The Sun.
London, England, 1835-03-18 00:00:00

LONDON.
WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 18, 1835.

Sir ROBERT PEEL last night introduced into the
House of Commons the measure which he has for
some time been preparing for the relief of the Dis-
senters, as regards the celebration of marriage. The
Right Hon. Baronet prefaced his motion by an accu-
rate and luminous exposition of the state of the law
in respect to marriage at various periods. He then sub-
jected the Bill introduced last year by Lord JOHN
RUSSELL to a severe—and not more severe than just—
examination, in the course of which he pointed
out with great force the main, and we may say, the
radical defects of that measure, observing, very truly,
that it was liable to the very weighty objection of
having proved highly unsatisfactory to the parties for
whose relief it had been intended. The Right Ho-
nourable Gentleman then proceeded to state the out-
lines of his own measure, which are briefly these :
Marriage—as far as Dissenters are concerned—is
by this Bill recognized as merely a civil contract, the law
being brought back to what Sir RoBERT PEEL shewed

it was before the passing of the Marriage Act in 1754
while with respect to members of the Church of Eng.

land it remains as it was, retaining its mixed civil and
religious character. Dissenters may, V they choose,
be married without the intervention of any religious
functionary, either of the Church or of any other sect.
If the parties to be married object to the marriage cere-
mony as now performed, they must give notice to a
magistrate of the Hundred in which they shall have
resided seven days, of their intention. After the ex-
piration of fourteen days, and within time months
after serving this notice, the parties are to ap-
pear before the Magistrate, and make a declaration
that they enter into the marriage contract, which con-
tract is then to be subscribed by them . The same
oath is also required as that which is now made on

procuring a license—namely, that the parties are above
twenty-one years of age, or if they are under that age,
that the consent of their parents or guardians has been

obtained, and that they know of no lawful impediment
to their unio►►. The form of this oath is, we believe,
to be inserted in the notice.

The Magistrate is to cause several copies of the

contract to be made out ; one of which he is
to send to the parish Minister, to be by him
entered among other marriages in the parochial
register. The expence amounts in all to seven shil-
lings, five of which go to the registrar, and two to the

magistrate. The parties are left to their own option
whether any, or what religious ceremony, shall follow

,he civil act.

These are the principal features of this important
measure. Whether all the provisions will give satis-
faction to the Dissenters, we cannot take upon
ourselves to say. We have, however, no hesitation
in stating, that this is, out of all sight, the most
liberal, and the best measure of the kind that has ever

yet been proposed. Some of the friends of the Dis-
senters in Parliament, seem to think that too strong a

line of distinction is drawn between the Churchman
and the Dissenter by the Ministerial plan, but this
objection may be obviated, by allowing the Church-
man the same privilege of choosing either the ecclesi-
astical or the magisterial mode of celebration. In-
deed, we think that, in this respect, the Church-
man has most reason to complain. At all events,
one great point is secured by the proposed measure,