The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-28 00:00:00

TILE SITIN9 LoNnoN WEDNESD kV' EVENING, JULY 28, 85 8.
•

>L' - (This Day).

RAIL W

I Paid

:AILW tT

,sit.g -re
yesterday

Business done
this day

Ainb,9% Nottn,r.Bost.
& Eastn. June....
Belfast & Ballymen,
Big. Wolves h.
Stour Valley
Birkenhd. Lancsli.
Cheshire Junct
Blackburn

6i ei

7i - Si
66 - 63
11 - 12

all ißlyth & Tyne original
£25 (iss. at £45)
100 'Bristol di Exeter
100
.....
,100 Chester dr Holyhea•'
all 'Cork and Bandon.
all ;Cork, Black. & Pass
an 'Cornwall
I all ; Do. A
all; Do. B
all Dublin&BelfastJuo.
all ;Dun. P. &Aber Juno.
100 'East Anglian
100 Eastern Counties
'l°o !Essterntruion,A.
'lOO •Do., do.
8} I Do. New A....
all East Kent
100 East Lancashire
I all !East Suffnl:

26i 27
89 - 91
7t3 - 77
38 - 40

4 - 5

-
16 - 17
611 - 62
45 - 47
30 - 32

14:1 - 15
90 - 92

Do.
Edinburgh& Glasgow
Edinb. Prth. &DundA
Forth and ClydeJunc.
Furness
'Glasgow & S. Western
-
Great N. of Scot!and
;Great Northern
!Do., A. Stock
'Do., B. Stock
Gt. Sth. &West. (Ire).
Great Western.
'Do. Str. V. R. gua. St
Irish South-Eastern.
Lancaster & Carlisle.
Do., Thirds...
Do. New Thirds
Lane ash. 6! Yorkshir
;Do., do. F £l6
!Do. Do., £9
;Do., Wet. Riding fit:
Do. Southpcxt.
'London & Blackwal
'Do. New, its. 5/. 10s.
Loud. Bright. &S.Cst
!London &N. Wester
i!Do. Eighths
!London & S.Weat..ro
Lndndrry.&Colerarne
Lndndrry. & Ennish.
Manch . Shef. &Lincln.
Metropolitan
Midland .
;Do. Birming.& Dert
Midland G. West.(lr.
Do. Shares
Newcastle & Carlisle..
,Newpt.A berg.&Hrfd.
;Newry & Armagh
every , Warrenpoi?
& Rostrevor
N0rt01k...... .....
Norti-1 i
North British
North Devon, Rail. 6
'Dock Stock
Do., A Stock
Do., B Stock .....
N. Eastern Perwick
Do do. G.N.E.Purch.
!Do. Leeds
;Do. York
'North L0nd0n........
N. & S. Wstn., Hamp
stead, and City Jn.
North Staffordshire..
North Western........
N. le S. Westrn. June
Oxford Worcester d
Wolverhampton.....
Peebles
Portsmouth
Rhy inney
Scottish Central ...
Scot. N. E. Abrdn. St
Do. Scot. Mid. Stock
Shropshire Union
Sitinghourne & Sheer.
South Devon
South Eastern
South Wales
S. Yorksh. Riv4rDur
'Do..
Staines,Wok.,&Wel.
Stockton & Darling..
Do. do., 1854

63 - E 4
25 - 25

90 - 92
-10 i
1013 - 102-
81 - 83
131 - 133
103 - 105
49 - 49
- 53

87 90
111 12
11. A
9 9i/
1 d
1 a

-611 - 61,-

109 - 110
911 -91 i
- 14
94 - 95

35
2 ld
92i —92 i
61 66

St. 100
50

61 - C 3
50 - 51

OP • ..

90/ -91 i
2 - 1
46 - 47
71i -72 i
96 - 98

20
20
10
St.

6 - ti
-
8 -9,

27 - 29

,i 2: i•

109 - 111
261 - 2,0
81 -
44 - 46
3 - 2
34i - 35
674 - 684
79 - 80
1 14 - 15
6 - 4
9 -
34 - 35

Do. do., !855 il
Stockton & Hartlep!.
,Taff Vale...
Do. Pref., No.
uames Hay. D. &R.
,Vale of Neath
Waterfd. & Kilk enny
Waterford&Limerick
West Coi nwall
West End of London
and Crystal Palace
Do. A
Do. B
West London

96 - 99

.2f
- 61

Do. First Class
Do. Second Class

7ei i

102 i

103
49j 9

911 I

911

35 41
92i i

501 :,I

461
714 2

LiNES LEASED AT FIXED RENTALS.

