The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1858-12-07 00:00:00

DIVORCE OF THE MARCHMONTS.
(From the noes of Thurocloy.)

FUT a week peat two 5r three of our adenine have
boon daily filled with ignoble theiteetio eguAliblia, and
our reader* mut be alined 611 'retitled ai the jury that
the Marehinunt ease bee been brought to 11 ounaluslutt.
The timieltun is MO hire. lifaralnuont LI to have the
eeparetion fur which she prayed, although tier own eon.
that element to hem been co detesteble throughout the
; cried of tier oultehltation—we cannot call it 11111W1.-, With
her itumbend the! ono limy well be eurprieed at the re.
sult. Nothing mild be more thovoughly disgueling
than the "tory of the Marehuient toenail, as It wad
brought out by the evidence of the WItIONWOO in the
course of the NMI, and mAinly by the lettituany of the
two immune principally ouneerittei. Hen WA OM
likeduand smearing at the wife, end the wife IWO/TOW at
the humhend, in the oust foul NMI kholikineble OUltinOr.
Whether Mr, Marelimmit's children were or were not
printout emus to hero nicite no denten*. Thee It,,
Icily would APPAL to the sherry bottle, charge her
Ittiebend with adolteroui interatturm with other women,
end begin yelling fuel gemming to Nem the howled'',
The loutleinatt would follow her example in the twat
opprobrium Immo, Nometime" Mre, ideroluniont wonlci
abeeltilely rue *wog from the hues" altogether. Mr,
MArclutukont would then Orme Imr out, Auld hriug her
back "Wiggling In a oh, if nut by fore., et lead in a
eery Matilde iniutner. The jury mei to here limiest
to lite ounaluilon that It would be an cot of charity to
'operate molt a hiueticuiul from ouch a wife, and, without
P 417 very eareful regerd In the Mut of the ultimo
implore them, to have decided that lite NOollef the March.
meet marriage wee broken up the latter for 141 minim
It may, however, be well doubted if it be a sound prin.
Chile to eitabllsh for the future, that any wife wits bee
Nucleate.' herself like hire. MITOIMIOIit may present
herself before NM Cromwell Creeswell, and obtain a
separation from her husband on the ground of cruelty.
Of absolute violence, as Wm the husband to the wife,
there wee only me inotance, and even that resolved
Itself Into a slight push with the open hand, not into a
blow, On the other side, the lady wee free enough with
her bends, and certainly upon one mumion 'Moak her
itueband eeverely, In ordlnery 1161100 we amid be in.
"lined to admit that the habitual one of foul and oppro-
brious language by a huebanki to lila wife dime amount, if
not to legal cruelty, at tenet to cruelty in the ordinary
acceptation of the tem Hut when 106 shown that the
wife herself he 'midwife' to UN langiuge of a more
abominable kind then my which tier -husband has VW'
ployed towards her the IMO in altered. It eanhot for a
moment be summed that her feelings have been out.
raged cis the feelings of any pure and virtuous woman
would be under the eirouutstanees. She 'were at her
litisbend, and her husband "wore at hie wife. What a
picture of this unfortunate person was drawn by Itir
Creeiwell Cromwell in lkis charge to thajury from Mr.
hiarohinmit's evidence, " A widow of 50, addicted to
Merry before marriage, indulging in it after marriage
to molt an extent as to excite her temper ; aciaustouted
to nee foul language, to swear, and to apply to her
husband every foul term in the language, and to whom
lie hiinself had more than ono" applied mail terms as
and -- ," ie the wife, and this the
hueband, who mine before the Divorce Court and finked
the Judge and jury to adjudicate upon their difference&
No doubt it may be for the beat in tido single instenee
that surh a woman should be separated from OUOII
man, but we do not think that the Diverge Act wee in-
tended for the benefit of mph people.
It ia scarcely possible to read the suterning up of the
Judge, without arriving at the eonslusion that the in-
clination of hie opinion muot have run counter to the
verdict of the jury. He began by carefully riving down
the prinoiples established by his predeousors under the
old arrangements of the Court as to what oonstituted
cruelty-811M cruelty as would entitle a wife to • semi•
ration from her husband. Violence—or the threat of
violence—would of oourse muffle°. If it be inconsistent
with the safety of the wife that clue should remain in
the society of her husband she will be entitled to •
separation from him. "Of words," however, Lord
Stowell seye, "it is sufficient to say that if they are
words of mere preeent irritation, however reproachful,
they will not amble the Court to pronounce • sentence
of separation. Words of menace, importing actual
danger of bodily harm, will justify the interposition of
the Court, as the law ought not to wait till the mischief
,is done." It he, happily, impousible, in the limited
space to-which our summary must neeemarily be *De-
fined, to give even an ides of the details of this abomin-
able cue, but the leading features of it are briefly as
follow :-51rs. Marolunont was formerly a Mrs. Lockett.
