The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-07-25 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

sit
Bumv v. LlND.—Three tnousand five hundred pounds.
was paid into court on Tuesday in this celebrated action.:
BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE.—An action et
this kind was tried at Hertford on Monday. The plaintiff!
the daughter of a farmer, was of the age of 35 ; the de:
fendant, a cattle dealer, numbered 48 years. A criminal
connection was proved, a child having been born, and th
defence of the defendant, when the plaintiff's family de-
manded that he should marry her, was, that "his mother,
would not let him !" The promise was not denied, and
the jury gave £lOO damages,
THE LAW OF MARRIAGE.—The Commissioners
ap-
pointed " to inquire into the state and operation of t
law of marriage, as related to the prohibited degrees of
affinity, and to marriages solemnised abroad or in "
British colonies," .have made their re
men to whom this most responsible duty was entrusted,
port. The gentled'
were the Bishop of Lichfield, Mr. Stuart Wortley, (late
judge advocate), Dr. Lushington, Mr. Blake, Mr, Justice
Williams, and Mr. Rutherford, the present lord advocate;
The whole question, or at least material question fo
elucidation, arose out of the indictment, at the Liver'
pool assizes, of a person named Chadwick, living inl‘len;
chestor, for bigamy, he having married the sister of 111
deceased wife, and whilst she was yet living having lied
ried again. Mr. Justice Wightman, upon the trial, ~
that the marriage with the sister of the deceased
was within the prohibited degrees intended by Lord
Lyndhurst's act. This marriage was consequently detne
invalid, and the man was acquitted. The main quee stion!
then, to which the commissioners directed their attention!
was whether marriage with a deceased wife's sister
within the prohibited degrees of affinity ; and in connect'
tion with that subject, they endeavoured to ascertain, 5,
far as practicable, the effect of Lord Lyndhurst's act e`
1835. On the first of these topics, the commissioners sat
there is a great diversity of opinion ; that the prevelei!
feeling amongst the witnesses is against such marriage'
but that, judging from the evidence, they cannot enter;
tain a reasonable doubt that families of a religious an
moral character have, in instances where such connect'
tions have taken place among themselves or their friends'
been perfectly satisfied, upon a review of the whole ssu;
ject, that they are not objectionable either on religious
moral grounds. With regard to the act of 1835, the
commissioners state it was a wise amendment of the
former law, in o far ariait abolished the distinction betsreeo
void and wadable marrge ; they then state that in 101
a limited inquiry was instituted, at the instigationZ
expense of c.

mne private individuals, to ascertain to IV
extent to warrant an application to Parliament for, ad
alteration in the law. The inquiry was short, and limite
to a small portion of England alone; but it was al:
covered that 1384 marriages within the prohibited degrees
had been contracted since Lord Lyndhurst's act, of sv!'s.l„e,s
more than nine-tenths were with a deceased
_vc",;'„t

'ere discoverec

winch tn. -n
On a review "

had prevented an intended marriage.
the whole subject, the conclusion of the commissioner!,
is, that the act of 1835 has failed in its object; and the',
express a doubt whether any measure of a prohibitor!,
character would be effectual. Such marriages, tbeel
say, will take place, when a concurrence of circumstoto
give rise to mutual attachment. They are not depenu,kg
upon legislation ; and it is added that such attaebn'e';l
and marriages are not likely to be extensively incre/ii,
in number, because it is not the state of the law, probe
0 —too
bitory or permissive, which ever will effectually Or',
them. Among the witnesses examined before the
mittee were the Rev. J. Garbett (examining chaplaiorlpr,
the Bishop of Manchester), the Hon. and Rev. Mr. -`,7•3t
cival, Dr. Pusey, Dr. Wiseman, Dr. Cox (the baP'!,.
+ D r, T • •__l_ 1

..... deunimS, .tircnueacon
Archdeacon Hale, the Archbishop of Dublin, the c'
rabbi (Dr. Adler), Dr. Bunting, M. Bunsen, Mr. Cobae
o n

COURT AND FASHION.

On Wednesday, the Queen and Prince Albert hot
noured with their presence a fete at Fulham in suPoeo
of the baths and washhouses. Afterwards, at ,
o'clock, her Majesty held a court at Rockingham Palm. Caroline Grosvenor, fourth daughter of the 't"
be
quis and Marchioness of Westminster, is about t°.,h,
conducted to the hymeneal altar by the Hon. Mr. 1-4,e,,'7,1.
eldest son of Lord and Lady Leigh, of Stoneleigh
The Hon. Joseph Denman, Captain R.N., who silie
ceeds Sir Edward Codrington as Groom in Waiting t,°os
Queen, is the son of the Lord Chief Justice, and ~
rattly dist' 'uio' I,v th- -

_ ned ae destruction of the barn' „oil
on the coast of Africa, which led to the celebrated aclleir
against him by the slave dealers for alleged loss of tube
property, which, however, he proved he had ordered t
destroyed in discharge of his public duty.

POLITICAL MISCELLANY.

The John Bull says that -the Queen is very favear4;cl
to placing Lord Aberdeen as prime minister, at the I,
of a united party. Wee
The following members have been sworn as a commit foe
to try the merits of the petition against the late returw.
North Cheshire :—Lord Courtenay, Sir D. L. Evan-,
Mangles, Mr. S. Herbert, andßoldero. the
AN DIVISION.—In committee, on Friday, 011
sugar bill, Sir Robert Peel voted with Cardwell, Bentinei,,
D'lsraeli, Gladstone, Goulburn, Herries, Sir Geo. Cl but
Barkly, Miles, and Bankes, against the Government;
they made only twenty-eight amongst them to the seven'
three on the other side.
MR. GRANTLEY BERKELEY AGAIN.—This gentler:l
once more rushed into print, but we ha
v e inserted
plenty of his productions. There is one passage, hog'
ever, which we may give as a matter of news. It apPe_a,c`n
that some years ago Lord Fitzhardinge and Mr. Cras%,;,,,
Berkely were at variance, and at that time his l.
wrote a letter to Mr. Grantley Berkeley, in Tucihist,lifl
following passage occurs :—" For my nwn
have nothing more to do with Craven. Isis temp
puling
strange compound of the peevish caprice a
Zealand savage,
infancy and the morosity of a New social
prompts him on the spur of it to infract all ties,_
es.,_,
and political, and those of consanguinity without 110 lta
tion. And you may show this to whom you please.
Partemper, 3

M.5.1WW.....