The second reading of the Bill for legalising marriage with
a deceased wife's sister was moved by the Common Serjeant on Wednesday, discussed after the usual fashion, with the display of the ancient arguments, and rejected by a majority of 29 (171 to 142). The only new argument urged was, we think, that of Mr. A. Mills,—that so long as the women of England are not represented in Parliament, it becomes the House to consult their wishes in the matter. No doubt ; bat which way does that argument tend? Probably comparatively few women have had occasion to consider the subject at all, but of those who have, there is nothing to show that they wish to have a statute prohibitory, in all possible cases, of marriages with brothers-in-law. Even arguments like this, derived from purely conjectural premisses, did not succeed in disguising the fact that argumentatively the discussion has long been exhausted. Why can the House never vote without previous debate ?
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