Report of a local committee as to the best means of diminishing vice and crime in Dublin

Abstract

In respect of marriage, the law draws a clear line for the protection of minors under twenty-one years of age. By Lord Hardwicke's famous Act against clandestine marriages, Parliament lays down the principle that they are not to be allowed to marry under that age without the consent of their parents or guardians. This principle is laid down for the protection of the young people themselves, of families to which they belong, and of society, against the consequence of premature and improvident marriages.