The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-07-12
THE DEAD WIFE'S SISTER.
The Defeat of the Proposed Change
in the English Marriage Laws.
History of the Measure-Mr. Chamberlain's
Advocacy of the Bill and Its OPPOSE
ton by the Bishops.


LONDON, June OU.-LnG I6JGCllOu Wy tiO
House of Lords, on its third reading, of the
bill to legalize marriage with a deceased
wife's sister, after its second reading had been
sanctioned, is an event which, besides being
almost unprecedented in the legislative Gus
toms of the nation, strikes such a cruel blow
at so large a class of her Majesty's subjects
and presages such great changes in the
English constitution, that am sure people
in the United States will be glad to have an
explanation, both of the event Itself and of
its probable consequences. This bill has had
a strange history from the first. A measure
of a similar character has been passed by the
House of Commons seven different times.
and just as often has the upper chamber re-
jected it. In the present instance the pro-
posed legislation originated in the upper
chamber, and the second reading was con-
sented to a couple of weeks ago by a majority
of seven. A year before, by a majority of
three, the anne body had refused acqui-
essence in the measure. At the time of the
bills passage for second reading there was g
full house present, and the majority, though
small, was considered fair and decisive. The
OPpOucHGS VI JuG Dlll udQ lOuSub udIQ "
crush it, and, not being able to do
so, they were deeply mortified; but that
they would show such an utter disregard of
all precedents as to continue the conflict and
seek to snatch a victory at any future stage
of the bills progress, was not expected at
first by any one, not even by those gentle
men themselves. This surprise movement
uuoo auilaDflu on f&ar-fh01oh ard ~ io In
t~eresting to note what gave rise to it. Con-
temporary with the second reading of this
.4 bill in the Lords a great demonstration was
held at Birmingham in honor of John
Bright. The speeches made on that occasion,
of which my letters have already appraised
your readers, will be long remembered and
promise to have a very wide influence, A
peculiar interest is given to what Mr.. Bright
said, by the fact of his having since been
ha uled over the Goals for it in the House of
Commons, and his addresses then made
possess the additional and very sad interest
Of being in the nature of a valedietory, for
he has just announced that he must leave
the platform hereafter to younger men. But
If Mr.. Bright was the setting sun at that
great demonstration, there was also a rising
luminary present, and the beams of light
shot forth by this new erb have penetrated
further and have produced greater results, so
far, than those reflected by the one now sink
ing in eventide glory toward the hori-
zon. Mr.. Bright referred almost wholly
on that occasion to the past, but
Mr.. Chamberlain ho%roscoped the future.
He announced the programme of the ad-
vanced liberalism of the day, the cardinal
features of which were manhood suffrage and
the disestablishment of the church.
AN AFFRoNT TO THE ~HIGH-cHURcH PARTY.
incidentally, too, Mr.. Chamberlain cast some
reflections on royalty. Now, this bold man
is one of the most influential member of
Mr.. Gladstone's cabinet, and is admitted by
even his worst enemies to be in the line OF
. speedy succession to the premiership. For
an ordinary member of Parliament to have
spoken in such a strain would have been
bad enough, but for a man of commanding
influence, and who in a sense represented
the government, to so speak, was simply intol-
cradle, and the high church party resolved
to have revenge. What specially ranked in
their breasts was the threatened revolu ton
of disestablishment. In many ways latterly
~ has the influence of the church been under
mined, and here, thought they, in this new
marriage law is another wedge of separation.
To reach this conclusion was the easiest
thing Imaginable from their standpoint. for
in 1.-The first place this bill is favored by all
.dissenters, and all dissenters, as a \ matter of
ii course, favor the severance of church and
state. Then, the principle of the bill COR
/. travenes the stipulations. of the Book of
Common Prayer, and anything that detracts
from the authority OF that oracle lessons by
so nlQCh the mower of the ppclppiaStipiSm If
represents. Besides, there was a
provision in the bill which
gave dissenting ministers an apparent
advantage over the clergy in the celebration
under certain circumstances of the marriage
To be sure this was "a conscience
clause inserted for the special relief of said
clergy, and was a clause, too, which, had the
representatives of the church been willing,
would have been gladly dispensed with by
the supporters of the bill; but they were not
willing-neither content to have it taken out
nor satisfied while it remained in. How
could they be, in the nature of things? After
having fought for dear life for every inch of
privilege that the legislature has compelled
them to share from time to time with their
non-conformist brethren, was it to be ex-
pected they would consent willingly to yield
to the latter anything looking like a palm of
official superiority? Could those who so long
barred the chapel minister from the church
graveyard, and cruelty usurped from him
the sad comfort OF uttering the final prayer
over the dead of his own flock, and who for
so many years kept from him the privilege
of marrying his own people, and allow him
to perform that ceremony even now only
when a registrar is present to see that no
wong is done-could such as these be rea-
sonably looked to for concessions such as
this new marriage law contemplated, which
would place the chapel ahead OF the church
in certain cases, and give the minister what
might, at least, seem like a superior legal
right over the parson to celebrate a partic-
ular class of marriages. This was certainly
not to be expected, and it was very
easy for the church party to persuade
themselves that this was another point al
which the bill menaced the dignity and
security of the establishment. Hence,
touched to the quick by the Birmingham