Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-11-24
''sfORGANATEcf' MARRIAGE OF

Only . few days ago reports came from
Europe that Victor Emmanuel, King of
Italy, was lying at the point of death, and
some of our enterprising newspapers made
haste 10 publish quite extended biograpi-
cal sketches of the life of the dying King.
The'next intelligence we have from Victor
Emmanuel, and following quite closely
upon the heels of the report that he was
dying, is that he has contracted 'mor-
ganatIe'l marriage with an italian lady of
no rank or position This ''morganatic"
marriage took place, it seems, during his
late illness, and as that is not time men
usually choose for getting married, it is
thought to be case of ''deathLbed repent
ence.n Such tardy amendment, The Phil
ade,phia Age says, is not uncommon
among kings, as well as among men of
| lower degree. Louis the XIV. was once
stabbed by an assassin and one of his
first thoughts was to send away Madame
de Pompadour But as soon as the wound
was pronounced to be slight, he sent for
her to come back again, and she never
forgave those who had caused her dis
missal. Nor was this the last scene of
the kind. When death did at last over
take the old King, it found him unre-
claimed from his old vices. Madame de
Pompadour had long before received the
mandate that is never recalled; but sue
cessor reigned in her stead, over the King
and his court. Indeed Madame DuBar-
~, though not Queen, was the actual SOW
ereign of France And now in his last
illness, as his condition grew critical
there was whispered debate outside his
chamber door whether the voice of re-
ligion should warn the dying man of his
danger and summon him TO repentance.
What was to hinder it9 The hindraDce
| lay in this: that the first act of the King
would be the dismissal of the DuBany;
and her creatures swarned in all the ante
chambers and even around the death-bed
of the King, and they grudged day, an
hours abridgment of her reign. The
contention lasted till there was no color
for fiattery or concealment, and the mis-
tress hardly tore herself away before
the king of terrors entered. 1t is this
sort of moral reform that is expressed in
the couplet:
when the Devil was sick, the devil monk wouId
when the Devil got wen, the devil monk was
| he.'
But they manage these matters differ
emily in Germany, and the fashion seems
to have spread to Italy. A morganatic
marriage is a left-handed marriage, by
by which a Prince in Germany may es-
pouse a person of lower degree, without
sharing with her his dignity, or transmit
ting it TO their offspring We do not re-
member to have heard Of this form as a
cloak for polygamy, though Martin Luther
advised the Prince of Hesse that he might
marry more wives than one. Victor En-
manuel is a widowcr, and he, therefore, is
free TO marry in any fashion allowed by
the laws of his country. Should he try
to marry again, the question will come up,
whether the morganatic marriage is not
complete enough TO bar another union.
1t is in this country. 4 case has just oc-
| CURED in New York, and excited
| great deal of attention. A Mr.. Bissell,
who thought himself, no doubt, per
son of high consequence, contracted
what he intended as only ''moTganatic'
marriage with domestic in his brothers
family. He omitted the marriage cere-
mony; but to the young woman and her
friends he declared himself to be her hus-
band. When he got tired of her, he
married another woman, in what he
deemed the regular, binding fashion.
But 20 his surprise, and to the surprise,
it seems, Of the New York community,
| American law takes different view of
the matter. The first has been declared
to be true marriage; the second is the
the nullity, which is just what Mr. Bis
sell did not intend 1t thus appears that
morganatic marriages are not allowed in
New York. There and elsewhere in
America it must be a full marriage or no
marriage at all; and it may sometimes
happen that he who holds himself out TO
the world as married may Ike Mr.. Bissell
be taken at his word, to a fuller extent
| than he really intended