Leasim, Closimr Price, Moines,
Shr.; Paid "ThwATL Companies yesterday this day.
St. 1100 IBtickghamsh. f‘ri•EzlST.Nk, . 100 102
St. 'lOO IClydesdaie Jc 11.19Jc:don.. 103 105
25 all Col.Stour Vy E.U.&E.O 14 16
Et. 100 lE.Lin. g. 6 p., Gt.Norttn, 139 141
5 all lE. Un. H. Sh. E. Count. 4 5
St. 100 Glas. Barr. &
Neils. Direct. Caldonlan „.
St. 100 Do. New Do. •••
25 all Glstr.&Dn.Fr Gt.Westn. • 1
50 all Hull & Selby Y. & N.M. 1.1.0 112
25 I all Do. 3/4 Shares Do
123/4! all Do. Shares. Do
121 all ILon.&Greenw S.Eastorn l3 —l4
20 all IDo.Preference Do 233/4 243/4
St. .100 !Lon. Pll., &S. Peto &Co 93 96
10 ! 10 Do. Bark. Sh. Do •.• •••
53/4! all Manch.Bston. Ln.&N.W
1 and Matlock & Midld 23/4
St. 'lOO Mdld. Bradfd. Midland 97 99
6i 5 :Newmarket
IBuryE.G.spe. E. Count 4p
50 all NALE9t.S p.c. Do 5B 60
50 all Do. 6 per ct.. Do
50 all h.oo. Fixed sp. cDo
25 all iProst. Ix \Tyre L. &11. W —
123/4 all iDo. 3/4 Shrs. /I Do
St. 100 !Roystn.& Hit. Gt.Northn'l 38 142
10 j all Shrews.& Her T. Brasscy! 83/4 9
12 ! all S. Staffordsh.. M. MCleai 10 104
50 ! all ilYearVal.g6pc Stk.&Dar.
25 i all Do Do 323/4 333/4:
St. 100 Virilts&Somrst; Gt. tver n l 89 51

12
12i
111
St.

12
25
20
St.

1.0.61

St.
St.
St.
St.

20
25
25
St.

65, 6

9431
i

98 I

'l2si

GOODWOOD RACES.—(This Day.)
(BY ELECTRIC TELEG3APH.)
SWEEPSTAKES OF 500 SOVS., FOR COLTS.
L-rn of L0rn......
Gourd..

3

LATEST BETTING.
GOODWOOD STAKES.
5 to 4 agst Roman Candle (taken)
7to 1 aget Lifeboat (taken)
10 to 1 agst Pensioner (taken)
10 to 1 aget Fulbeek (taker)
15 to 1 agst Zonave (taken)
16 to 1 agst Fright (taken)
25 to 1 aget St. Clair (ralre;)
Offers to back Pensioner aget anything bar Roman

Caudle

MARRIAGE WITH A DECEASED WIFE'S

SISTEI?.

We cannot pretend to think that the demand for
a change in the law relating to the marriage by a
widower of his deceased wife's sister is likely to
cease for several years, or that the bill which the
Lords rejected on Friday will tie the last of its
series. Too many private interests are involved,
too many passions in play, to ahow of acquiescence
in an adverse decision. The acceptance of the
principle of such marriages by the Howe of Com-
mons, the practice of foreign Protestant St.ttes, and
the recent legislation of one, at least, of our own
colonies, will furnish encouragement and argu-
ments for those who era inclined to persevere.
The judgments of Vice-Chancellor Stuart and Sir
Cresswell Creswell, which, if unnversed, will
establish the nullity of these marriages in she case
of Britisb subjects, even though the ceremony has
been performed abroad, most rouse ail who have
hem married on the continent or in America, and
have issue by such marriages, to redoubled exer-
Voris for the recognition of their cont!a:ts and the
legitimation of their children. So that it is not
only probable, but certain, that for several years
to come the question of marriage with a deceased
wife's sister will be mooted by a strong, rich, and
warmly interested body, seconded by the vague
liberal feeling which is ever floating in the commu-
nity. It therefore becomes those who are on prin-
ciple adverse to any change in the existing law to
make their voices heard and their reasons known,
and not to let the quest on drag on as a mere con-
test between Lords and Commons--a course vshich
is sure to enlist popular sympathy on the side of the
measure, and divert consideration froal its real
merits.

