The Sun.
London, England, 1820-07-14 00:00:00

MARRIAGE ACT AMENMIENT BILL.

Lord ELLE.NBoRoUGH rose to move the second
reading of this Bill. He felt it is duty, he said,
to come forward on this important occasion,
though he was aware of his incompetency to do
'justice to the subject. A similar measure had
'been three times before their Lordships,, which
.sheaved the .strong sense'entertained by the other
house of Parliament upon the, subject. It was
evidently .a question that• deeply involved the
morals of the country. The measure did not
proceed upon fanciful or speculative grounds ;
the enormity of those -t.vils which it went to
counteract was'equally extensive and appa-
rent. Since the month of April last year,
he had selected four cases from those that had
-occurred, of striking enormity. One was
that of a marriage, .uhich, after a cohabitation
of twenty-four years and a progeny of seven
children,. was annulled at the instance of the
husband, on account of the omission of some of
those comparatively trilling formalities which

were required by the existing law. The s.-coed
was a case of little less enormity. In the.third,
the marriage took place with the consent of the
mother of one of the parties, who believed heraelt
to be a widow ; but in Some years after the hus-
band returned home-, and from the wank of-his
consent (the married persons being under age) the,
marriage was set aside., after twenty years co-
habitation between the couple. The fourth case
was one in which„...after,Ahirty-eight years'
cohabitation, the marriage was annulled on
grounds nearly similar, the. Married parties
not being of age at the time. Was such
a state of things, so affecting the marriage
state,, to_ be suffered to -continue ? With a due
regard to the morals of the country,. the peace
and tranquillity-of individuals,
.or veneration for
religion, could such a state of things he permitted.
-Was a WoMan who had fullY_ discharged all the
duties ef a I;.'ife to have children bastardized, and
herself thrown out of all respectable soiet v, not
through any fault of her own, but' through the
deEberafe perjury of the man on whom she had
•rested all her hopes of happiness, comfort, and
respect. • After having long lied in perfect hap-
piness, surrounded by her yonttg and s innocent
offspring, who she hoped -woald attain: to respect-
able stations in lire, should these be per-
mitted through the omission of a signature or
some other- slight formality to have the cup of
hope and enjoyment dashed at once from their
_lips ; to be driven from society, and, with
their unoffendiug mother, left unprotected
and exposed to insult and derision. Looking at
the original Act from the period of its cortnnence-
menl, in 1751, to the present, the instances of the
.kind were numerous, and not even. the -very
highest and most Noble Fathilies in the country
were exempt from its baleful operation, and the
oflspring .destituted
,of their. rightful honours,
titles, and estates. The Marriage institution it-
self was admirable and good, and as far as
connected with the dicta and commands of
Scripture, nothing could he said against it.
The principle of' the Marriage Law was un,.
doubtedly good; but those of its Provisions which.
the Bill went to'amend, were found to be pro-
ductive of the most deplorable consequences.
The. Noble Lord then adverted .to other provi-
sions of the Marriage Laws, which he thought also
called for -emendatiOn—such as thOse which ren-
dered the contract voidable under-some circum-
,stances, while in others, incestuous unions were
Suffered - to continue without molestation or dis-
turbance. In fine, he thought the present mar-
riage law called loudly for the alterations and
amendments proposed by the:.Bill before their
Lordshipg; and under which fOrcible conviction,
he should move, that the Bill be now read the
second time.
,
The LORD CHANCELLOR said, he felt nmmself
bOtind on this important question to express his
strong 'difference of opinion frim-that of his
Noble. Friend, if -he would alloW hiM so to
ekpress'hiMself, so strongly, that he •could not
even- think . ofiOting .for the Bill going to a
Bill were bona fide framed, 'so
as to-nieet those evils upon which so much stress
was laid"; lie' shOuld deem such a Bill entitled to
their LordAips' best attention. former Bills
alluded to Were" brought up to that house at such
a very advanced' period of the Session, that it
was' morally impOs'sirde they could give the sub-
ject -that delibeiiite- consideration which it evi-
dently required.- Neither could he understand
Why this Bill'was -not -broUght up fhree'n'io.uths
ago. With respect to the numerous Acts relating
tb.this important subject, he understood his N6'.
bib Friend- to speak faVourably of the principle
of some of the Irish Aeti thereon. On the prin-
ciple of .some of thOse there was in faCt one Mar-
riage Law, for 'serious pOsseasing prOperty to the
amount of 1001. a year, and another law for per-
sons who did not possess Property to that
as count. 'Marriage was a civil as as a sa-
died,-COutract; and some part of what the
Noble; Lord referred to as inconsistent was,
he-.said, a virtual. aberratiiin from time general
laW of Marriage; and should not go one iota in
the -ivay of strict argument. What was the
principle .of the Marriage: Act ? Suppose there
were some eight, or ten, or twenty instances
wherein he confessed it was difficult to restrain
the feelincrs, they certainly were not sufficient to
warrant a Bill with a _retrospective operation as
far back as the year 1754, upon which Act the
Law solely. stood ; and that a Bill which would
go to shake all those ,rights derived under the
established law, as would or may be done by the
application of the first clause irr the Bill, though
a provision towards the end of the Bill, he knew,
may be said to have a saving effect ; yet, pro-
perty to an incredible amount, with titles, pen-
sions, and- other valuable possessions held under
the established law, may., lie seriously affected
by it. Having dwelt on these points in the way
Of illustration, the Noble and very Learned Lord
obserVed, the present was not a season of the
year when they-could beneficially go into a edit-
sideration of a Bill of such extensive importance.
There was a clause also in it which went to lega-
lize all marriages, though founded upon the most
fraudulent perjury, and the distinctions were so
drawn that it would be better to say at once that
all were good, than to legislate in the very ex-
ceptionable way proposed by this Bill. No man
could be more desirous to uphold the dictates.of
morality, or td adhere to the dictates of religion,
than himself; but he was' yet to be convinced
how these desired ends could be attained by such
a Bill as the 'present. It, therefore, being. so
framed, and coming before them at a period in
which full and deliberate discussion could not be

