The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-02-01 00:00:00

THE MARRIAGE QUESTION,

(From an Irish Paper.)
The Rev. Alexander Henderson, an influential Presbyte-
rian minister, has just published a very able letter in reference
to the recent judicial decision on the subject of marriages
celebrated between Presbyterians and members of the estab-
lished Church, by clergymen of each persuasion. The rev,
gentleman clearly proves that the judgement pronounced in
Dublin cannot by any means weaken the bonds of the marri-
age contract between any parties in the position to which the
decision appiies. Having expressed his regret—one shared
in by the whole community—that the judges did not deem it
necessary in a matter of such consequence to furnish the
public with the reasons which guided them to the deliberate
conclusion at which their minds arrived, Mr. Henderson
proceeds to detail some interesting cases in which the " glori-
ous uncertainty of the law "is made very manifest. "It is
now more than eight years (says the rev. gentleman) since I
was constrained to prosecute a man at Carricktergus Assizes
for bigamy. He was married by me to the daughter of a
member of the Lisburn congregation. It shortly afterwards
appeared that he had been married previously to another
woman, by a brother minister. Considerable exertion had
to be made to bring the offender to justice, but finally he was
he was sent to prison and brought to trial. When the evi-
dence for the prosecution was closed, the prisoner's counsel
Mr. Scriven, called witnesses to attest that he was of the
Established Church. Whereupon the following dialogue
took place :
" Judge Moore.—For what purpose do you call these wit-
nesses, Mr. Scriven ?
" Counsel.—l want to prove, my lord, that the prisoner
is a membet of the Established Church, and therefore that
the marriage, being by a Presbyterian minister, is invalid.
" Judge.—You know very well that is nothing. The sta-
tute you have in your mind refers to any pretendd marriage
between a Protestant and a Catholic by a priest. In this case
on trial the marriage is perfectly valid.
" To this exposition of the law the bar assented—some of
the barristers expressing their sentiments in support of his
Lordship's views. The Judge immediately directed the jury
to convict, and they, without leaving the box, returned their
verdict—
" Nearly 3(1 years ago, as I learnt about the time in which
I was engaged in the prosecution just alluded to, the Rev.
Dr. Black, then Minister of Derry, married an English offi-
cer, an Episcopalian, to lady of the Derry congregation. Sub-
sequently the officer remarried in England. He was tried for
the offence—Dr. Black being summoned as a witness—was
found guilty, mid transported. What is more, the highest
property court in England settled his daughter, by his Derry
wife, in full enjoyment of her father's estate. Now, this
was a decision by English courts of law. Had there been re-
cognisable doubts in England, these would reasonably have
had far snore weight than in Ireland. Yet, even the Lord
Chancellor of England not only admitted, but confirmed, in
the most cogent way in his official dignity, the validity of the
mattiage by Dr. Black, a Presbyterian minister.
" I have now before me the published history of another
case of marriage, which occurred fn Newry in 1792, The
parties were an English officer, another Episcopalian, and a
respectable young female, a Presbyterian, of Rathfriland.
They were married by a Mr. Reynolds, a degraded minister,
residing in Newry. The officer was obliged to march from
Rathfriland, leaving his wife there ; his regiment being fre-
quently on the move, he was not long stationary in any place,
and hence did not ask her to accompany him, but he main-
tained a constant correspondence with her by letter. Finally,
however, he contrived to banish her from his thoughts as his
wife, and stopped his correspondence. In the course of time
she and her sister visited him in England, having found him
at York. He was indignant at her intrusion, and sought to
overawe her into silence. She cast herself upon the kindness
of an estimable lady, (Mrs. Cappe, from whose memoirs I
quote,) who interfered vigorously in her behalf. By her funds
were raised to take the affair into a court of justice. A series
of doubts and delays had to be encountered. At length, the
benevolent woman considered it most prudent to send home
to Ireland the deserted wife, having first bestowed on her
the fund she had raised for the vindication even of her claim.
She concludes the narrative in these terms :

" In the following year, Sir---Cawreice Parsons being in
York, I stated to him the particulars. He had the goodness
to state the case to his brother, who told him, in reply, that
the statute which created the doubt in the minds of the two
civilians relates principally to the case of minors and papists,
and is, therefore, in his opinion, irrelevant to the present
case. He adds, 'I am confident there is no law here pro-
hibiting such marriage, and the case may be considered as if
the marriage had been in England, before statute 26 George
ll.' Unfortunately, I did not receive this opinion till near
the close of the year 1800. The money had long been trans-
mitted to Ireland, and the officer had quitted the regiment
and been sent abroad.' "

THE TRIBE OF WILLIAms.—In theßail Court last week
3r.' counsel, applied to Mr. Justice Williams,
on 11 a prOriaiinlltomf Williams,s,
practice in the case of Williams v. Williams,
:d grounded
his application on the affidavit of a witness
named Williams. _
a

MANCHESTER FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL.—Honours fall
thick and fast upon this ancient seminary. Dr. Gilbert, the
new Bishop of Chichester, received his education there; and
Messrs. Simpson and Mayor. of St. John's College, Cam-
bridge, who stand second and third wranglers respectively,
in the list put 'brill by that university, received their edu-
cation in the same school,„