it affects
the poorer classes, while their wealthier brethren
can break through its paltry trammels. We trust
that justice may at length be rendered to these
long-suffering and much-wronged persons, and not
merely to them, but to their innocent children,
who may be deprived of their rightful in-
heritances, by the infamous enactment. It

must be remembered that the advocates for
the abolition of these unjustifiable restrictions do

not seek to coerce the consciences of any man or
body of men. They merely demand that those

who see nothing wrong in these unions should

-- have permission to act in accordance with their

own conscientious views; and that demand,
being based on equity and justice, must ultimately
prevail.

The following is a brief abstract of the provi-
sions of the bill introduced by Lord ST. GEE

MAINS, and the second reading whereof will, we
trust, be carried on Friday evening, viz.:—

I.—The first Clause repeals so much of any
Act or Acts of Parliament as prohibits such Afar-

riages.

2.—The second Clause provides that no such
Marriage which has been, or shall hereafter be,
celebrated at any time or place, shall be void or
voidable by reason of the affinity of the parties ;
and that, for the future such Marriages maybe
lawfhlly celebrated before a Registrar, under the
Act known as 6 and 7 William IV. cap. 85.
3.—The third Clause excepts a Marriage of
this-description, contracted during the subsistence
of a previous Marriage of either of the parties ;
any such Marriage followed by a valid Marriage
of either of the parties during the life of the
other ; and any Marriage dissolved by sentence of
a competent Court.
4.—The fourth Clause protects all rights which
have accrued under the existing state of the law,
up to the time of the passing of the Act.
s.—The fifth clause confirms all judicial, ad-
ministrative, executory, and trust proceedings.
6.—The sixth Clause relates to the solemnisa-
tion of such Marriages by Clergymen of the
Church of England, and provides that they shall
not be required to solemnise such Marriages, nor
be exempt from ecclesiastical censure if they do.
7.—The seventh Clause
provides that neither
of the PARTIES to such marriage shall be liable to
any censure or punishment.
B.—The eighth Clause excludes Scotland from
the operation of the Bill.

It is now certain that the Chancellor of the
Exchequer intends to give the go-by to the Cur-
rency question; and, if permitted to do so, to place
it on the shelf for the remainder of the session.
The Right Honourable Gentleman has apparently
taken a leaf from the book of one of his prede-
cessors, and pursues the tactics of Sir CHARLES
WOOD immediately after the supensiou of the Bank
Chatter Act in October, 1847. It is quite clear
that he will do nothing, unless the pressure from

that recognised the assassins who perpetrated
ithe sanguinary massacre at Sinope as magnani-
I mous enemies—with whom there might be a copi-
ous interchange of courtesies ; as if the battle
, was to be gained by " booing, and booing, and
booing," without any exhibition of the rougher
qualities more becoming the soldiers and
seamen of England and of France. Had
there been an honest intention to injure or
humiliate the adversary, a decisive attack on
Sebastopol would have been the very best
course that could be adopted. But there was
no such intention. The necessary preparations
were not made for the purpose. Nothing could
possibly have been achieved with the existing
materials save by a sudden coup de main while
the enemy were still depressed and panic stricken
by their unexpected defeat at the Alma.
But that was cautiously avoided, and there
were not, and Mr. GLADSTONE took care that
there should not be, adequate means for conduct-
ing a protracted siege. Hence the calamities that
occurred, the fearful loss of life among the Allied
forces, and the protracted resistance of the Rus-
sian stronghold.

But these were matters for which the Aber-
deenites were chiefly, if not altogether,
responsible. They had contrived to secure
for their own party a monopoly of the
offices connected with the Administration of
the War, and, as is unfortunately but too no-
torious, they took their inspiration from a quar-
ter, that would neither hurt Russia nor oppose
the dictates of Germanism, however unpalatable
to the country or injurious to its best interests.
Hence the misconduct that aggravated tenfold
the evils of the War, and hence, we fear, the dic-
tation that led to its "most lame and impotent
conclusion."

On Friday next another attempt will be made
to obtain tardy justice for many families, who,
although truly described as "of religious and
moral character," have been driven into opposition
against a tyrannical and oppressive law—one of
the last and most intolerable remnants of the
systematic attacks on the civil and religious liber-
ties of the subject. On that day the Earl of ST.
GERMAIN; who has displayed great zeal and
efficiency in his management of the important and
interesting subject, will bring forward the second
reading of the Marriage Law Amendment Bill, for
the purpose of legalising marriage with the sister or
niece of a deceased wife. We need scarcely refer to the
number of times that measures of a similar cha-
racter have obtained the sanction of the represen-
tative branch of the Legislature, or how frequently
the well-founded expectations of the parties in-
terested, have been defeated by the Fabian policy
resorted to by its bigoted opponents. We need
not explain how the advocates for restriction on
the most sacred and inestimable privilege of free-
men, have been driven step by step from the theo.
logical grounds adopted in the first instance, and
how they have been compelled to acknowledge
that there is no express or inferential Scriptural
injunction against the practice recognised in every
Protestant country, and only requiring a dispen-
sation in Catholic States.
The question now stands on a doubtful and,
we may add, obsolete Canon of the Church of
England--which is not assented to by a large
number of the most eminent and enlightened
Prelates and Clergy of the Establishment.
How then can the large and rapidly-increasing
body of Dissenters—who see no possible objection
to such connexions—be bound by what they ex-
pressly repudiate 7 In other respects the demon
of intolerance has been banished from the Island.
A man may now avow his religious convictions