New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-07-01
MARRIAGE IN ENGLAND.
~sppcrA,,,y WITH A DECEASED wIFE's
SISTER.

FBoM TIE Al"oAA" LONDON, June II.
have never had q Deceased Wlies ois'er
..t;on in America. and you can perhapsharoiS
,,aciafe the passionate interest ne4ci'oS n''''
80 IN ENGLAND one finds 1t difficult to give a COLL
late account of the extreme bitterness Oh inc oppo
st,ou 70 a measure for lcgalizng marriages pe'"eio
-, ana woman who bears to him what 'e'
80 al huf a posthumous relationship. III you
had zone down 10 the House of Lords yes'ei"ss
aft,rnoon. when Lord Dalhousie was W nio'o .no
second reading of the bill, You wouo'nas
rad benches for once quite full the ganery iu INC
,nd,ng room and seats ut the entrance quite iuii'
's" - s.,, nd scores of people occupying the
,.. ~ the corridor where those who nave lick
- e. A.. gallery bnt have failed in the ballot are
o.rra,tted 70 wait Perhaps if YOU had scrutiniEed
,tt,e the character and composition of TINS throrg
botb inside and outside. the secret oil the situation
might presently have disclosed rtsef 10 you. III
90. th.re was a great muster of Bshops-twenty
Rishopa and two Archblshups sat IN group;
c,errynen crowded the gallery, and outside. clergy
men again were among the walters on frovidenee
and the ballot-box. his BILL IN word, a Dill
bch has reused tho fercest ecclesiastical hostility
Th.re ,sa Marriage Law Reform Association and
M.yr;arc Law Defence Association, aud two-thirds
f the country parsons England are active agents
~ the latter They it is who have whipped up tho
agitation against the bill. The Book OF ieviticus
is their srrnvry and oil the forces of bigotry are on
tb,ir sids Where the impetus IN favor OF the
measure comes from, 1t were harder TO say its
enemies. will tell you that few rich men nave
found the money and kept the movement awe
from purely personal motives But that's oo'i
onsly sn inadequate account. What makeS the
Prince of Wales in favor of it-lhe Prince and his
brotberss There used 20 be a foolish story that IL
wa. because the Princess Beatrice wanted to marry
Prince Louis of Hesse but that particular piece oil
scandal ia no longer current. The Princess Bea-
triee II is now understood. is not going 10 marry
ANYBODY Thoro is no popular demand for the DILL
CIV the clergy, and strong moral iee1hg against
it. which you ought TO respect. The petitions tel
different story If / recOllect my figures rightly,
the scnatures in opposition to the Dill number
$4,000. The signatures in favor obtained IN
SINGLE Scotch town exceed that number. Inc
H.nse Of Commons has repeatedly passed the bill
by large majorties In the present House, at least
400 members are pledged to support 1t. II You
read the arguments on the other side you will find
whxt is on the whole the most important one
couched in the future tense. The possibility OF
mans marrying his deceased wifes SISTER will, 1t IS
foretold, upset the existing social system. heard
a man declare with tears in lis eyes that he would
cheerfuly lay down his life to defeat the I'LL =
though this was after 1t had passed the Lords'
Sach extreme vebemence of feeling take TO be
only ono more manifestation Of ecclesiastical leei-
ing. The Church we'll knows il cannot now afford
TO be beaten point where 1t has made great
effort.
Beatsn it is. however Lord Dalhousie has con-
ducted MS campaign with energy and singular
GOOD sense and ability. Anything may be pre-
dicted of the political future OF a man who can
muster such force OF Peers as put in an appear
ance on this sunny June afternoon. and who can
keep them there while the sun goes down and tho
diunrr-hour approaches ard their soup is getting
cold Seldom has such whip been out in the
Lords on either side. and still moro seldom has 1t
been SD well responded TO. The enemy was as
usual quite confident. He won by three votes last
year and was told on Sunday afternoon by a
friend in the confidence of that side that they were
certain of doubling their majority this year
Lord Dalhousie lad 10 promises and he brought
1875 men to the scratch a piece of management in
which much moro veteran politician might take
pride. He even sacrificed his speech tc the diVls-
ion. Nobody knows what might have happened II
the debate had been prolonged past the dinner
hour Tie Lords meet at quarter past 4. They
commonly adjourn by 6, often much earlier IL is
the height OF the season and everybody has an en-
gagement. The solidest phaiaux Will melt away as
8 o'clock draws nigh. Lord Dalhousie ran the risk
of offending the susceptbities of the august body
10 which he belongs. So seldom is it that they
NIGH seem irreyerent for the Of such meas
ure not to debate it at length. Lord Cairns. who
made the chief speech in opposition, did IN fact
declare himself much offended that Lord Dalhousie
should have been brief. Why, cried the Tory
Earl did he not answer last year. speech OF the
Bishop of Peterborough The naivet1 of the ques
tiou marks the difference between the stirring life
OF the Commoos and the sluggish movement OF
events in The Lords. II would be difficult 10 con-
eeive of a House of Commons leader reproschng
his opponent for not de1lIng with speech yeai
Old. But IL Lord Cairns's question required an
answer the answer was supplied by the division.
Lord DalhousIe compressed his opening remarks
which clear. pointed and effective, into ten
minutes and he wholly gave I'D his right Of reply.
but no carried the second reading by l65 to 15S.
Few questions in modern times have beon deter
mined by so large vote in the House OF Lords.
The United States have given the Tory side some
trouble this many other matters. say the
Tory side. for although This was not division on
party lines, the werd will not prove misleading.
The minority composed chiefly of CoDserva-
tives The Lord Chancellor and other Liberals
voted against the BILL but the Lord Chancellor is a
politician who holds his Liberalism in strict sub
B-rvence to the dictates of ecclesiastical or theo-
logical conviction. The American Episcopal clergy
man who wrOts-if indeed clergyman ever did
whitehall letter in The Church Quarterly Rerie,c
which have before referred 10. Is the friend
the Deceased Wife's Sister had. II was this
letter and its appalling account of Of the horrors
that had spruog up in Amcrics because cf mar
riages with this interesting female which led Lord
Dalhousle to write to the Governors of all the
States and TO other leading personages asking them
whether they knew of the existence OF such
dreadful state OF things. One and all they an
swered No. their testimony has been published
here. widely circulated a pamphlet, and widely
commented on In the Liberal press. Lord Dali
honsie gave an interesting summary of il, which |
quote:
have endeavored to obtain from the most emin-
ent men of all classes in America some eyidenca as