The Statesman.
London, England, 1822-07-13 00:00:00

told that he might appeal, bet be was already 'boll)
raises' and meld sot avail himself of this means of bet-
tering himself, which bad he only been half reified by
the decision, would have served to complete hill ruin.—
tie feared there wet nothhtg in this gentlemaa's cam is
whielsihe hoists could most him ; bat they safest do
some good if they complied with one ',art n( his pray. r
This was, that they would revive the practice of the
Court of Chancery, and shorten the duration of suits.
If Honourable Members would apply themselves to this,
instead of getting up ose after another, those who were.
and those who were not connected with that Court—to
pass labonred rulogiums epos the Judge who hap-
pened to preside over it at the time, sinus good might
he done.
The Petition was then read and ordered to be printed.
MARILIAGC ACT AMINDICENT BILL. _

On the Order of the Bey for the consideration of the
Lords' Amendment to the Marriage Act Amendment Bill
being read.
Dr. PHI WA MORE congratulated the house upon the
successful result of their perseverance in this cause.
which the present stage of this Bill presented. This
was the fourth Bill that had been sent up to the other
house. It hail at length received considerable attention
.adequate to the importance of the subject, and be mast
say, that the Lords, with the usual zeal of converts, had
carried their concurrence with them much farther than
he expected. That house had previously distinctly de-
clared, that there never should be a nullity of marriage.
But in the present Dill they hail passed over unnoticed
the clause to that effect; and in point of feet, had only
expunged one clause, substituting in its place eight
others, and these were the amendments they had to cow-
Rider. They had also given more extended operettas so
the retrospective clause, carrying it bark to apply to
marriages of a more ancient date. Bet in all that the
Lords had done in this respect, notwithstanding what
they had heard that night, be was prepared to contend
that they had most scrupulously respected the sacred
rights of property. The lion. Gentleman entered into
an examination of the different amendments. He re-
plied to the objections made to the retrospectiveoperatio•
of the Bill, and 'hewed that former acts on the subject
of marriage, had in the same way been made re-
trospective.. He moved that the amendments should
be read a second time.
Dr. LUSHINGTON thought it would be almost no-
exampled conduct, if the boase should at once agree
with what were called the Lords' amendments, which
left scarcely 20 lines of the former Bill, and supplied
ten pages of their own. He believed no man wba bad
read the Bill conlil say that he understood the whole of
it. His Learned Friend bad admitted that there was
some obscurity in one of the clauses, and of the meet im-
portant clauses too, as be (Dr. Lashington) would con-
tend. Was it then fitting that a Bill should ws, of
which every syllable ought to be well understood, which
was thus defective ? He thought it objectionable, as it
went to establish different marriage systems in Ragland
and Ireland. No man could be more willing than he
was to bind down with iron fetters the man who would
effect a marriage by means of a false oath, and after-
wards take advantage of his own perjury to break it.
lint he contended that girls and boys, who might be
drawn into marriages, under great disparity of means-
stances, and who were incapable of judging for them-
selves, were entitled to protection from the law. He
stated several cases in which the operation of the Bill
Mould be injnrious. and could have been provided with
many morons., had he thought his Listened Friend re-
quired to be informed of thew. it was necessary to con-
sider how this measure would affect contingent rights.
He was at this moment a trustee, with five or six other
individuals, to a property amounting to six or seven
hundred thousand pounds. which had bees acquired In
the following manner:—Money had been lent_ twenty,
four years ago on a reversion then eatumbered col h two'
lives. By this bill, a null and void marriage if 'M. hoit
taken place, might have been made the means of de-
priving the claimants of their property, tail of xivilg it
to those who could never have been considered entitled
to it. In commenting on the penalties incurred by the
Surrogate if all the forms prescribed in this bill were
not exactly complied with, he having the honour to be
Surrogate to the Lord Bishop of London, gave his
friends notice that they would all be likely to remain
bachelors for him, for be. under such enactments, should
he disposed to grant no licence.—(A laugh.)—A certain
Noble Lady, it had been rumoured, bad had a great hand
in framing this bill. He protested he believed the re-
port, for ft seemed to him to po much greater indi-
cations of having emanated from a femioloe rather than
a masculine understanding. The provision for making
marriages valid that had been celebrated under false
names (by which parents and guardians were precluded
'from interference) lie thought highly objectionable.
Far tram thinking that this bill ought to pass because
lit remedied one evil, and left a variety of ends to be at-
tended to ata future period, be would call on the house
to abide by the ancient law, and resist all innovations.
He would say, that no bill ought to pass to alter the law
of the land with respect to marriages which that house
amid not declare on its honour and its conscience that
It fully understood, and had considered with a view to
all the consequences to which it must tend. He moved
uan amendment, "That the amendments should be
read a third time on that day six months."
Mr. PLUNKETT thought if they were not to pass
any bill, without first being sure of their understanding
every syllable or sentence that it contained, the number
of statutes annually passed would be diminished. Not
professing to understand every sentence, syllable, and
iota of this measure, he was nevertheless fully convinced
that it would do great and effectual good. It would do
away with much injustice and cruelty, and if its opera-
tion was to be complained of in ion)e instances, the be-
nefits it would confer were beyond all calculation, while
the evils growing out of it were capable of being easily
cured. The Learned Gentleman had put the question
to an unfair issue. He had called on the house to abide
by the ancient law of the land, and resist innovation=
lint be (Mr. Plunkett) would call on the Image to. return
to the ancient law of the land, and cure the innovations
which had already taken place. What was good in the
Marriage Art would not be touched, but its object would
no longer be defeated br the oath of the party against
whose offending it was meant to guard, and who, carried
away by headstrong passion, might be disposed mistreat'
to Whit was not true. The consent of parents or guar-
dians was not to he required, and that verified by the af-
fi•las its of third persons. The clause of nullity was got
rid of which bad heretofore injured those it was meant
to protect. Its effect was such, that it could make the
oangliter of s noble family a concubine, bastardize her
issue, and put it out of the power of all her friends to re-
move the incurable stain. This monstrous and merci-
less enactment was now disposed of, and comparing the
evil which might grow out of the present measure with
the misery which it would slit., be thong ht the house
would not hesitate in declaring fur its adoption. It was
said to be against the practice of legislation to give this
bill a retrospective operation. He denied that such was
the fact; for to give a moisture a retrospective action
was a regular and an established course. This he in-
stanced is the Acts respecting Popery. If other prece-
dents were asked for he would refer to the bills of Lord
Hertford and Bishop Horsley, which had been mention-
ed by his Learned Friend who bad entitled himself to
the gratitude of his country by the introduction of this
bill. He also mentioned the Ilith oft:bade& 11., 'Webbed
legalized all marriages which bad been celebrated be-
tween the years 1642 and 1660. Wbea the *Simonete
circumstances arose between the Kittle sad the Par-
liament, which led to a revolution, levy marriage.

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