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contract, Marriage contracted by a man with his deceased Wife's Sister, before the Registrar, shall be legal.[1]
As a citizen, I give him my support, and wish him success.
People in general, do not consider such Marriages improper. They cannot be proved to be improper by Scripture. The question is, therefore one of expediency, and my experience as a Parochial minister induces me to think the measure expedient.
In the upper classes of Society, a Sister in Law may live with a widower and no scandal arise. He can secure in her a kind friend for his children.
This is scarcely possible with respect to the Poor, as any one who is acquainted with their habitations and habits, will at once perceive.
Yet when a poor man has lost his Wife; whatever may be his feelings, he is almost compelled to replace her as soon as he can. To him the Wife is not only the companion, but the nurse of his children, and the servant-of-all-work in the house. If a Step-Mother is thus necessary, where are the children so likely to find one who will regard them with affection, and treat them with kindness, as in the Sister of their Mother, whom from early years they have known and loved.
On these grounds, if ever a Convocation be called and I be elected one of the Proctors, I shall move
- ↑ Mr. Wortley's bill does not make Marriage, strictly speaking, a civil contract — its object is to allow (not compel) every Clergyman to celebrate the Marriage in question if they think right.
