The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-25 00:00:00

COURT OP PROBATE AND DIVORCE.
(Before Sir J. P. Wilde.)
SIDNEY Y. SIDNEY.
In this case the wife had obtained a decree nisi dis-
solving her marriage with her husband, who was a man
in affluent circumstances. The court afterwards awarded
the lady permanent alimony, but a question was raised as
to whether, when a full divorce had been granted, the wife
was entitled to the same, as she would have been in the
case of a judicial separation, and the respondent had in-
timated his intention to appeal to another tribunal to re-
verse the award.
Sir J. P. Wilde, at the sitting of the court this morning,
said he thought, under the circumstances, that it would
be advisable if he explained his views in reference to the
question at issue. By the old ecck;siastical law the wife
could obtain only a divorce mensa et thoro, but was entitled
to permanent alimony. Referrineto the section of the act
bearing on this subject ho thought by the constitution of
the court it was empowered to grant permanent ali-
mony in cases of dissolution of marriage, for he
could not think the Legislature contemplated placing
the wife in a worse pecuniary position when she succeeded
in getting a divorce from her husband than she would
have been if she got merely a judicial separation. It had
been said that granting permanent alimony in such cases
would hold forth a pecuniary incentive to the exercise of
actions for divorce against women; and no doubt, it
being the duty of the Court to uphold the sanctity
of marriage, it should endeavour to quench any
attempts to dissolve the nuptial tie. But, on the
other side, this pecuniary consideration might be
supposed to operate in preventing the husband from com-
mitting himself so as to render himself liable to its imposi-
tion. It would be hard, indeed, if the husband, having,
by his ill-treatment, deSired his wife to seek for a divorce,
and obtaining what he required, namely, being freed by
the court from a partner who had become dis-
tasteful, should be exempted from making any
prows • ion for the woman who was the victim of his
misconduct. In this case he would decree that the respon-
dent should allow the petitioner £245 a-year, which, with
her other means, would give her an income of £4OO. That
amount would not maintain her in the position she occu-
pied when living with the respondent, but it approached as
near as possible to the award that would have been made
by the ecclesiastical court.
The Learned Judge then made the decree nisi absolute.

COURT OF BANKRUPTCY.
(Before Mr. Registrar Winslow.)

IN RE SIR J. A. DOUGLAS, ENT.-ONE OF ENGLAND'S

NAVAL COMMANDERS.

This bankrupt, who is somewhat advanced in years, is
described as a retired staff commander in the navy, now on
half-pay, and to-day was appointed for the order of dis-
charge.
Mr. Denny supporting.

The debts are only £144, with no assets, and the bank-
ruptcy is ascribed to insufficiency of income and non-pay-
m3nt of claims on her Majesty's Government. The bank-
rupt states that he is entitled as a retired staff commander
to a pension of ss. per day as half-pay, which seems is pay-
able quarterly. He is also entitled to an out-pension o
£5O per annum from Greenwich Hospital for wounds and
public services. In addition to the causes of the failure
Sir J. A. Douglas says—" I consider myself entitled to re-
ceive from her Majesty's Government a very considerable
sum by way of compensation for services rendered, and
losses suffered by me in the public service in China in the
years 1839-40, during which period I protected, at my own
expense, British lives and property there."
Mr. Denny, on behalf of the bankrupt, made a most ener-
getic address, and pointed out to the Court the long ser-
vices he had rendered to his country, and his Honour
granted the order as prayed.