TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION F. 675 



Such are the arguments of the author of this paper for the immediate inter- 

 position of the Legislature, and for the strong support of the Government, to sweep 

 away a heterogeneous congeries of at least twenty-seven Acts of Parliament 

 and other diverse ordinances, and to enact a general marriage law for the three 

 kingdoms, admitting and legalising the peculiarities of each, but securing for all 

 the certainty of a valid and indisputable marriage, for the legitimacy and peace 

 of families, and for the maintenance of the rights and preservation of the property 

 of the married pair. In doing this let every care be taken to prevent the scandals 

 which occurred through the unscrupidous conduct of unworthy clergymen prior 

 to Lord Hardwicke's Act (26 Geo. II. c. 13), now happily repealed ; but its best 

 provisions are now incorporated in the English Marriage Acts. Fox and Mackin- 

 tosh unsparingly condemned this Act for its tyranny. But the doctrine of non 

 Jien debet, factum vcdeat admits of some state regulation. That Fleet Prison and 

 May Fair ' marriages were a scandal to a civilised and Christian country, those 

 acquainted with history will readily admit. But the greater scandal arising from 

 a conflict of marriage laws, imcertain in their operation, remains. 



To remedy this scandalous contravention of the marriage laws, the nation calls 

 aloud. Marriage, says Lord StoweU, is the parent of civil society ; but, more 

 than this, it is the basis of social science, and of sound morals ; it is the purest 

 source of domestic affection and of angelic virtue. 



Lex est ratio summa, insita in naturd, qucs jubet, ea, qucefacienda sunt, prohibet- 

 que contraria (Cicero, ' De Legibus,' lib. i. chap. vi. 18). 



4. On DiminisMng Annuities — a Neo-Philosopliy in Lending Funds. 

 By Fkederick N. Newcome. 



The assertion that a debt of any magnitude can be actually redeemed within a 

 limited period at a less expenditure than is involved in the payment of interest on 

 an interminable one, during the same number of years, may appear startling, even in 

 this era of remarkable siu*prises. When speaking of redemption, I mclude the pay- 

 ment of regular dividends and the reimbursement of the principal. Antagonistic 

 to common sense as this statement may appear, its feasibility ^^and practicabilit}' can 

 be readily demonstrated. Such is the miracidous power of compound interest that 

 when once a departm-e is taken from the laws governing the three recognised 

 financial philosophies, the apparent paradox involved in this equation is easily 

 explained away. To enounce that a debt can be repaid with less than the cost of 

 interest sounds an extreme paralogism ; but it is nevertheless true, and must be 

 admitted as a neo-philosophy into the world of economic science. The discovery 

 was made by myself about twelve months ago, when elaborating a plan of redemp- 

 tion permitting of a frequent reduction in the aimual charge. On comparing 

 it with the cost of annuities for the same number of years, it was at once visible 

 that some fresh and important phenomena had to be considered — a new and potent 

 power was at work somewhere — a vast economy had been effected ! but how ? 

 There stood the figiu'es bold enough, 3,508,054Z., to liquidate a six per cent, loan of 

 1,000,000Z. in sixty -two years. There they were,, correct and indisputable, while it 

 was equally clear that an interminable debt must entail, for interest alone, 60,000/. 

 paid for sixty-two years, or 3,720,000/., and the debt of 1,000,000/. would still be 

 owing. A gross saving had resulted of 211,946/., plus the capital, or ] ,211,946/., 

 in all. What is of more importance to science, it was clear that when the gross 

 cost by this new principle is compared with that of annuities or debentures expiring 

 in the same number of years, there must be a net saving of 315,103/. on the cheapest 

 methods of redemption hitherto known. It is at once cognoscible that the omni- 

 potent power of compoimd interest is at work in an intensified form. Those who 

 have acquaintance with actuarial calculations are constantly reminded of its illimit- 

 able potency — a potency augmenting, we may almost saj', by involution, as the rate 

 of interest increases and the duration extends. Having stated that the action of 

 compound interest is the efficient and acting cause producing the phenomena, it 

 might prima facie be concluded that, to secure the end in view, a great present 

 sacrifice is ine'vitable. But such is not the case ; a veiy small one is sufficient, but, 



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