expected, he could not consistently afford the
measure his support.
The Earl of WESTMORLAND differed in many
points from his Noble and Learned Friend. lle
thought the Bill at least should receive a. second

reading, and be .suffered to go to a Committee,
where the objectionable parts could regularly be
digcussed and amended, and it could be
,seen how

'as the Bill was susceptible of amendment: if this

was -found impracticable, why' then reject it.
The Bill was to amend the Act of the 26th of

Geo. 11., intituled " An Act to prevent Clandes-

THE SUN.

,SOLE `4 OUTS DICERE. FALSLTM AUDEAT

LONDON,
FRIDAY, JULY 14, 1820.

We received this morning the Paris Papers of
Tuesday last. The Chamber of Peers met oh
Monday, and heard a discussion on a proposition
respecting the Law of Arrest as applied to Peers.,
which was adjourned till Tuesday. °lithe latter
day the report was to be made on the Budget of
Sapply.—ln the Chamber of Deputies ,the dis-
cussion on the. Budget of Ways and Means was
resumed. M. FRANCAIS de NANTE finished his
speech, and withlt the whole of the discussion was
finished. The votes were taken on the. Budjet,
and it was carried by a majority of 129 to 6.-
The following are extracts:—
" PARIS, JULY 11.--The King yesterday
transacted business with the Count Simeon and

Duke de Richelieu. His Majesty received

Ladies in 'the evening. . • .
" The Duke Decazes, who tpok leave of the
King on Sunday evening, set out for Calais at
three o'clack
_yesterda. afternoon.. Ills . ,
lency will stop for a day, or two at the estate of
the Duchess Decazes in .Picardy.
‘c Several
,duels took plPce on SundlayeVening
without the barriere of Mont-Parnasse., 'A Swiss
soldier was killed on .the spot by a,stroke of a
sabre.

• -
" The Persian Ambassador arrived, on the
sth instant, in the evening, at Strasburg. M.
It ieffer accompanied him from Paris to die frontier
as interpreter ; the 6th the .AMbassador passed
the Rhine, on his return to, his own Country, by
the way of Germany 'and Turkey.
. .
" The Duke de Cambaceres was to return the
7th instant to Brussels, froth Aix-la-Chapelle,
and he is expected immediately at Paris.
• 6‘ A letter from Calais- of the ,Bth inst. states,
that the passage of English Couriers to and froM
Italy continued, very frequent.
" Letters from Barcelona, which reached Tou-
louse the 4th instant, state that the plague con-
tinued its ravages in the-Island of Majorca, 4114
that the number of victims 4ldily increased'.
66 M. Hyde de N-euvillej, French Minister Ple

A at
nipotentiaty to the Volttl Btates, is dirlve'

Paris on leave.

FIVE PER CENTS:

Monday
DEFERRED STOCK.
Of the .22ti March, I seo q 3 f. 25 c'vp‘.ols
" CORFU, MAY is said that Ali lied
is under,, great apprehensions of being sub ,
t
by the Porte, and that, in case of, a reverse,
means to take refuge here."

