MARRIAGE WITH FOREIGNERS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7237, 25 October 1901, Page 2

MARRIAGE WITH FOREIGNERS.

UNSATISFACTORY RESULTS." The miserable results which have sometimes followed the marriage of Englishwomen in England to foreigners, more particularly to Frenchmen, have been a frequent subject of comment, but the truth on the subject is still far from being generally known. Every year (says the "Globe") cases arise in which* an English «** who has become the wife of a foreigner in England in full accord with the. requirements of the English law is repudiated or deserted if she goes to her husband's country. It ougjit tobe understood by all parents and guardians that no such mixed marriage is valid in the country of which the bridegroom is a subject, 'unless he has complied with all the requirements of the law to which he is himself amenable. The Bishop ol London has, therefore, rendered a great service to his countrymen by the directions which he has just issued to his clergy. No Englishwoman in the diocese is in" future to be married in church to an alien without a certificate from the Consul that ho has complied with all the requisite formalities. The Foreign Office has, it appears, made arrangements by which the representatives of foreign States are bound to give such certificates on application. The Bishop of London's injunctions apply, of course, only to the clergy of his own diocese, but it is to be hoped that all the Bishops will follow his example. If any should fail to do so, the clergy should" act on their own initiative. No paftsh priest can be blamed for refusing to perform the marriage service in a, wise where it is not assured that the tie will be binding on both parties, now that the assurance can be so easily obtained. It would be well if consular certificates were also imperative for mix:d marriages before tbe Registrars or in Nonconformist chap? Is.