(1) Neither party need reside in the parish where the marriage is to be solemnized.
(2) The marriage may be celebrated in any Church, whether licensed or unlicensed[12] for marriages.
(3) It may be celebrated at any time of the day. It may be added that if any clergyman { 121} celebrates a marriage without either Banns or Licence (or upon a Registrar's Certificate), he commits a felony, and is liable to fourteen years' penal servitude.[13]
_The Time for Marriages_.--Marriages must not be celebrated before 8 A.M., or after 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.
[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.