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a Catholic member have a scruple to vote for this bill, he may abstain from voting.
I have the honor to be,
Your devoted servant.
Archbishop of Toronto.
Mr. Gault, M.P. for Montreal West, sent a copy of the bill to all the Protestant clergy of Montreal on its first presentation. From these he received no replies, except from Rev. Gavin Laing and the Rev. John Cordner, a fact which certainly indicates that there is no feeling against the bill amongst the Protestant clergy of this city. The following are the letters addressed by the clergymen we have named to the member for Montreal West:—
THE REV. J. CORDNER, D.D., Unitarian Church.
M. H. Gault, Esq., M. P.
Dear Sir.—I thank you for copy of Billl to "legalize marriage with. &c." In my Judgment it would lie in the interest of good morals and sound public policy to pass such a measure. I would omit the two provisos, however, as likely to lead to complications. But rather than have the measure fail I would accept them.
Very truly yours.
THE REV. GAVIN LANG, St. Andrew's Church (Church of Scotland), Montreal.
Dear Mr. Gault,—I thank you very much for sending me a copy of Mr. Girouard's Bill for legalizing marriages with a deceased wife's sister, &c. For one, I heartily approve of its principle, and hope it will pass and become law.
It occurred to me that I would mention to you that, to the astonishment of most people, the United Presbyterian Body of Dissenters in Scotland declared, last year, that they could no longer regard such marriages as Mr. Girouard's Bill contemplates as un-Christian. Their ministers are permitted to solemnize these, and to admit the parties to them to the privileges of their communion, The importance and significance of this action of the part of a severely Evangelical body cannot be exaggerated.
The attitude of your own Church and of mine, both national churches and the only State Churches of the Empire, must necessarily be determined by the position taken up by the law makers. When Parliament sanctions marriages with deceased wives sisters, so must we. I speak for the Church of Scotland, to which I belong, when I say that we are quite ripe for the ready performance of these marriages. In my first parish in Scotland I had a couple who took that step in (ecclesiastically viewed) an irregular way "furth of the kingdom." and came back to live in the parish. I had no hesitation in regarding them as parishioners of mine in good standing.
The Church of Rome, of course, takes up a different position in this matter, but Mr. Girouard fully provides against any infringement of its rules and rights; and it is entitled to hold and assert its own opinions and views.
I would be very glad it you offered our mutual friend, Mr. Girouard, my warm and sincere wishes for the success of his measure. Its adoption and enactment by the Parliament of Canada will give wider and greater relief than any of us imagine, and would not in any wise conflict with the teachings of the Word of God as interpreted by either Roman Catholics or Protestants.
With repeated thanks for your courtesy in sending me a copy of this important bill, and with kind regards, as also deep sympathy with you in your recent heavy affliction
Believe me.
Yours very sincerely.
M. H. Gault, Esq., M.P
THE BISHOP OF OTTAWA.
The Roman Catholic Bishop of Ottawa has also given his opinion as follows, this letter being written after the bill had been reprinted, and had passed through committee of the whole, and therefore with the full knowledge that the provisos had been struck from it.
D. Girouard. Esq., M.P.:—
Sir,—As the Catholic Church permits, under special circumstances, for grave reasons, marriages between brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, your bill, as amended by committee of the whole House, to legalize these marriages meets my views, in the absence of something better.
I have the honour to be, sir.
Your humble servant,
