The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-03-20 00:00:00

given to the dissenters :-Ist, to an alteration of the marriage
ceremony of the church of England,-whicle he set aside as an
influential mode; and, 2dly, to the, mode adopted by the noble
lord, which continued the publication of the banns by the mi-
nisters of the church of England, but, which permitted the mar-
riage of dissenters to be solemnized by the ministers of the
cougregatiuns to which they belonged. The second mode not
having given satisfaction to the dissenters, it therefore remained
to be considered by what mode satisfaction could be given to
that body, consistently with a principle which would admit of
universal application without inconvenience or mischief. He
would now, after much consideration of the noble lord's bill,
which had proved unsatisfactory not only to the dissenters, but
also to many members of the established church (for they had
objected to be made the instruments of performing the prelimi-
nary ceremony of the publication of the banns, in respect to a
rite which it was proposed should cease to be sanctioned by the
religious forms of the church of England)—he would now, he
.repeated, proceed to state to the house the principles on which
he proposed to found a bill fur the purpose of giving relief to
the dissenters. It appeared to him that by far the most efficient
and leastobjectioaable mode of giving that relief was to propose
two ceremonies, one a civil ceremony, and the other a religious
ceremony; taking care to encourage as far as possible the re-
ligious ceremouy, but not impasing it is an absolute and essential
condition of the validity of a marriage. (Hear, hear.) 'lie
would make the civil ceremony an indispensable. preliminary of
marriage. That was the security which he would require on
the part of soc ety. ( Hear, hear.) lie would fain hope, how-
ever, that the ceremony of marriage would not, in consequence,
be divested of its religious character; he believed that it would
not. (Hear, hear.) lie believed that so much importance was
attached to the reheious rite, by the dissenting body, that they
would, in almost alrcases, superadd the religious to the civil
ceremony; and he doubted not that the religious sanction $o
superadded would be more efficient as a sanction if left to be im-
posed by the parties themselves, according to such forms as
were most acceptable to them, than if described iu the nature of
a fixed ceremony by the legislature. (Hear, hear.) Every one
must desire to see the religious sanction possess a solemn and
binding character; but was it probable that it would have the
effect of solemnity, or be of a binding nature, if it were not pre-
cisely in accordance with the conscientious feelings of the parties
on whom it was imposed, but if it were, on the contrary, prescribed
and determined by law, to which they would be compelled to sub-
mit? The religious ceremony that would suit the unitarian would
not suit the independents or the baptists,but if the legislature left
the dissenting bodies the right of superadding to the civil con-
tract such religious ceremonies as were in accordance with their
peculiar opinions, nothing of the value of a religious sanction
would be lust. In acting on this principle he was acting in
:precise conformity with the principle of a bill which passed the
House of Commons in the year 1827, and which proceeded in
the House of Lords to a third reading, and which was then only
postponed on account of the advanced period of the session.
l'he bill, which related to unitarians, was introduced by Mr. W.
