SUPPLEMENT.

IN addition to the tranfactions recorded in the preceding Narrative, the following facts have alfo occurred:

CORRY FOWLER and JANE HAUGHTON were married, on the 13th of the 12th month, 1802, at the boufe of her mother, in Carlow; for, as he was not a member of the fociety, the parties were, by its law, prevented from marrying according to the prescribed formis. Their marriage was therefore folemnized in the presence of TWELVE witneffes, two of whom had been in the station of ELDERS, and the annexed is a copy of the marriage certificate.

"There having been for fome time past an inten❝tion of marriage, between CORRY FOWLER, fon of "JOHN FOWLER, now of Cork, and ELIZABETH "his wife, and JANE HAUGHTON, daughter of BENJAMIN HAUGHTON, late of Profpect, in the

county Kildare, and ABIGAIL his wife; and their "faid intentions being publicly known, and confented to "by their parents, and several of their near connexions. "Now these are to certify all whom it may concern, "that for the full accomplishment of their faid in"tentions, this 13th day of December, 1802, in the "town of Carlow, at the house of Abigail Haughton, "aforefaid, and in prefence of the undernamed per"fons, they the faid Corry Fowler, and Jane Haughton, did feverally and folemnly declare, that they "took each other for hufband and wife, and did pro"mife to continue faithful to each other in thefe rela❝tions until death fhould feparate them. In confir"mation whereof, they have hereunto fubfcribed "their names as husband and wife.

66

"CORRY FOWLER,

"JANE FOWLER."

"And we the faid undernamed perfons, affembled "for the purpose of witneffing the above engagement, "do hereby certify, that this marriage contract was "entered into in our prefence, the day and year be¿fore written

For this offence against the rules of the difcipline,

the

the monthly meeting of Carlow published the following teftimony of difownment against Jane Fowler.*

"Jane Haughton, daughter of the late Benjamin

Haughton and Abigail his wife, who has been "educated conformable to the religious principles of "the people called Quakers, and made profeffion "thereof, hath notwithstanding been perfuaded so far "to deviate from our known rules, as to enter into "contract by way of marriage, with a young man not "of our religious profeffion. Wherefore, that we may "clear the truth that we profefs, and fupport the good order of our difcipline, from the reproach of Q 2 " fuch

*It will be observed, that in this, as well as in the cafe mentioned page 187, the monthly meeting continues to de-. nominate the party by her maiden name, and by that only, although the difownment took place nearly fix months after, the marriage. It appears that the active members of the fociety have been defirous of impreffing the idea that connexions thus formed could not, with any propriety, be regarded as marriages. And it may seem extraordinary that, for effecting this object, the more zealous difciplinarians should in modern times have, ftigmatized the conduct of perfons fo marrying, by the fame difgufting allufion, which WILLIAM SEWELL, in page 283 of his hiftory, ftates to have been

cr

bluntly and indecently" employed, in order to disparage the early marriages of their own ancestors, by one of the council, at the affizes in Nottingham, in 1661, whilst endeavouring, though ineffectually, to invalidate a marriage which had taken place, according to the rules of the fociety, between two of its members.

"fuch misconduct, after much labour of love, which "hath failed to convince or prevent this improper ❝ftep, we deem it incumbent on us to difown the "faid Jane Haughton to be of our religious fociety, 66 nor can we have any fellowship with her, until by fincere repentance the be favoured to see the error and pernicious tendency of this her out-going, and it is our "fincere defire, that hereby fhe may find a place of "reconciliation.

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"Read and approved in our monthly men's meet❝ing, held in Carlow, 10th of 6th month, 1803, and "by order, and on behalf thereof, figned by

"JOSHUA HAUGHTON, Clerk."

ABIGAIL HAUGHTON, a widowed parent, and one of the perfons already alluded to, as having been appointed by the fociety to the ftation of an elder, approved of, and was prefent as a witness at, the marriage of her daughter; and for this conduct she was publicly difowned, in connexion with three other members of the fociety, of acknowledged refpectability of character and conduct; and the following is a copy of the teftimony against them.

"Our known rules, concerning the honourable in"stitution of marriage, being long characterized for "their orderly and falutary effects, and having the SANCTION OF LAW ;* the difregarding or violation

"of

* What proportion the number of Quakers in IRELAND,

bears

❝of them by any in profeffion with us, cannot fail "painfully to impress our minds as a religious fociety, "And whereas ABIGAIL HAUGHTON, SAMUEL "HAUGHTON, MARY HAUGHTON, his wife, and "MARY

bears to the whole population of that kingdom, is perhaps. not correctly known. In GREAT BRITAIN, it has been fuppofed, that the members of the fociety amount to about 24,000, and that the inhabitants of the kingdom collectively, may be estimated at 12 millions. The government, which legislates for this immense population, has shewn its regard towards the fcruples of the fociety, with refpe&t to the public established forms relating to marriage, by permitting it to adopt the forms of its own choice, and by giving to thefe forms the sanction of law. In other words-when it is difcovered that an established law, for the general government of the empire, is found to be oppreffive to the confciences of a particular fociety, whofe number, in proportion to the whole of the subjects, is (according to the preceding eftimate) in the ratio of 1 to 500, the operation. of the law, fo far as it affects the members of this fociety, is not only fufpended by the government, but ftatutes are expressly enacted for their relief and comfort. It might furely be expected, that the natural effect of this indulgence, on the part of the legislature, fhould be to difpofe the fociety to be equally indulgent to the fcruples of its confcientious members, instead of subjecting them to cenfure and difownment; and to connect fuch proceedings with an allufion to the sanction of that law, by which the fociety is itself protected in the exercise of its peculiar scruples concerning the forms relating to marriage, muft injure, inftead of serving, the cause which it is intended to support.