Evening star., 1907-08-27
LIFTS THE MARRIAGE BAN
ENGLISHMAN MAY NOW MARRY
DECEASED wIFE's SISTER.
Long Struggle to Pass the Bill
Through Parliament-Its Re-
markable History.

LONDON, August 27.-Marriage with a
deceased wife's sister has finally become
legalized in Great Britain, the house OF
lords last evening having, by 9S to "a
votes, passed the bill sanctioning such
unions.
The history Of this bill dates back to
the reign of Henry VIII, who forbade a
man to marry the sister of his deceased
wife. The law then passed was later con-
strued to mean that such a marriage might
be invalidated, but in 1896 such a union
was made not only voidable, but void in
fact. This was Lord Lyndhurst's act, un-
der which previous marriages Of the kind
were declared legal, but later ones illegal.
At the time the understanding was that
the prohibition should be removed at the
next session Of parliament. Nevertheless.
expectations in this respect were not real
ized and time after time the commons or
lords refused to interfere.
A Stubborn Fight.
In 1s41 Lord Thornclifre endeavored to
have the lords repeal the act, and the
next year the commons defeated a similar
Dill by narrow margin. In 1Si7 royal
commission was appointed to examine the
marriage laws. and the result was another
bill. introduced in the commons in 1s49 by
second reading, but did not reach its final
stages. Next year it was passed. In 1851
Lord st. Germans introduced the bill in
the lords, but 1t was again defeated In
1855 the commons again assented to the
bill. but the lords remained obdurate Since
then the measure has been pressed in va
RED RED form score Of times, but always the
lords has thrown 1t out. Sometimes, too,
the commons dissented, but usually APP
proved. There was no change in the lords.
even in 1879, when King Edward, then
n nf oil {r,xr Al
that historic occasion the vote was 101
against 81.
Law in Canada.
Until 1882 the law in Canada was as the
In England previous to the act of 1895;
but In 1880 Mr.. Desire Girouard (now Mr..
Justice, and father Of Sir Percy Girouard)
introduced measure to make marriage
legal with the deceased wife's sister. It
Victoria. and eloquently argued by them
both. The opposition to the measure was
based primarily on scriptural grounds, it
being held that Leviticus. xviii:1s, and xx:21,
tho.ity, however. declared the interpreta-
ton put upon these passages to be far
fetched and unreasonable. The fact that
the Church OF England prayer book forbade
the marriage was held to be due to to an
imperfect translation from the original
Hebrew. 1t was shown that the Jews
never construed the verses to prohibit the
marriages. In short, the case was made
conclusive on the grounds of scriptural in
depreciation.
Principal Objections.
The objections founded on social grounds
appear to have been more formidable If
less concrete. Nobody was able to arise
and plainly state them, but there We're
many vague and mournful illusions to the
deplorable social conditions that would re-
suit in families where q mans sister-in-la law
was domiciled and his wife living After
all. the chief difficulty was found In the
fact that the Roman Catholic Church dis
approved Of the marriages. and that the
Church of England forbade them The
house hesitated to take step that might
be construed as an affront to either Of these
bodies. Difficulty was also encountered in
the marriage laws of Nova Scotia, which
existed by an imperial act and which it
was not in the power of the dominion gov
ernment to amend. Finally after great
tribulation, the bill worked its way
through the house and into the statutes of
the country in 1882. That there has been
any harm done as result there IS no evil
dence to show. With the passage of the
law in Great Britain the principle that
marriage with a deceased wife's sister is
right will be recognized in England as re-
CARDS such unions effected in British DOS
sessions which have removed the prohibi-
ton.