He lay in the Fleet about fifteen years, and in 1753, when Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act was being discussed, he thence issued a pamphlet of thirty-two pages, with his portrait attached, entitled, "Observations on the Act for preventing Clandestine Marriages." In it he gives what seems to be "a plain, unvarnished tale" of Fleet Marriages. "As I have married many thousands, and, consequently, have on those occasions seen the humour of the lower class of people, I have often asked the married pair how long they had been acquainted; they would reply, some more, some less, but the generality did not exceed the acquaintance of a week, some only of a day, half-a-day, &c.... Another inconveniency which will arise from this Act will be, that the expence of being married will be so great, that few of the lower class of people can afford; for I have often heard a Flete parson say, that many have come to be married when they have but half-a-crown in their pockets, and sixpence to buy a pot of beer, and for which they have pawned some of their cloaths.... I remember once on a time, I was at a public-house at Radcliffe, which was then full of Sailors and their girls, there was fiddling, piping, jigging, and eating; at length one of the tars starts up, and says, 'D--m ye, Jack, I'll be married just now; I will have my partner, and'.... The joke took, and in less than two hours ten couple set out for the Flete. I staid their return. They returned in coaches; five women in each coach; the tars, some running before, others riding on the coach box, and others behind. The Cavalcade being over, the couples went up into an upper room, where they concluded the evening with great jollity. The next time I went that way, I called on my landlord and asked him concerning this marriage adventure; he first stared at me, but, recollecting, he said those things were so frequent, that he hardly took any notice of them; for, added he, it is a common thing, when a fleet comes in, to have two or three hundred marriages in a week's time, among the sailors."
The Marriage Act was passed, and came into force on March 26, 1754. On the 25th Sixty-one Couples were married at Mayfair Chapel.
It was a death blow to the Reverend Alexander, although he tried to laugh it off, if Horace Walpole may be believed. In a letter to George Montagu, Esqr. (June 11, 1753), he says: "I shall only tell you a _bon mot_ of Keith's, the marriage broker, and conclude. 'G--d d--n the Bishops,' said he (I beg Miss Montagu's pardon), 'so they will hinder my marrying. Well, let 'em, but I'll be revenged: I'll buy two or three acres of ground, and by G--d, I'll under bury them all.'"