3 P.M., so as to provide a reasonable chance of
publicity.

_The Witnesses to a Marriage_.--Two witnesses, at least, must be
present, in addition to the officiating clergyman.

_The Marriage Registers_.--The officiating clergyman must enter the
marriage in two Registers provided by the State.

_The Signing of the Registers_.--The bride and bridegroom must sign
their names in the said Registers immediately after the ceremony, as
well as the two witnesses and the officiating clergyman. If either
party wilfully makes any false statement with regard to age, condition,
etc., he or she is guilty of perjury.

Such are some of the wise safeguards provided by both Church and State
for the Sacrament of Marriage. Their object is to prevent the {122}
marriage state being entered into "lightly, unadvisedly, or wantonly,"
to secure such publicity as will prevent clandestine marriages,[14] and
will give parents, and others with legal status, an opportunity to
lodge legal objections.

Great is the solemnity of the Sacrament in which is "signified and
represented the mystical union that is betwixt Christ and His Church".

[1] Husband--from _hus_, a house, and _buan_, to dwell.

[2] Until fifty-three years ago an Act of Parliament was necessary for
a divorce. In 1857 _The Matrimonial Causes Act_ established the
Divorce Court. In 1873 the _Indicature Act_ transferred it to a
division of the High Court--the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty
Division.

[3] "Visitation Charges," p. 252.

[4] It is a common legal error that seven years effective separation
between husband and wife entitles either to remarry, and hundreds of
women who have lost sight of their husbands for seven years innocently
commit bigamy. Probably the mistake comes from the fact that
_prosecution_ for bigamy does not hold good in such a case. But this
does not legalize the bigamous marriage or legitimize the children.

[5] The origin of Banns.

[6] The Rubric says: "It is convenient that the new-married persons
receive the Holy Communion _at the time of their marriage_, or at the
first opportunity after their marriage," thus retaining, though
releasing, the old rule.

[7] Consanguinity--from _cum_, together, and _sanguineus_, relating to
blood.

[8] Affinity--from _ad_, near, and _finis_, a boundary.

[9] See a most helpful paper read by Father Puller at the E.C.U.
Anniversary Meeting, and reported in "The Church Times" of 17 June,
1910.

[10]