MORGAN. 802 lished in 1826, and was republished at various times thereafter, sometimes under the title Free- viasonry Exposed and Explained. IMuch has been written concerning liis disapiiearance. Con- sult: iMorris, History of the Moryan Affair (1852); Greene, The liroken Heal, or Morgan's Abduction and Murder (1870) ; O'Keilly, Ameri- can Political Anti-Masonry (187'J) ; Mackey and Singleton, History of Freemasonry, vol. vi. (New York, 18'.t8). See Anti-Masons. MORGAN, Sir William t 1S20-83). An Aus. tralian statesman, born in Wilshampstead. He went to Australia in 1848, made some money in the Bcndigo gold diggings in 1851, and then settled at Adelaide as a merchant. An inde- pendent politician, he was elected to the Legis- lative Council in IStiS), and in 1875 represented the Cabinet in that body. After the defeat of the Colton Jlinistry in 1877, which was largely due to Morgan's efforts, he was Cliief Secretary under Boucant, and from 1878 to 1881 was Premier, showing much ability and honesty. He ■was styled the 'Cobden of South Australia.' MORGANATIC MARRIAGE (ML morgan- atictis, relating to the morning, from OHG. mor- gan, Get. Moryen. AS. moryen, morning; perhaps connected with OChurch Slav, mirknati, to be- come dark, mrakH, darkness, or with Lith. merkti, to blink, Gk. napimlpuv, marmairein, to shine). When a nieml)er of a reigning house, w'ho by law can contract a perfect marriage only with a woman of equal rank {ehenbiirtig) , wishes to marry a woman of inferior rank, he may contract what is called a morganatic mar- riage. In (tcrmany those families that were reigning families at the close of the eighteenth century and that have retained their rank in spite of the loss of political power — the so-called 'mediatized houses' or 'high nobility' (hoher Adel) — are siiiiihulv restricted in the matter MORGANATIC MARRIAGE. of marriage: and members of these families may also contract morganatic marriages. A morganatic marriage is not a mere concubin- age, nor may it exist simultaneously with a perfect marriage. From the ecclesiastical point of view, and from certain legal points of view, it is a perfect marriage. It is defective chiefly in public law. The morganatic wife does not acquire and the cliildren do not inherit the rank of the husband and father, although, when the husband is a reigning prince, it is usual to give to tlie morganatic wife and her children titles of nobility. The children do not succeed to the father's pul)lic position, or to property which goes with that jKisition. or to family property (entailed estates). In some States neither the morganatic wife nor her children have rights of succession even in the private property of the husband and father, cxcejit by testamentary pro- vision or by ante-nu])tial settlements. The roots of the morganatic marriage go back to early German law. A perfect marriage was concluded only ivhen the husband bought the mundiiim or marital authority over his wife, at first by a payment to the father or guardian, later by a settlement upon the wife, which was frequently described as 'widowhood.' A further gift or settlement upon the wife might be made in the form of a 'morning gift' ( Morqengnhe, dos morganatiea). In the ease of an imperfect marriage without mundium only the morning- gift was made. The Cliureh, however, treated the imperfect marriage as a marriage, although it was unable to determine the civil result-. When an ecclesiastical ceremony took place it was not unusual for the man to give the l)ride his left hand, whence the name 'left-hand mar- riage.' For the history of the morganatic mar- riage, consult Schroder, Deutsche Rcchtsge- schichte (1889). pp. 20.'). 294, and works there cited. For modern law, Xiebelschiitz, De Mairi- moniis ad Moryanaticam (1851).