Our own opinion is, as it has always been, that
the old law of England which was declared and 1
more fully enforced by the Act of 1835 ought to be
upheld. Marriage is a contract made under the
sanction of the State, in accordance with the reli-
gious belief and the moral feelings of the people,
and it is consequently quite justifiable that the
state should forbid unions which ate opposed to
what the great majority of the well-informed and
educated consider to be the teaching of religion and
the dictates of nature. Without urging too far the
Scriptural argument, we may say that the general
sense of toe country is that a Divine prohibition
rests on these marriages ; but, oven putting the
Mosaic code aside, and considering the question as
one of merely social import, the balance of advan-
tages is strongly on the side of maintaining the law.
The advocates of a change are divided into those
who demand the liberty of marrying their wives'
sisters as an abstract right, and who boldly declare
that a sister-in-law is no relative, and those who
consider that, as the custom of forming these
alliances has grown up, it would be well if the law
were modified to square with a practice which they
declare to be now ineradicable. The former claw
it is, we think, easy to confute. The aresument of
the bill's extreme supporters, that marriage with a
deceased wife's sister is not incestuous, is, of course,
only another way of stating the broad propcsition
that there can be no incest where there is no con-
sanguinity. But this is merely a question of words.
If one party uses the word "Incest" only to signify
connexion with a blood relation, and the other uses
it in a legal sense, as in the new Divorce Bill, to
signify connexion betwe n those who may not
lawfuily marry, it is evident that they will not
agree on its meaning. But it requires but
little reflection to perceive that the key to
matrimonial prohibitions is to be found in the
idea of the family or the household. Those who
are, by the necessities of universal society or the
customs of any particular community, thrown into
csnstaut domestic intercourse with each other are,
for the prevention of scandalous itunsorality and
family discord, forbidden from thinking of each
other as man and wife. Furthermore,. the man's
inevitable influ-nce over his own or hip wife's rela-
tives is limit-d by laws which have had the sanc-
tion of society in every age. That the man may not
marry some of his wife's kindred there sterns no
doubt. Either the pardsans of the bill just rejected
must declare that a man may marry his wife's
mother and his wife's daughter, or they must allow
that he bas not an abstract and indefeasible right
to marry his wife's sister or niece. The more sea-
sonable advocates of the measure hive therefore
given up the argument of right, and claim permis-
sion for these marriages on the ground of expe-
diency. To expediency, then, we come at last, and
on this narrow ground the contest must be waged.
That Lord Bury's bill would not give permission to
a woman to marry her deceased husband's brother
shows how little it pretends to deal with abstract
justice, and how completely we are entitled to treat
the matter as one of national convenience and
English feeling.
It is fair, then, we believe, to say that the great
bulk of the English people aro satisfied with the
settlement of this subject which was made 23 years
since. Without inquiring into the practice of
society under widely different conditions, we
may argue that in this crowded country, with its
great number of single women, and the universal
habit of introducing unmarried sisters into the
households of their brothers in-law, the permission
to form such alliances would lead to evils far out-
balancing the benefits to particular parties. It
of
Whenwomen
a wife oughteom e t
so to b
seee
a probable
cannot be doubted that the feeling of women
in this country is strongly against the bill, and
certainly the question is one on which the feeling
ouse ,
it
re a is
so plaingeneral haalt
t
herself in the Sister • allowed
some
successor
or niece whom she now re-
ceivesm
her
whichhouse,
the country must receive trtjr the family
t
arrangements into
an unpleasant modifica-
tion. In the practice of English life the wife's
sister, and generally the wife's relatives, have come
to be regarded by a man as his own, and thus a
class of relationships has arisen productive of much
happiness to the family generally and of especial
advantage to the children. Why should these
family bonds be loosened by placing the wife's sister
out of the pale of aflieity, and thus making her
residence under her brother-in-law's roof a s note
of suspicion, and after the wife's death almost an
impossibility ? When we consider the sccial hap-
piness and security which are enjoyed under the
Present system we may well ask it they are to be
sacrificed to the desires of a few who think hat they
can find no one to marry but the sisters of their
former wives ? At present not one man in ten
thousand of the educated classes, of those who are
acted upon by publio opinion, ever think of such
unions; but should they be legalised there can be
little doubt that they would become less uncommon,
to the great scandal of the laree majority of the
people, and to the disruption of many faintly ties.
When these marriages were voidable the social
discredit which attached to them acted as a suffi-
cient check in the higher and middle classes, hut,
should the law place them on an equality with
others, their frequency would soon exercise an im-
portant action on society. A change iu the law is
asked for to gratify two clasQes—a small and a
somewhat larger one. The first consists of people
of some station whose passions urge them to these
alliances ; the other is made up of artisans in the
manufacturing districts, among whom the bad hat it
of replacing one sister by another has grown up.
We cannot think that the claims of either class are
so strong as to necessitate a reyolution in our ma-
trimonial laws, for na one can doubt that the logi-
cal sequence of Lord Bury's Bill is the recognition
of the marriage by a widower or widow, of all
the wife's er husband's relatives whatever—in
short, the discontinuance of all restrictions on mar•
riage on the ground of affinity. If a man may
marry his wife's sister as the best person to take
care of his children, why not his esife's grown-op
daughter for the same purpose—whss not even his
wife's mother ? Why may not a widow left with
children many her husband's b.other, as their
fittest guardlau—why not her husband's grown-up
son, and to on ? No ; those who choose to form
these alliances must be content to do so without
the int •rven.ion of laws which are made for she
general benefit of the English people ; they must
be content with whatever moral sanction is given
by the legality of the marriage at its German or
American place of celebration, and they must
supply by testamentary disposition the absence of
the legitimacy which English law cannot afford to
their offspring.—Times.

