The Press. — London, England, 1858-12-04 00:00:00

1184 THE PRESS, DECEMBER 4, 1858. THE WEEK. TILE new Law of Divorce may now be said to have had a fair trial. An attentive observer of the moral and social progress of the nation may already see in the working and general effect of the new Act quite enough to make him question the policy of so sudden and so sweeping a change as the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857. An argument based upon grounds more of expediency than absolute necessity found favour in the eyes of all who looked no further than the general question of legal reform ; and many have enlisted in its cause from an apparent injustice under the old law, which put the power of obtaining a divorce only in the hands of a rich man. No doubt it was a hardship that a member of one class of society alone, by reason of rank and fortune, should have that facility of separating from an adulterous and unworthy partner which was virtually denied to another. But then arose the question of how far the easy and expeditious mode at present resorted to in dissolving the marriage tie would tend to elevate the moral and social condition of the community at large. Mr. GLADSTONE, in an eloquent and brilliant speech in the debate of July, 1857, alluded to the characteristic constancy of the Englishwomen in the class for which the measure under discussion was principally in tended to benefit, and used these words :—" 'With regard to the lower classes " of society, when they are not, as is the case in London, brought into im mediate contact with temptation, I do say with joy and thankfulness " that the observation of the marriage tie is faithful in the highest degree. " If that be so, how singular it is that a great and deplorable laxity " with respect to chastity before marriage should be coupled with extra " ordinary strictness in the observance of the marriage vow ? The circum " stance requires explanation ; and my explanation, than which, I think, a " more rational and probable one cannot be found, is, that it is attributable "to the indissolubility of marriage according to the English law." Fully impressed as we are with the truth of this assertion, we have watched with care and attention the alteration which the change of that law has effected in the general tone of society in this country, and we say without fear of contradiction that a general opinion pervades nearly all classes that the marriage tie is no longer an absolute and total union of man and woman, but that the gulf is passable—that on the merest " tiff" a husband and wife can mutually arrange to separate, and, if things come to the worst, they have only to apply to Sir CRESSWELL CRESSWELL for a legal confirma tion, and they are free for ever. The tendency which this feeling will exercise on the morals of the nation is already beginning to show itself. When once a flippant and irreverent opinion as to the sanctity of the mar riage tie settles upon the English nation, we may bid good-bye to our boastea virtue and our much vaunted habits of domestic propriety. Matri mony, if once looked upon as merely the impulse of a moment or a freak of fancy, will never cease to be the subject of judicial investigation, and innumerable cases will inevitably appear before the public as disgraceful and as scandalous in its details as the late trial of " Marchmontv. March mont." In this long and disgusting trial a precedent has been established, the consequence of which may endanger, if not absolutely destroy, the union of many a married couple who are unfortunately given to mutual recrimination. It comes simply to this : that a wife who may have misconducted herself quite as disreputably as Mrs. MARCHMOST appears to have done, may, by presenting herself before the Divorce Court, obtain a separation from her husband on the ground of cruelty, notwithstanding any provocation he may have received, and for no other cause than using bad language in return for her own. We do not wish to plunge into the bearings of this unseemly squabble, much less to take the part of either petitioner or respondent in the suit. All we wish to do is to draw the attention of our readers to the principle established in the case, which, if followed out, must inevitably lead to such an increase in the number of applications of the like nature, as to render it necessary that some modification should be made before long in the facilities for obtaining a divorce at present existing under the law. It was never intended by the Bill to make a provision for weakness and wickedness, or that such a couple as Mr. and Mrs. MAncumosT should come within the control of the Court ; but the great and increasing difficulty is, how far to keep this relieving power within bounds, so, as was said at the time of the passing of the Bill, " as not to encourage or increase what was only intended to be " kept in tolerable order." The letter published in the Times of Thursday last, by Sir FRANCIS HEAD, is very well worth consideration. He there points out what the Emperor NAPOLEON has done for France, and what France has done for the Emperor—i.e., voluntarily abdicated certain rights of which too many people in this country suppose them to have been forcibly deprived. It has always seemed to us that the great question to be determined was not so much what was the character of LOUIS NAPOLEON'S government as what was the cause of it. Few people in this country believe that des potism is the best form of government, or that " the Peace Preservation Act" is a comfortable law to live under. But when we know that the removal of the first would be the signal for anarchy, and the removal of the second the signal for assassination, we submit to them as a hard ne cessity. France, in fact, is like a man in a fever, who must be kept quiet till he gets well. She brought the disease upon herself, and she must not quarrel with the physician. A little patience, and perhaps the cure may be completed. We already hear of immense improvements in her com merce and industry. Money is unlocked, trade is flourishing, and the poor are prosperous. The man who has accomplished these results de serves