79 f. 35 C.

r As the Opposition Jtiurnals are so anxici' v
g
have the 'names- and, condition of the NVitil-p
50(
F : who are .to be brought forward on the 'Trial ot
TIIE QUEEN- sttbmitted to, her -previous to
•
trial, and consequently to the world at large)e
it not equally consistent with justice that
names of those witnesses who are to be suninrlle
in her .favour should be equally known t° thd
who ate to conduct the prosecution ? It will til
be known whether her MAJESTY'S witnessest
more respectable, and are in general" Pete
dressed than thine who Were 'nearly sacri-e
by a btrutal rabble,' because they were sui'l)°,:fe
to be brought as evidence against her.
say better dressed in general, because theY
be attired for the occasion, and their present g/P;
pearance may not be superior to those
were in •clanger of falling victims to the tlg,ll
a ferocious- mob. It is well known that cer°.
enemies to Ministers, who are supposed to-
; above the rank of the poor perse.cuteil FOre'rg!3f
tt
in question, supplied.. the CATO.:STREET C°S'
ItATORS with., money to purchase arms,
though it is impossible to imagine that they If .
ignorant of the manner in 11.-liich
fie
were likely to, be -employed. The same ge
rous patriotism which supplied money to
. Martgrs to Rgforin, the TurSTLEWO6DS, &C.
. .
may lie.equally liberal in.providing a deoel4 'lll'
pearance for the witnesses who are to be sij
moved' in favour of- her MAJESTY. We Stltte
this circumstance yesterday, and expressed f
surprise that none, of the Opposition Priiits .11%
thought proper to "notice it-But we may als° r
perMitted to express still greater surprise,
as the circumstance wa.
in the House of Commons by one of his
Ministers, none of those consistent Patriots, t'
LAMBTONS,-BENNETS,-CREEVIES, &c. did not'
Withindignation,..an. d de-mand a full disefostire
all that Government kneW the subject, that
the guilty Patrons of those Conspirators Inirgi'
be held up to the detestation of the C°Lifil
try, if they' could not be subjected to tl
1e
punishment of the Law. Though, how s
ever, (
do not expect that the Opposition Write-
-4
may' deem prudent, for weighty rea°4f
on their own part, to inquire into a fact
so flagitious a nature, yet we may surely hope t
find tha:t. Opposition Senators are more aft° t°
the cause of. justice, and that they will vel`e;
nlcntly call uponUinisters for a full developevie-lit
of the mystery, and an open exposure oft":f
who could have been so base as to afford all'
t-
kind of aid, comfort, and assistancei to those "-
uoi'
rid criminals,' who have justly suffered for °d-
atrocious intention to commit ,wholesale mu(Lie'' ,
,
and to involve the Country in consternation Li)

eventual ruin. -
her
-With . respect. to the question or giving t°
MAJes*-Vs Co-tinsel the names of the Ivit"e-,
54
who are to be brought to support the CharPe
against 4er; we rely on the wisdom of the il°ll'
of Lords in the first instance. They Will,
are persuaded, not rigidly adhere to I°-
dents,, if they can be safely suspended.
as. we before said, preCedents ,would not liar°
been ,established except upon solid perni'Llle
to
grounds, and a temporary Cause ought 0°- a
vacate the operation of right principles le° •
AI;
. • -
upon sound -practical experience., We th-11
necessary again to point out the danger °-i'l or
fishing- the names of those-who would cer“l-
be exposed to assassination on their arrival/
- '
proof of which was the inhuman outrage ce
some of them sufferedat Dover. Th,c Old Times an
die°
published a Letter, threatening the assassin
of Mr. CANNING, and one of his Majesty's oTt
tens formally and forcibly stated in the nuLlse
ito
Commons. that the names of persons were 0110 t,
who had supplied the CATO-STREET CONSI
Ctr''
TORS with money to carry on their desLri
the
machinations. Can it be doubted then til3t j
author of the infaMous letter alluded t°,
the
the Patrons of the Conspirators, whoever ,5
fco,••
may be, and it is probable they must be Pe"' #
oleo°
of property, would not willingly use any
to obstruct the course of Justice, by the d.st
t into
tion of the Foreigners who may be broug-1
and
this Country, for the developemerit of Truth'
the support of Justice ?

tri/:
TIMBER DEITIES.--We are obliged to °s• dot'
the continuation of the Parliamentary 0;1 sett it
on this important subjec,st, but we shall in'cLords
to-morrow, if the Debate in the House e
this,,clay is not of too great length.

arrived at(

35 C.

1. 45 c•i; fhb
Lt Ali Pa a
subaue
• to.
reyerse,

stc.,
nns, - 9
th'Y 141 r,
hose

a- IC; e v;
to th°'
)s,
ti
, o.# qi)ece

to be st
We 01cv
resseci