marriage is dealt with as a purely civil contract; and its constitution may be established by the same proof as would establish any ordinary civil contract, viz. by writing, by the testimony of witnesses, or by the judicial confession of the parties. It is true, that, in deference to the natural feeling that the blessing of God should be invoked upon the constitution of a relation so important and so solemn, and from other considerations of public policy and morality, the law has prescribed that a "regular marriage" can be performed only by a clergyman, after due proclamation of the banns; and that it punishes an "irregular" constitution of the contract by fines and other penalties. But it never loses sight of the principle, that the contract is purely civil; and irregularity in point of form, though punishable, does not vitiate the contract, which is binding and valid if its substance be proved, in the same way as any other contract may be proved. Such a contract is binding, if entered into in accordance with the lex loci contractus, although that law should differ from the law of the domicile of the parties. The sole privilege of the smith of Gretna Green consisted in his smithy being the nearest place to the English border, at which witnesses to the constitution of the contract could be obtained. Now-a-days, I suppose, a runaway couple, unable to hire a special train, would take the express; and I would advise them to take their tickets to Ecclefechan—the first Scotch station at which the express stops—and to confer on the station-master and porter there the dignity of high priests of Hymen: for they, or any other two witnesses you meet in Scotland, can help you to tie the knot as firmly as the Gretna smith. After what I have said, I need hardly add that these functionaries had no warrant for their certificate that their marriages were performed "according to the forms of the Church of Scotland." To those who look upon marriage as a purely civil contract, the mock ceremony at Gretna is a marriage; to those who look upon it as a sacrament, or who think that a religious ceremony affects its constitution in the slightest degree, a Gretna Green marriage is, in plain words, neither more nor less than a legalised concubinage; and, surely, I need not say, that the spouses in such a marriage, though, quoad omnem civilem effectum, on the same footing with persons regularly married in facie ecclesiæ, are not—in Scotland, at least—allowed to obtrude themselves into respectable society. So much for the constitution of the contract of marriage under the law of Scotland.
As for its effects, in so far as involved in Mr. Brett's Query, no such provision exists, or ever did exist, in the Scotch law of marriage, as that children, to be legitimatised per subsequens matrimonium, must be under their mother's apron strings. In its effects, as well as in its constitution, the contract of marriage in Scotland is ruled by the principles of the civil law; and all the children of the spouses, born before marriage, are legitimated per subsequens matrimonium, whether, at the time the ceremony is performed, they be "under the apron strings" or not. The old theory was, that marriage being a consensual contract, the constitution of the rights and obligations arising from it drew back to the date of the consent; which, in the case of parties who had previously had connexion, was presumed in law to be the date of the connexion. This theory has of late been somewhat impaired by the decision of the Court of Session, in the case of Kerr v. Martin. See Dunlop Bell and Murray's Reports of Cases decided in the Court of Session, vol. ii. p. 752. The soundness of that decision is still matter of controversy in the profession; but I may refer Mr. Brett to it as containing a full and able discussion of the whole principles on which the Scotch law of marriage is founded.
An Advocate.
I remember that my brother, when curate of a parish in Lincolnshire between 1838 and 1844, married a woman enveloped only in a sheet. He was of course startled at the slenderness of her apparel; but as all the requisitions of the law had been complied with, he did not feel himself at liberty to refuse. He contented himself, therefore, with addressing the numerous congregation on the behaviour he expected from them at a religious ordinance, and all went off well. The reason for the bride so presenting herself, was of course the popular opinion, that her new husband would not be liable for her debts.
Anon.
PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTES AND QUERIES.
Mr. Weld Taylor's Process.—As I presume the object of publishing Photographic Notes, &c., is to aid those who are not proficients in the processes indicated, Mr. Weld Taylor must not take umbrage at his first communication being misunderstood, whether unavoidably or wilfully, as I am sure the former must have been the case with all novices in the photographic art at least; however, I had no intention whatever of offering any annoyance to Mr. Taylor in my remarks, which were intended solely with a view to produce an effect which has partially been successful, that of exciting a more definite explanation of his meaning. That Mr. Weld Taylor may "enlighten" me is not only possible, but very probable, and I can only say I shall be much obliged to him for so doing.
With reference to his process for iodizing Canson's paper, I presume his meaning to be as follows, viz.: Mix half an ounce of a forty-grain solution of nitrate of silver with an equal quantity
of a fifty-grain solution of iodide of potassium, by which a precipitate of iodide of silver will be formed, the supernatant fluid containing the excess of iodide of potassium and the nitrate of potash formed by the decomposition. Add drop by drop a solution of the cyanide of potassium, until the iodide of silver is redissolved, and the liquid becomes limpid, and then four ounces more of distilled water, making up five ounces altogether. The paper should then be washed over with the above and dried, after which it may be floated on water slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid for a few minutes, and after being again dried, either wholly, or else partially with blotting-paper, may be rendered sensitive with a weak solution of nitrate of silver. Here are two or three points admitting doubt: first, Would it not be better to wash away the nitrate of potash and free iodide of potash first, and then dissolve the iodide of silver in solution of cyanide of potassium? Secondly, Would not a slight soaking in plain water after the acidulated bath be of advantage? Thirdly, Is it better to dry the paper again before rendering it sensitive? and fourthly, What strength of nitrate of silver solution should be used to render it sensitive; and ought it to have any acetic or gallic acid, or both?