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epeoies, are, or from time to time may thereafter be,
aflsigned by the law of matrimony. " (I. Mar. and Div.
Sec. 11.)
The municipal law deals with this status only as a civil institution. Though sometimes spoken of as a contract, marriage in the eyes of the municipal law is not a contract strictly speaking, but is a status resulting from the contract to marry. Justice Story speaks of it as *' an institution of society founded upon the consent and contract of the parties *'. (Story, " Ckmfl. Laws '*, Sec. 108. Note.) All competent persons may intermarry, and marriage being presumed to be for the interest of the State and of the highest public in- terest, is encouraged. It is held to be a union for life. The law does not permit it to be a subject of experi- mental or temporary arrangement, but a fixed and permanent status to be 'dissolved only by death, or, where statutes permit, by divorce. In England the solemnization of a marriage was required to be before a clergyman until the statute passed in 1836, and all other marriages excepting those of Quakers and Jews, were null. By that act civil marriages and those of dissenters from the Church of England are legalized and regulated. In order to constitute a valid mar- riage there must be a consent of the parties, and in some of the states of the Union no formality is neces- earv.
By the conmion law the age at which minors were capable of marrying, known as the age of consent, was fised at fourteen years for males and twelve years for females. Marriages under the age of seven years for both were void, but between seven and the age of con- sent the parties could contract an imperfect marriage, which was voidable but not necessarily void. The marriage of parties who had attained the age of consent was valid even though they lacked parental con- sent, until in England the marriage act of 1753 declared such mama^es void. This act, however, has never been the law m the United States. In England imder the statute of 32 Henry VIII, c. 38, all mar- riages were made lawful between parties not within the Levitical degrees of relationship; this was interpreted to mean all marriages excepting those between rela- tives in the direct line and in the collateral line to the third degree, according to the rules of the Civil Law, hicluding both the whole and the half blood. In the United States, in the absence of statutes to the con- trary, marriages are unlawful only in the direct as- cending and descending line of consanguinity and between brothers and sisters. In most, if not all, of the States, however, there are statutes covering this sub- ject, and in a number of them marriages between first cousins are forbidden. Marriages that arc made with- out formalities, but by the mere consent of the parties, are known as common law marriages. In order to make such marriages effective, there must be a present intention to make the contract and it must be ex- pressed accordinglv, — in other words, "per verba de prsesenti". Words expressing a future intention do not give the necessary consent, but when words are usedwith the future intention apparently, followed by consummation, or, as it is said, *'per verba de futuro cum copula", a marriage is constituted, the future promise having been converted by action into an ac- tual marriage. Marriages contracted without con- forming to statutory regulations are valid in a number of states and not in others. Formal solemnization is imnecessary. Where no penalty for disobedience of statutory formalities is provided, their omi&^sion does not invalidate the marriage.
The requirement of a license to marry was first brought into EIngland by Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act of 1753. It is not part of the common law of the United States, but very generally licenses are required in the states, though not to the extent of making mar- riages invalid where they have not been granted. The Society of Friends or Quakers is excepted from the
requirement in some of the states, and in othen tin
parties may have recourse to the publication of baoni
mstead of securing a License. Parental ocnseDtii
required in almost all of the states, the aj^ for make
bemg from sixteen to twenty-one and for females froo
eighteen to twenty-one. In nearly all of the states,
if either of the parties has been continuously abGcnt
for a number of years and has not been known to be
living during that time, the other party may contnct
a new marriage. The general doctrine of the law oi
the subject of foreign marriages is that a marriap
valid where celebrated is valid everywhere. Excep-
tions are made in a number of states where citiKDS go
to another jurisdiction in order to evade the laws of
the home domicile. In some of the states marriaga
between persons of different races are made void. If
either of the parties is not of sound mind at the time of
entering into the marriage, it is void unless oonfinuBd
when sanitv is regained. Where a physical incapac-
ity exists the marriage may be made void on the ap-
plication of the other party who was ignorant of toe
fact. Under the common Jaw a marriase can be an-
nulled for mistake as to identity or fraud. There aic
certain kinds of fraud where an ordinary contrad
would be declared void, which do not a£fect a marriace
contract because of public policy. In some of the
United States annulment would he allowed for decep-
tion as to chastity, but not, it is said, in Englano.
Duress sufficient to overcome the will of the oonseating party is a cause for annulment unless subsequent^
ratified. As in England, so in all of the United States
there are statutes regulating the fomaalities in connee-
tion with marriages other than common law marriages,
and in addition to ministers of the various churches,
who for the purpose are looked upon as civil oflBcers,
other designated officials are authorised to perfonn
the marriage ceremony, excepting in a few of the
states. Marriages may be proved Doth by direct and
circumstantial evidence, the presumption being in fa-
vor of a former marriage where there has been cohabi-
tation and reputation.
Where marriages are annulled, the decree relates Ixkck te the date of the marriage, while divorce relates only to the date of its own decree (see Divobce). Pen- alties are usually prescril^ed for violation of statutory regulations relating to marriage by ministers or other persons authorized te perform the ceremony. Mar- riage of itself gives to the husband and wife certain interests in the property of the other, both real and per- sonal, which by modern legislation have been largely modified. Formerly the husband was to all intents and purposes owner of his wife's property, but now she has absolute control of it in £jigland and in the United States, reserving to the husband certain ridits which become effective after her death. In "RngRnH under the common law, the marriage of parents after the birth of children does not legitimate them, but in most of the American states and in Eiuropean conti- nental countries it is sought to encourage marriage hj providing that illegitimate children may thus be legiti- mated. The laws of most foreign countries make strict requiremente as to mental capacity, and estab- lish certain degrees of consanguinity and affini^ within which marriage cannot be contracted. There are certain impediments, not known in the United States, imposing a period of delay in connexion with military service, and providing a time within which a woman may not contract marriage after the dissolu- tion of a previous one. The tendency in oontinenta] countries is to establish civil marriage as the only form recognized by the State. This is the law in Bdgiuin. France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherumds, Rumania, and Switzerland, where the civil ceremony alone is recognized in the eyes of the law, and in moat of these countries clergymen are prohibited under severe penalties from performing the religious cere- mony before the civil marriage has taken place. A
