POLICY OF DIOCESE OF LONDON.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12932, 11 October 1907, Page 7

POLICY OF DIOCESE OF LONDON.

United Prtit Aiiocitt-on— By £l«ctiio T»lefr»ph—Copyright. LONDON, October 9. The Registry of tho Archdeaconry of London has directed surrogates not to entertain applications for «. liceneo to marry a deceased wife's sister to her brother-in-law, but to refer tho matter to the Fflcultv Office.

The following are the provisions of tho Deceased Wife's .Sister Marriage Act, _as .summarised by tho "Daily Mail' , :—lho Art is retrospective, ami women who went through tho form ol marriage with their deceased sister's husband iww automatically obtain the status of legal wives, their children being thereby kgitimutiscd. To this, however, there are a coupio of exceptions. Where tho deceased wile's sister, after a form of marriage, was deserted and the husband lawfully married another woman, the decreed wife's sister's marring© is void as from the day of the legal marriage. As to tho future, it remains unlawful for a man to marry the sUter of his divorced wife or of his wife by whom he hi.s been divorced, during the lifetime of such wife. The new Act allows clergy of tho Church of England to refuse to solemnise marriages with a ■deceased wife's lister, and churches may also bo refused for tho purpose. There is no legal means by which a clergyman <>ani compel a bride to disclose that .«h») i=; the Mster of her intended husband's 'dead wife. Jf he makes the discovery and refuses to act or lend his eluinli, civil marrkigo before ihe registrar is legal. Tbe clergy are placed under a special disability. While for all classes, lay and clerical, thn Act makes this marriage legal, a clergyman who takes his sister-in-law to wife remains liable to "ecclesiastical censure, — that is, may be. removed by his ecclesiastical superiors. Tho following is an extract from a letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury isued in the "Canterbury Diocesan Gazette, : — l have already, although the Kill is only to-day receiving the Royal Assent, been asked to give advice in a specific case, and it maj- bo well, therefore, that I should at once let it be known that ivo shall, in my judgment, servo beet tho interests of the Church and people by not solemnising such marriages or furthering their solemnisation in church. This counsel may appear to 'some peoplo to be unreasonable, knowing as AVd do that there aro many good Christian men ivlio believe that these marriages, now sanctioned by tho law of the land, are also compatible with what they regard ac a true interpretation of the teaching of Holy Scripture, and even of tho Early Church, respecting marriage. I shall bo ready in due time to explain the reasons which make mc believe- in the -wisdom and propriety of the course ■which I recommend. Tho present letter, ■written with a view to publication in tho forthcoming irauo of tho "Diocesan Gazette." is intended to give, merely such preliminary and general guidance as tho clergy may rightly expect in. tho event of their now receiving etich requests. I deplore, on national as well as on religious grounds, the passing of this Bill. I have, expressed my objections fully in Parliament, and we have, I hope, relieved tho clergy from tho unfair compulsion ■which at one timo appeared to l>e threatened. I hope, however, that in anything wo may say or do in this delicate and difficult matter -we shall avoid harsh and uncharitable -words, the use of ■which serves to harm rather than to promote respect for tho clearlydefinod marriage law of the Church of England" as set forth in -what is called The Table, of Kindred ajid Affinity.' Wo believe that tahlo to be bused on tho teaching of Holy •Scripture ns interpreted by t-ho reasonable judgment of the Church of Christ throughout tho Christian centuries."