Smith, and the house would see irons a description of its provi-
sions, that it directly, recognised the principle on which he now
proposed to proceed. Before he entered into an explanation
of the particular details of the measure lie proposed to intro-
duce, he wished to show the house that the principle on which
it was founded was recognized by the law of England previous
to the marriage act of 1751. He apprehended that the law of
England recognized marriage as a civil contract; and that it
did not require as an essential and indispensable condition of
the validity of that contract the performance of any religious
ceremony. In the fatuous case of " Dalrymple v. Dalrymple,"
Lord StOwell, then Sir W. Scott, laid down that principle, and
in support of his opinion he referred to the judgment of Lord
Holt, in the reign of Queen Anne, in the following terms:—" It
was said by Lord Holt, and agreed to by the whole court, that if
a contract be per rerba de prcesenti, it amounts to an actual mar-
riage, which the very party themselves cannot dissolve by re-
lease or other mutual agreement, for it is as much amarriage in
the sight of God as if it had been in facie erclesice." In Wig-
more's case the same judge said, " that a contract per verba de
prcesenti is a marriage, so is a contract per verba de future; if
the contract be executed and the man take her, it is a marriage;
and they cannot be punished for fornication." Lord Stowell
stated, that in the ecclesiastical courts, as well as in the com-
mon law, " the stream ran unirorinly in the same course," and
he referred to the case of Lord Fitzmaurice, the sun of the
Earl of Kerry, brought in the year 1732 before the court of de-
legates. In that case it 'appeared that the engagement was
made in the following terms :—" We swear to many one
another," and it was held that each party was bound by that de-
claration. The decision of the court was to the following
effect:—" The court, composed of a full commission, paid no
regard to the objection, and found for the marriage, and an ap-
plication for a commission of review, founded upon matter al-
leged, was refused by the chancellor." Lord Stowell next
observed that things continued on this footing till the marriage
act of 1754, which was not intended to give the ceremony of
marriage a religious sanction, as a religious sanction; but was
only intended as a precaution against fraud and clandestine
marriage. In making, therefore, the civil contract an indis-
pensable condition of the validity of marriages, mind leaving
parties to superarld the religious sanction, he was acsing in con-
formity not only with the principle of the bill of 1821, but with
what was the law of England previous to the marriage act of
1754, (loud cries of " Hear,") and he thought he was acting
in conformity with the dictates of reason and good sense in not
prescribing any precise religious ceremony, but in leaving
the parties interested to fix for themselves such religious sanc-
tion as was best suited to their religious opinions. (hear.)
Having said thus much on the, general principles on which be
proposed to proceed, he would now proceed to explain the enact-
ments which his bill would include. The present method of
notifying the intentions of dissenters to contract a marriage with
one of their own community was repugnant to the feeling's of
the dissenters, but if he could devise any other mode by which
effectual notice could be given, which should relieve the dissenter
from the necessity of conforming to the religious rites of the
establishment, and if he could introduce some simple form of
notice, by which the conscientious feelings of a minister of the
church would be spared the pains or assisting in a ceremony
which was in opposition to the forms prescribed by the esta-
blishment, lie thought that the object be had in view would be
effectually answered. (Hear, hear.) The form he intended to
propose would be very simple. If there were two parties who
had an objection to the form of marriage as solemnized by the
church of England, they would have within their power the
remedy which it was the object of the bill to secure to them.
But he did not wish to make this enactment compulsory on all
who conscientiously differed from the doctrines of the church.
He did hope, that the impediment of pride being removed, when
it was no longer absolutely necessary for the- dissenter to be
married according to the :forms of an establishment to whose-
doctrines be could not subscribe, he would in many instances
not avail himself of the kind of relief proposed by the bill. He
would give him every facility of being married elsewhere, if he
preferred it, but he hoped that he' would be induced, unless
there was some serious objection in his mind to the form of the
marriage ceremony as performed in the church of England, to
conform to that ceremony. He proposed, then, that the two
parties intending to be mmirried, having resided for seven days
previously in some hundred, should present themselves before a
magistrate at a given period, for the purpose of entering into a
civil contract, that they should acknowledge the contract in his
presence, and that there should be an acknowledgment in writ-
ing of the contract by those who would then be standing in the
relation of husband and wife to each other. The acknowledg-
ment might take place not later than three months after such
residence, and not earlier than fourteen days. He preferred a
single magistrate for. this purpose, because when it was
bpeatitr‘eri l b
cif
magistrates
con-
sidered with what feelings persons would come to enter into this
engagement, and the nature of the patties attending at the
e before petty sessions, the value of the remedy would be much
requiringim-
th,e
assembledac to try prisoners,
knowledgment to be made befee sa
a
,)
and the grace nd favour of the concession would be (h
much di-
minished if it were confined to so public an occasion. (Hear.)
They would have to make oath that they were above the age of
twenty-one years, and if they were below that age, fiat they had
the consent of their guardians or parents, and that they were
not aware of any lawful impediment to time validity of the con-
tract. (Hear, hear.) It might be said that a dour would be
opened to clandestine marriages by the non-publication of bans,
but he believed that it would be found that in most clandestine
marriages which had taken place the parties had been married
by bans and not by license; and he did not think that the pub-
lication of bans was generally found to answer the purpose of
publicity. He apprehended, however, that his bill would pro-
vide all the security' which was given by license. But if, on
experience, it was discovered that clandestine martiagps were
more frequent owing to the operation of this bill, he was sure
that the members of that house would all have a common object
in providing more efficient safeguards against this evil.
