the omission of the words of nullity in all subsequent statutes of Virginia. After 1696 irregular marriages were probably regarded as valid, as they certainly were previous to 1661/2; for an act of 1642/3, while prescribing severe penalties for the secret marriage of indented servants, shows beyond question that such a contract, or one between a freeman and an indented maid servant, is looked upon as binding.[599] The facts are much the same for the other southern colonies. After 1692 the invalidating clause disappears from the statutes of Maryland. Only between 1766 and 1778, in North Carolina, is a marriage contracted without previous license expressly declared to be null and void; and it is enlightening that even during this short period of twelve years the penalty of invalidity is not extended to illegal celebration. It was mainly a device of the lawmaker to secure the governor in his revenue from the license fees. The South Carolina act of 1706 merely prescribes penalties for its violation; and, besides, its provisions relating to the celebration were entirely disregarded in the western country, where the various religious sects made use of civil forms or practiced their own peculiar rites. In both the Carolinas as well as in Georgia, since marriages illegally celebrated before unauthorized laymen or ministers seem to have been valid, there is little reason to doubt that clandestine and other informal contracts by present consent of the parties were likewise good; but regarding this point we have no positive information.[600] [595] See chaps. xii-xv, inclusive. [596] COOK, "The Marriage Celebration in the United States," _Atlantic_, LXI, 521. "But in the early part of this century there arose in the courts a discussion regarding the nature of our common law, and the relation of that law to our statute law in governing the celebration of marriage--a discussion which since then has constantly increased, and has gradually brought about a revolution unparalleled in the history of our subject."--_Ibid._ [597] Chap. xv, sec. ii; chap. xiii, sec. iv. [598] Chap. xiii, sec. i. [599] HENING, _Statutes_, I, 252, 253. See chap. xiii, sec. i. [600] For these colonies see chap. xiii, secs, iii, iv.