Marquis
or MARQUESS, a title of nobility in England, ranking next below a duke and above an earl. It is also a title of dignity in France, Italy, and Germany. Th The eldest son of a marquis in Great Britain is usually styled by courtesy an earl, and the younger sons and daughters lords ladies. The wife of a marquis is called a marchio- MARRYAT which marriages, otherwise regular, can be declared void. The others have by statute been declared civil disabilities, which make the contract void ab initio.
In the United States the marriage laws are as diverse as the statutes of the commonwealths are in other features, and there are various impediments unknown to the English law. In some States the law is founded on the English statutes and embraces features of both canonical and civil law prohibiting marriage for all of the causes heretofore enumerated. In others consanguinity of less degree than that of sister and brother forms no bar to the marriage of persons, while in yet others a difference of race will inhibit an alliance. The absence of a recognized status of the Church in the United States necessarily places all obstacles to marriage in the catalogue of civil disability, and in many of the States a ceremonial celebration is not necessary to render a marriage valid, mutual consent before witnesses (or subsequent acknowledg ment before witnesses) constituting what is known as a common law marriage.
In all of the States, besides the reasons here adverted to there are three other civil disabilities: (1) A prior marriage (without legal release), in which case, besides the penalties consequent upon it as a felony, the second marriage is void. (2) Want of age, which is sufficient to avoid all other contracts, a fortiori it ought to avoid this, the most important contract of any. (3) Want of reason.
Marriages are dissolved by death or divorce. ness. The title of Marquis is often at- Communal marriage, a name for the tached as a second title to a dukedom, and is held by the eldest son of a duke during his father's lifetime. The coronet of a marquis consists of a richly-chased circle of gold, with four strawberry leaves and four balls of pearls set on short points on its edge; the cap, crimson velvet with a gold tassel on the top, and turned up with ermine.