Hr. Lockett, a tavern keeper, in the course of lettere
died, leaving behind him this widow, who, as it appear*,
beeeme entitled after his Mean, to the very ernefort-
' Able sum of £50,000. This widow at the tinue Mr.
Marehmont paid hie Addresees to her was 50 yam of
age end partial to cherry. Mx. Marehunont was a
widower, as the lady was • widow, but he had children
by bile former marriage ; elle had none. He WO/ the
inhibitor of a alternating chapel at lelington, end, ee
acceding to his own Account, what between the stipend
of his officio and hi* pine from literary sources, he triads
up an Mamie of menething like £l,OOO a year. Ho are
poem to have conakiered that • union between himself
and Mr'. Loudon would be an excellent armament,
elthougla the lady wee fourteen yore older than hint.
calf. He wee suaoesiful in his suit; it was agreed be.
tween them that he was to give up his °lmpel—Met he
ehould be at the charge of lull own permed mimics—
that he Mould educate and clothe his elkildren, 'lei pay
all code of a earriage and a pair of Iterate. Mrs. March.
properly, tin the other hatch, was to be entirely
wattled on herself, but clue engaged, on condition thAt
her suitor would give up hie alkepol, that she would build
for him a Protemtent chervil, withal elm would etteull with
hie family, Thu dominant, dated July 10, MIT, hit whiali
Henry Meraltinent devote" hinkeelf to eternel perdition
If Ike 'Medd ever daring her oeverture In any wey
ettempt to meddle with tile wifte* fortune Is probably
unprecedented see 1111011111 of Igor bleepiteiny. It he AO
entirely clisereclitahle to the MCI WIIO meld write it cc
to the woman who aouttl receive such e never, and
itherweri" marry the outlier of it, Married, however,
they were, end they promeded to Tunbridge Wells fur
their hoiteyntonit. No sooner was the Gordian knot tied
then the disturb/moos boon which have formed the mic
luot of the remit mit, In the ma of this nthieralile
@maple there WM brief name indeed between the illarvint•
altar and the Divoree Cunt, " What a foul I lucre hem
to " merry, I hate marled life l" WO/ nearly the
yelled wreathe% moil by W 14,1041 wife to her affea•
tiuuuuate linobantl,
Now, we are tint about to bold Mr. ?derailment up to
intliguallun *lmply booms he haul made an Misruled
match, With ell dee reaped for the devoteeo of the
tender petulant we are well aware that Noah arrange.
menta Are made In thi" groat town every 'ley of the
week, and, for the must part, turn out well ingeugh,
Mr, klarobutiont, however, Appian to have mon had
good muse to repent the precipiteuei with which lie lied
risen to the golden fly Ilk myriad life wee one some of
porpetuel strife—nut more military demotic strife—
but of swearing, musing, struggiing, Malting hie wife
abotit, and of behaviour so mAndelous on both aides hunt
It la dleleult to *ay whether husband or wife should be
more loudly eunclemited, Mre. Meralinkont'i tuella and
evening "ung wee that her leseland had married her for
her money None which was true enough, Money,
however, clue would nut let him have if hie wife sent
him to take a railway tiukut for her, ha Wan obliged to
bring lack the ohms., and wee rated iountily and pub.
lialyif she judged tile tale Incorrect. Sometimes ono,
sometimes the other would go out catenelhly with
Weida) intentions, There wee a row about a dog.
There was a now bemuse tile pen nisch' a noise while
he wee writing. There Was a row about the wine. The
wife in eaumuilin, sherry "ort of way, would lake the
survante—anybody, in feet, but her husband, lido her
oonfidence. Then the Icily would leeve the Moe, and
Mr. Iderohntont would betake himself to our advert's.
lag offiee with effeationate entreaties to her to owns
beck, Here he a speculum of one of these precious
offuelons Rose, dearest, with a broken heart your
drooping dower entreats yen to return. Come Melt, I
Weisel% you, without one hour's delay. !shell not breathe
your flight to a living being mill I hear from you. Oh I
Ruse, you are more fondly loved than ever by T—r.
Forgive I Do not eat riehly, We 0111 be happy." Then
the ' drooping flower" wanted to be refrealted with a
golden shower, and there was a fresh dilturbanoe, In
Gab', in poliaeatuatione, at the houses of relatives and
friends, the same kind. of menu, interlarded with oaths
and blasphemy, were of constant ocieurrenee. The re-
sult was the trial of which we hare reliantly been cow
polled to give a report in our volumes. The jury have
deolded that this miserable occuple are henoeforth to live
apart j perhaps It is better that they should ; but they
might have done thls without the intervention of the
law, lied for ourselves we meet hut regret that either
of such a pair should have been able to weepy the mutt
for seven days with the detail of their abeam squab-
bles, nod have been relieved by it of the oonsuirnoss of
s bed begain deliberately contracted sad d berstaly
violated on both sides.