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IRELAND.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

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We are indebted to the Welshman for keep- ing the subject of''Civil Unions" before the public. We desire nothing else to bring them into total disrepute seeing that by means of public discussion they have all but arrived at that point already. Our position is admitted by that journal that the political Dissenters regard marriage'as no- thing more than a civil contract, To guard against misrepresentation we quote the words of our contemporary :— That marriage is nothing more than a civil contract' is not only the cry of political Dis- seuters, &c. &c. If then marriages are civil contracts, and QQ- thing more, how can the practice of chroniclit^ them as such be fairly termed contemptible How can the adoption of the Dissenters own distinctive die" be fairly termed paltry inso- lence, low coxcombry," &C. &C. ? If it suits the Welshman'* purpose, aud will advance its cause, he is welcome to the use of these epithets, as well as to the following bit of misrepresenta- tion :— "The Merthyr Guardian enjoys the distinc- tion of being the only newspaper which car- ries out the splenetic feelings of its party, to Co vulgar extremes." So far from being the only journalists, we are indebted to one who fights the battle pf the Con- stitution far more ably than we can possibly hope to do, for the example; and we have at least one companion in our spleen and vulgarity in Wales, besides also a dozen or more in Eugland, This is, however, but another slight specimen of the Welshman's postponement of the truth,"—a common Radical practice. We are further charged with attempting to de- grade civil coutracts," or unions," below what we call marriages and we assure our contem- porary that we fully and unreservedly admit our guilt. We look upon" civi1 IInions," ac. cording to the new law, as a disgrace to any ,r civilized,-lIot to say Christian country; and as the provisions of that law are only for those who voluntarily comply with them, we neither consider our loyally or patriotism endangered by using the little influence we may possess with the public, towards persuading them to have nothing to do with practices so thoroughly einbued with the ''spirit of infidelity." We have explained one principle, at least, why. as good subjects, we refuse to call civil unions" marriages; though we dare say it will be as little satisfactory to the ivelskinait as the following truths of which we shall take the liberty to remind our readers When grievances" were pressing hard on rhe political Dissenters, they declared (and the Welshman admits it,) that marriage was nothing more than a civil contract. A law was provided for their especial benefit, by which they were enabled to effect unions" through the inter- vention of a civil officer. They then discovered that this proceeding had lowered them most considerably in the seale of civilized sopiety, and that the feelings of the truly Christian Dis- senters were very seriously outraged. They back out of this dilemma by practically falsify- ing that principle, the enunciation of which pro- cured them the civil contract" Act, by the super-addition" of religious rites." And further, aware that the majority even of their own body 44 regard the sanctions of religion as important adjuncts to all virtuous undertakings," as the Welshman has it, they now-a-days try to deceive their followers by an attempt at substi- tuting the adjunct for the thing itself to which they are joined ;-that is by announcing their unions as effected by the Rev. Mr this or the other, Minister of this or that conventicle, in preference to declaring any longer the civil con- tract principle, and stating the actual fact, that the civil officer,-tbe Poor Law Registrar, united the parties. The Welshman most amusingly tries to escape from the degradation of civil unions" by quoting Judge BLACKSTONE! an eminent jurist" who, unless our memories de- ceive us, died a fen years before the passing of the Dissenters' Law. The truth is, the griev- ance-mongers little expected, when they pro- cured this Act, that they should catch a Tartar; and they have found themselves mightily deceived. They taught us to call marriages "civil unions," and now they want us to do a most unpleasant thing,—to eat their words! All we shall say in conclusion is, that if mar- riage be nothing more than a civil contract, the superadding of religious rites by the Dissenters is as pretty a piece of «« priest-craft" as the world ever saw.

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FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE GAZETTE…

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