(Cheers.) After the ceremony had been gone through, a copy
of the acknowledgment of the contract was to'le transmitted to
the clergyman of the parish, not, however, by the dissenter, who
was not to be forced to enter into contract with a clergyman of
the establishment, but the magistrate who took the acknowledg-
ment would transmit the certificate of the contract. Ile was
sure that the clergyman would not object to being made the re-
gistrar of these. engagements, and as it was a great object to
keep the registries of all marriages together, be knew of no bet-
ter plan that could be adopted at present than to confide them
to the custody in which they now were. Ile was considering
the question of a general registry, but us it was impossible for
him, occupied as he was, to bring forward everything at once,
he thought it most advisable to select, ;according to the system
now in use, the best depository that could be found, ie order to
prevent, as much as possible, the inconvenience that would
arise from the want of civil registration in one place for the
members of all religions. (Hear, hear ) He did, however, as
he had said before, cherish a hope,
_that the impediment of
pride
.or religious scruples being removed, the remedy to he
given by the bill would be comparatively seldom resorted to.
The expense attending it would be trilling. The whole aumuut
of fees, for taking the acknowledgment, 8.c., would not exceed
75., and ss. would be paid to the parochial officer or the cler-
gyman of the parish, for registering the civil marriage, which
he apprehended would altogether be found to be much less
than the average charge for performing the marriage cere-
mony. (Hear, hear.) -He was much obliged to the house for
the great attention with which it had favoured him. (Loud
cheering.) He was aware that he had taken up a subject
which many gentlemen in that house were much better qua-
lified to haudle than himself, but if the bill ielieved the con-
seiterrieus minister of the church from his objections to publish
the bans tar parties who were not to be married according to its
`forms, and if he removed the causes which prevented the dis-
senter from enjoying civil rights, without violating his religious
opinions, he was well paid for any trouble which the question
had thrown upon him. (Hear, hear.) With regard to members
of the Church of England, it was not his intention to propose
any alteration in the laws that affected them in this particular.
He believed that they were quite satisfied .with matters as they
stood (hear, hear), and lie proposes' to retain for them the ad-
vantage of a ceremony which conferred the same.civil rights as
the dissenters would now enjoy, without being obliged to go
through the ceremony, and superadded a religious sanction to
the civil contract. (Cheers.)
Mr. Wings expressed his unfeigned thanks to the right hon.
baronet for the attention he had paid to this subject at a mo-
ment when others in an immense variety- were pressing upon
him. Ile feared, however, that large bodies of dissenters would
be dissatisfied. The great point for which dissenters contended
was perfect civil equality. (Oh oh ! ) It would, he feared, be
to them a great and insuperable objection that they only were
restricted to this mode of entering, into the marriage obligation.
To the disseelers the provisions of the bill said " You may be I
married in a different manner from the rest of the community,"
and represented them as persons indifferent to religion. (Oh !
oh!) The hon. gentleman mil served that he feared objections
would be raised to clergymen becoming the registrars of these
marriages, and wished fur a general registration of births, mar-
riages,
and deaths. He thauked the right hon. gentleman for.
introducing this bill, and regretted that any differences should
exist between dissenters and the established church.
Lord Joan liUssaLL, after shortly referriug to the bills which
he had introduced on this subject, concluded by saying that with
respect to the measure before the house, whether objections
might be found in it by the dissenters, or whether it would give
satisfaction to them, he must say that it was conceived in a spirit
of liberality and justice Hear.)
Dr. LosniNdeoe wished to understand whether, when two
persons were married in the manlier proposed by the bill,
questicns as to their belonging to any sect of dissenters were
put to them before or subsequently to the performance of the
contract ?

Sir It. PEEL said that the form of oath to be taken by the
party ran thus:—" I, A. 8., do st.ear that I am not a member
of the united church of England and Ireland,—(hear, heat,)—