J. MILLARD TAWES, Governor                        655

deputy or other clerk shall receive any other fee, remuneration or gift
of any kind for performing a marriage ceremony not authorized
herein.

(d) Violation of the provisions of this section shall constitute
neglect of duty and shall subject the offender to removal from office
on conviction in a court of law.

4.

[The following persons are authorized to solemnize marriages in
this State; any minister of the Gospel or official of a religious order
or body authorized by the rules and customs of said order or body to
join persons in marriage.]

No person within this State shall be joined in marriage until a
license shall have been obtained from the clerk of the circuit court
for the county in which the marriage is to be performed, or if in
Baltimore City, from the clerk of the Court of Common Pleas.

The license required by this article shall be in the following form,

to wit: State of Maryland and County of................................. To any

minister of the Gospel, or other officer or person authorized by the
laws of the State to solemnize marriage. You are hereby authorized
to join together in the holy state of matrimony according to the
rules and ceremonies of your church, society or religious sect and the
laws of this State, or according to the laws of this State, A. B., whose

place of residence is ........................................; whose age is ............;

color....................; and who is (state here whether single, widower,

or divorced, as the case may be), and C. D., whose place of residence

is................................................................; color ............................; and

who is (state here whether single, widow, or divorced, as the case

may be), and who are ................................................ (state here also

whether the contracting parties are in any way related). Given under

my hand and seal of the Circuit Court for ............................ County

(or the Court of Common Pleas of Baltimore City) at..........................

this................day of........................A.D., one thousand nine hundred

and......................... The license shall have appended to it two certifi-
cates framed to correspond with said license, which shall be in form

as follows: I hereby certify that on this .................................... day

of............................one thousand nine hundred and........................at

................................, A. B., and C. D. were by me united in marriage

in accordance with the license issued by the Clerk of the....................

Court for................................ County (or City), of Maryland, which

certificates shall be signed by the minister, or other person who per-
formed the ceremony, giving his name and official character; one
of said certificates shall be handed to the contracting parties and the
other shall within five days from the date of the marriage be re-
turned to the clerk of the court from which it was issued, either by
the minister or other person who performed the ceremony, or, in the
event of his death or resignation, by any qualified officer of the
church or other person in a position so to return the same.

Nothing in this section shall be construed as interfering in any
way with the right of any particular religious denomination to join
persons in marriage according to the rules and customs of said de-
nomination, it being the intent of this section merely to require the
issuance of the aforesaid license prior to the performance of any