The act had passed the house and received the governor's signature; but the battle was not yet won. It is perhaps not surprising that the ear of George III., in the days immediately following the Stamp Act, should have inclined more to the desires[789] of the loyalist clergy of the English church than to the complaints of "sectaries" in a rebellious province. Accordingly, the marriage act was disallowed by his Majesty; and the law of 1766 remained in force until 1778, two years after the constitution of 1776 had brought the establishment to an end.[790] [Footnote 789: "It is interesting to note with what satanic disregard of the rights of man the leaders in the Establishment can write. Says Reed [minister in Craven County]: 'The bill was pushed by the dissenting interest, and [because of] the dangerous situation of the province from such formidable number of malcontents [Regulators], the governor acted with the greatest prudence in passing the bill with a suspending clause.... Should this act receive the royal assent it would be a fatal stroke to the Church of England, but as the insurrection is entirely quelled, I flatter myself with hopes that the act will meet with a repulse.'"--WEEKS, _op. cit._, 247; _N. C. Col. Rec._, IX, 6. Later the Board of Trade wrote that the law was in effect a "bounty to the tolerated religion at the expense of the established," and petitioned for its disallowance: _N. C. Col. Rec._, IX, 7, 245, 251, 284, 366.] [Footnote 790: SAUNDERS, _op. cit._, xlv, errs in saying that the law of 1766 was repealed soon after its passage.] IV. EPISCOPAL RITES BY LAW AND FREE CIVIL OR RELIGIOUS CELEBRATION BY CUSTOM IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA The history of marriage in South Carolina runs much the same course as in the northern province; except that we hear of no struggle by the privileged establishment to enforce the statutes eventually enacted in its behalf. For a time, under the same charters, the two colonies were ruled in the same way by the proprietors; and in South Carolina for over three decades there was apparently full toleration with respect to matrimonial rites. That such was the case near the close of the seventeenth century may be inferred from the registration act of 1696. It is required that "every man which hereafter shall be married according to the rubrick of the Church of England, or by any other contract or ceremony," shall record his marriage in the register's office within thirty days after celebration, or else forfeit "one royall" for neglect. But at the time of registration he must produce "a certificate from under the hand of the parson, minister, magistrate, or otherwise," attested by "six persons at least met and congregated at such religious meateing" where the ceremony took place. For neglecting to file the certificate the register forfeits his office.[791] [Footnote 791: COOPER, _Statutes at Large_, II, 120, 121 (act of March 1695/6).]