more forbearance than is usually accorded him ; and his pardon of M. DE MOSTALEMBEET shows that, satisfied with vindicating the law, he has sympathy for genius, and respect for public opinion. There have been several public meetings this week of more orless in interest. Political gatherings have taken place at Nottingham and Rutlandshire. On the first-mentioned occasion Mr. IVALvEit's health was proposed by a Mr. MrNDELLA, who alluded to their lion. Member' s position as the head of the English press, and of that journal whose "thunders shook the incapable or tyrannical Minister in his Cabinet, "made the despot tremble on his throne, and cheered the sufferer for "liberty in his foreign dungeon." Now, all this, we know very well , is what the Times promises its readers it will do, but we feel i nc li ne d' like the deputation that waited on Mr. GREGSBURY, to inquire if i t h as really done it—"lVhether it did not pledge itself to astonish despots, and "make them shrink in their shoes," and whether it has "astonished "them, and has made them shrink in their shoes" ? It appears to us that if that incapable Minister whom the Times devoted all its thunders to support instead of to shake, had still continued in office, the despot would have continued to reign and the sufferer for liberty to moan until this hour. To these grandiloquent gratulations Mr. WALTER replied, with becoming modesty, that if he had not become Prime Minister of England, it was only because he was the proprietor of the Times ; and he seemed to have some glimmering of consciousness that the two positions were incom patible. Surely Mr. WALTER is unnecessarily fastidious for the present age. There are gentlemen among his own staff who could show him that such scruples are ridiculous, and that it is highly convenient for a Minister to be able to do his own dirty work without being found out.—The meet ing at Oakham last Wednesday was remarkable for an excellent speech delivered by Mr. HEATHCOTE, in which he made some very sensible remarks on the subject of the new Reform Bill. There was one part of his speech, however, in which we think the Hon. Member was objecting to an argu ment that is now pretty generally given up. It is not because the towns are superior in intelligence that more Members are demanded for them; but because there is an appearance of unfairness in the constituencies being so divided, that in one place three hundred men, and in another twice as many thousand, have only the same number of representatives. This unfairness is more a matter of appearance than reality. But even if it were altered, we do not think any damage could accrue either to the Con servative cause or the agricultural interest. For, as either the county populations or the county constituencies outnumber the borough ones, unless some arbitrary franchise be established and the whole Reform Bill partake of the character of a privilegium, the counties must, on the whole, be benefited by any equitable redistribution of the elective body.—The religions meeting of the week was on the subject of China and Japan Mis sionaries, presided over by the Bishop of LONDON. The subject of Pro testant missions in general is one of the most interesting to which an Englishman can listen. Protestantism is as the breath of his life, while he rules over millions of Pagans, and is in close commercial intercourse with millions more. But there is a peculiar difficulty in his way, which he shrinks from looking boldly in the face. It is the very purity and sim plicity of his own creed, and that dislike of dogmatism which distinguishes its ablest professors, that unfit it to cope with the coarser allurements and more decisive action of Romanis'''. This disadvantage can only be met by presenting ourselves to the natives in marked contrast to the Romanist on those particular points wherein the latter is weakest. To the coercive and irrational character of the one religion we must oppose the mild and rea sonable character of the other. We must make the best use of all the material means at our disposal, and not shrink from using all theadvan• tages which our superiority in wealth confers upon us.—A meeting was held in the City on Wednesday last to consider the subject of underground railways through the metropolis, in connection with the cottage-accommo dation scheme to which we alluded a fortnight ago. Mr. PEAItSON, the City solicitor, Lord JOHN RUSSELL, and Baron ROTHSCHILD were among the principal speakers.—The Middlesex magistrates have also been taking into consideration Mr. WAKLEY'S grievance about the coroner's jury lately noticed in these columns. It is a melancholy fact, but none the less true, that your old-young man and your elderly colonel never will believe they are acting anything but a highly creditable part when they appear betbre the public in the character of a Don Juan. The hoary-headed Corydon revels in the eclat created by his romantic escapades in the club and the mess-room, and says, with Tom MoonE, the poet : Our locks, old Mend, now thinly grow, And some hang white and chill, While some, like flow'rs 'mid Autumn's snow, Retain youth's colour still. And so in our hearts, tho' one by one Youth's sunny hopes have set, " Thank heaven! not all their light is gone, We're some to cheer us yet." And so must have thought Colonel HOR'-E when he brought the case before the public which to a great extent carries out the truth of our obser vations. The gallant but not juvenile Colonel is quartered at or near Win chester, and chance throws him in the way of a Phyllis upon w hom to throw his affection. An acquaintance springs up apparently of sc . ) tender_ and demonstrative a nature that "the sweetest kisses" were freely given di exchanged on both sides. A correspondence naturally ensues, covered by a highly-excitable stepfather, who, instead of applying physi s r farce to punish "the invader of the domestic hearth," proceeds in a Wm,' novel and characteristic manner to stop the amorous Colonel's treacherous advances. Mr. Ron, the individual in question, and stepfather to Mos, and is dis : CLEAYELAND, with no very apparent object, became extremely desirous 01