CANTERIIIIRY HALL-Mr. Augustus Braham, who has
jug careu (3,J asuccesslul six month:,' engagement at this
favourite place of amusement, on Saturday evening pre-
sea Aid the spirited proprietor, Mr. Charles Morton, with
an elegant tea service of silver, as a totr.en cf personal
esteem, and a slight roc-gni..i,u of the unvarying cour-
tev anl kindues3 be had experienced during his six
=oaths' engagement at this " Palace of Lambeth,"

NARK= .Ih4 . )

CORN EXCHANGE.

The supply of English wheat on offer here to-day was
very moderate. Compared with Monday there was a better
feeling in the demand for good Nirl fine parcels, at fully
that day's quotations. Inferior qualities net a slow sale,
at about stationary ;;rites.
Foreign wheat, the imports of which since Saturday are
only 1,010 quarters, met a dull inquiry, but no actual
change took place in the quotations.
Floating cargoes of grain were a slow inquiry.
We had a good consumptive demand for barley, at very
full prices. In malt, however, very little was passing, on
former terms.
Oats, beans, and peas were very firm, and quite as dear
as on Monday.
Flour sold slowly, on former terms.

Eaglish
Irish

Foreign. ~,

ARRIVALS MS WEER.
Wheat. Barley. Malt.
650 160 470

1,010

Oats. I Flour.
440 I Cn
1,000
24,280
II brl.

BOROUGEI FLOP.

For nil kinds of hops the demand continues very in-
active. In prices, however, wo have no change to notice.
The plantation accounts aro still favourable.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS.-(YESTERDAY.)

the LORD CHANCELLOR took hie seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock.

Lord T..EnNBOROUGII moved for the production
of a letter addressed by him to the Court of DirectorF,
dated the 28th of April, and also for the memorandum
of Sir G. Clerk on the same subject.—Agreed to.
Lard STA NLEY of ALDERLEY presented peti-
tions from the Chamber of Commerce and the Legal
Society in ManchwEr, complaining of the conduct of
Mr. Jemmett, the Commissioner of Ba.bkruptcy in
Manchester. They prayed that Mr. Jecomott might be
removed from the bench.

The LORD CHANCELLOR said he was afraid,
although the appointment of the Commissioners in
Bankruptcy was vented in him, he bad no power what-
ever to remove these officers.

The petition was then ordered to Fe on the table.
SIR J. OITTRAM AND MR. HALLIDAY.
The LORD CHANCELLOR read letters from Slr J.
Outram and Mr. Halliday, acknowledging the cotes of
thanks their lordships had transmitted to them for the
part they had taken in suppressing the mutiny in Bengal.