§ MR. SUMMERSI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether His Holiness the Pope has declared—
That marriages celebrated in Malta by all those who profess the Catholic religion, whether both contracting parties be Catholics, or whether one of them be a Catholic and the other a non-Catholic, are not, and shall not be, valid if they are not celebrated according to the form established by the Council of Trent;whether, on 18th January, 1890, Sir Lintorn Simmonds informed Cardinal Rampolla that Her Britannic Majesty's Government would cause a Project of Law to be introduced in the Council of Government in Malta in accordance with this declaration; whether Sir Lintorn Simmonds acted within his instructions in making such an announcement; and whether a Project of Law answering to this description has been introduced, or is about to be introduced, in the Council of Government in Malta?
§ MR. W. H. SMITHThe answer to the first three questions of the hon. Member is in the affirmative; and, with regard to the last, I think I had better refer the hon. Member to a letter of the Prime Minister which appeared in the Times of the 4th inst.