the desecration of the marriage contract when
the ceremony was not performed in church, that the parties should make
the following declaration:--"In the presence of Almighty God and these
witnesses, I, M., do take thee, N., to be my wedded wife, according to
God's holy ordinance; and I do here, in the presence of God, solemnly
promise, before these witnesses, to be to thee a loving and faithful
husband during life," instead of, as it stood in the bill, "I call upon
these persons here present to witness that, I, A. B., do take thee, C.
D., to be my lawful, wedded wife." This amendment was carried; but
on the bringing up of the report, the bill, on the motion of Lord
Melbourne, was restored in this respect to what it had formerly
been. The lords, however, struck out that provision of the bill which
abolished the proclamation of bans, and they enacted with regard to all
marriages of members of the established church, that bans should still
be proclaimed. They likewise enacted that the superintendent of each
district should send to the clerks of the unions the names of all
persons who gave notice of their intention to marry, they being
Protestant dissenters, and that their names should be read weekly, for
three successive weeks, at the meetings of the guardians of the poor.
Finally, in some parts of the bill they introduced an oath in
place of a declaration, and required the interference of the
superintendent-registrar, instead of the registrar. Some of these
amendments were very unfavourably received by the dissenting interest in
the commons, and an amendment was carried expunging the enactment
that the names of dissenters intending to marry, should be read by
the guardians of the poor at their weekly meetings. To all the other
amendments of the lords, the commons, on the advice of Lord John
Russell, agreed.

BILL TO ALTER THE REVENUES AND TERRITORIES OF THE DIFFERENT SEES, ETC.

{WILLIAM IV. 1836--1837}

During the administration of Sir Robert Peel, a commission had been
appointed to inquire what useful changes, if any, could be introduced in
the ecclesiastical condition of the church of England, so as to remove
anomalies which might still exist in it, and insure more effective
pastoral superintendence. This commission had made a first report before
Sir Robert Peel had resigned, and on the occurrence of that event his
successors continued it, though its official members were changed. The
second report was presen