Court Of Chancery, Thursd...
The Times, 1824-04-09T00:00:00

- ---La W-TEPORT:. - ; I-, C EALD said thiat this petition prayed (after tdlvne matters Of COttise) that ic. bc trefered -td th e Bltaster to inquire whethef' '3tinrlotte Rileys fWely talirig hereifP Sauinarez be the wifreof.the bliataie, R6d tocertrtify whether it be fit and -proer, ad. fo tlie b&' lbefit oNthn ituhatic, to-intitute proteedizgs ini the Inutt ofthe Deati -aaa hapter of St. PaulPs, to procufe sentence of nullity of the lti'a- niage. -It 'appeared -the ,eiratead -ounsel sid trdnt the ididavits, that-this ivowanan haa been main-ed tq twti hosoandi, who were both living at present; that she le besidingrhaeoueof ill.fame at Blanchester at the:tjme tisht she married fhe lunitic, that sewas subsequently.indiete,d for bigamy; she having bcen previously nar- nted-to a labouring man named Riley, ncar Dundalkjin Ireland, fit was acquittedin consequedee oF a misdireceion on-the part f tEe learnd judge wvho presided, his- Lordship having proeounce the. gIrsh vsarniag-e illegal, because it was celcbrated in u paivatehduse. T_i Idecision; hoevvcvr. was erroneous, and So7 conside'red - he'sn- derswoel, by the learned judgchirself uipon-refcdction. U ider th'ese Circumstances, he argued that the prayc-: of thc petition was qui:e A 0SNT iTLEmAl?, wlhose name we did not know, fol]'wved on the' sahe sida c A'r. Abit opposedtbe petitioGn and said tat 1r. Eeald's state- wient Wvas quite inacdurate. The indicttnient for bigamy wastried before one of the most inteligent judges iu England, Mr. Justice Bayley, who-dedaed, that t mrarriage in Ireland must be celebrated in a canonical place; abda-he prlivate hlouse of the clergyman, where the mrar iae vas soekmnized, not being a crnonical-place, the mar- riage with Riley was void. He contended, that the Ecclesiastical Court haid no power to invalidate ilic- present mmarriage, after the fact of afornmer'-marriage had-b&en negadved by ajudge and jury; not only that, but if they Were proceeding to take co'ngizance of it, this Court would Lssue a.prohibition'to restrain lthem froit so doing, Mtir. PAnXYlt followed, agauist the petition - The l,oRiD {SiA-NC'ELLOJt' s'aid, the first-qoiitstion.' tbconSider- ra.-Ought the C-ourt in any instante to Tefer it to -the MsttTr to say whether it wasfor the benefit ofthe lunatic. to institute proceed- ings in the rcclesiastical Courts ? Now, thcCourt was inthe'on_ stant habit of naking such refetences. His Lordship agteed viih, con selt that mlitters of law.ought not to be ieferred'to the Mlaster. The retcerehae here prayed for2 however, embraced two questions-' namely, whether the EcclesiasstcalCourts hadthbpowerofinvaidait` igithis marriag'; and whether, uiderall circumstancesofjhe case, regard being paid -to the extent of th -lunatic's Iroperty; it would be worth his while .to incur the expense of instituting such proccedinga. le (the-Lord Chancellor) was clearly of opinion thmt the Eccesiastical Court had fillpower to no- nounce uLpon the validity or the marriage, notwithstanding the trial for bigamy; and he remembered a case in 'fhicl they had exercised sueh a power, where a man vwas convicted'of bigamy. Thl' is nan, havine married in England; wentinto'Scot. land, and had tliemarniage dissolved there. He then returned-to-i England; andimarried another-woman. He wasconvicted, and his conviction confitme l by the twelve judges, wlvo decided that'the mirriage could only- be dissolved by the laws of that country in which it had been soleinized. In the present csct, he knew that 31r. 3Justice Baylcy was aftetwards of opinion that his decisioni ias wrong, a marriage inna private house being good, by tbe law of Ire.c lar,d, although it. iendered the clergvmar liable to ecclesiaitical ceh- snre. However, aS the proceedin'gs in the Ecclesiastical Court would bec attended -ith considerablc cxpcnsc,-'cie (the LOrd Chancellor) would first endeavour to ascertain positively whether the Irish siar. riage was Lawful or not;w add he would then let counsel know the re. salt of -his researichcs.- COURT OF ClIANCRRV ' tis:niit A 4. vALTdll< OFIRS MT1,RAGA-:EX.1 slfn}AlT , IN .. ,, ,_ 'Tl}E .31TTEIi,01f . AU2'AAlLEg".k R'il-ATTC. '''