Mr. Gladstone gave a great lift to the Bill legalizing
marriage with a deceased wife's sister on Tuesday, when many of the oppo- nents And some of the (nominal) supporters of the Bill called upon Mr. Chambers to withdraw it, and accompanied the demand appa- rently with some unreported reflections of a very unscrupulous kind. Mr. Gladstone accordingly came to its support, deprecated so bad a precedent as withdrawing a Bill on account of opposition "carried beyond the limits of Parliamentary usage," declared that though there might be a disturbing effect produced by the Bill on "select classes," it was demanded by the wants of the mass of the community, and said that the fairest course would be to legalize such marriages and legitimize their issue, and leave to each indi- vidual religious community whether or not it would give a religious sanction to such marriages. The opposition to the Bill was con- tinued in a very bitter spirit, but an amendment upon it was lost by 143 to 57. A series of factious motions to adjourn and report progress were defeated, but one was at length carried, of course before there was any visible progress to report.
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