The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-21 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 1856.

The Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Bill was
last night read a second time in the House of
Lords, and after a very interesting debate re-
ferred to a Select C ommittee. The gross defects
of the existing law, and the great injustice in-
flicted on women, imperatively require speedy and
effectual remedies. Bat certainly the measure of
the Lord Chancellor does not by any means meet
the evil, and something far more extensive is
urgently demanded, not only as a matter of gene-
ral policy, but as an act of simple justice towards
the sex, whom every true-hearted man will desire
to protect and assist in every difficulty and trial.
The bill which the Lord Chancellor has intro-
duced may possibly alleviate some of the defects
of the existing systems of divorce a vincula ma-
trimonii. Bat it is only calculated to assist the
aggrieved husband, while it places the injured
wife in even a worse position (if that be pos-
sible) than that she now occupies. It pro-
poses to constitute a new tribunal, which
may deal with the question of divorce absolutely,
and afford relief on a single trial, in place of re-
quiring three proceedings-Ist, before a superior
court of Common Law, in an action for Crim.
Con. 23, Before an Ecclesiastical Court, for a
divorce, a inensa et there ; and 3d, before Par-
liament for a private bill. The enormous cost of
these multifarious proceedings are such as to ope-
rate as a prohibition to all persons who cannot
afford to expend, under the most favourable cir-
cumstances; some 1,5001. or 2,0001. ; and in con-
troverted elites perhaps double or treble the
amount. Bat th© new Court, consisting of the
Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice, and the
Judge of the Court of Probate, cannot be pro-
ceeded. in, either cheaply or expeditiously. The
dignity of the Judges will require thatmatters should
be conducted without regard to expense ; aid the
numerous demands on the time of at least two of
its members will render it somewhat difficult to
procure the attendance of a full Court. In fact,
except in cases that have created a sensation in
the fashionable world, the jnflgtnen4; will inva-
riably be pronounced by the Judge of the Court
of Probate—(who will be authorised alone to deal
with all these cases)—and then will come the appeal
to the House of Lords, which will be preferred
in every instance where there is no collusion ;
so that the expense will still prevent relief from
being obtained in 99 obit of every 100 cases. All
that can be said in its favour is that it would be
some slight amelioration of the existing system,
so far as the parties who can avail themselves
thereof are concerned, but would still exclude the
great body of the people, and leave them without
hope or prospect of redress.

LOI&LYNDHURST and Lord BROUGHAM, in their
brilliant and convincing arguments, proved the
utter. inadequacy of the measure. The former
Noble Lord 'pada a speech worthy of his high
reputation, which well merited the high eulogiuma

which it received, and left little if abyching to be
wished for. He clearly and distinctly pointed
out the fl 'grant grievances under which females,
who have the misfortune to be united to brutal
or profligate husbands, are suffering, which he
classified under four heads—viz., " with respect
to property, personal protection, actions for
criminal conversation, and divorce !" In every
point the weaker party is subjected to gross in-
justice, and is left totally helpless by the boasted
laws of England in the latter part of the 19th
century.

As to property, it may be that, while the parties
are united and living together harmoniously,
there may be no necessity for any modification of
the law, although it certainly seems rather unfair
that what the woman has herself brought into
the common stock should be liable not only to
the disposal of the husband himself, but
the claims 'of his creditors. Not only
the property she has inherited, but even the
proceeds of her own industry, may be swept
away, and herself and her children deprived
of the common necessaries of life, in consequence
of acts over which she has no control, and for
which she cannot in any degree be held respon-
sible. But whatever may be said of those who
are living together—what reason can be urged
why a man who has been separated from his wife
in consequence of his own misconduct should be
enabled to turn her out of house and home, to
sell her furniture, and even to seize on her earnings.
She may be separated by reason of his cruelty
or adultery—and yet she is " homeless, helpless,
hopeless, almost destitute of civil rights."
She cannot legally enter into a contract ; or, if
if she does so, has no moms of enforcing, although
she may possibly be bound. She may be de-
famed, without the prospect of obtaining redress.
The condition of the " Pariah," or the " &aye,"
excites our sympathies. Why should we not look
to the condition of these nearer home, and for
whom we ought to be more deeply interested ?

In actions for criin. con. tile woman is more
deeply interested than either plaintiff or defen-
dant. It is chiefly a question of damages between
them ; but, although all that renders life valuable
be at stake, she has no locus stand;—canuot even
be reprerated at the trial. She may practically
b 3 conieuned without the opportunity of being
heard in her own defence. Her oath will not be
received, and she may be condemned and driven
om society in consequence of a compromise be-
tween those who may be conspirators against her.
All her prospects may be blasted, her home
broken up, her children taken away, her
very name rendered a bye-wozd and reproach.
And yet, in consequence of a legal fiction, that
her interests are invariably identified with
those of her hu'band, she cannot strive to protect
herself—even though possessed of friends who
would willingly advance the necessary funds—
for which, by the way, she must be indebted to
charity, as she can offer no security for what
may be required to sava her from what
a virtuous and high-minded woman would
consider far worse than death.
We trust that the reference to the Select
Committee will produce such alterations in the
Bill as to render it really worthy of acceptance
by the English community. In its present form
it can be considered but little better than " a
mockery, a delusion, and a snare."

The announcement made in the House by Lord
PALMERSTON, on Monday, in reply to the ques
tion of Mr. LINDSAY—" Whether it was expected
that private houses should be illuminated" on
All-British Fools Day—to wit, the 29th inst.,
properly belongs to that satisfactory class to which
the best acknowledgment under ordinary circum-
stances is—tl:l,inic yoii for nothing ! Present
circumstances; however, lend it some degree of
value, for after the tyrannical interference with
the liberty of the subject in the Parks, and the
latent threat of the Noble Secretary of a popular
charity, that., save on certain cJoditions, the win-
dows of those who don't illuminate may be
broken, all good subjects are bouud to thank the
Government for leaving them to do as they like
without molestation in the matter. Thank you,
most chameleon-like of Premiers—thank you fur
that 9. Only, with that fine versatile genius of
yours, don't change your mind till after the 29th.
The British population, then, whose forefathers
used to wait for no vivacious septuagenarian Pre-
mier's directions or assurances as to whether they
should illuminate or not, and who had the most
brilliant and glorious victories to exercise their
discretion over, are now free to take the question
into consideration. Shall their private houses
be illuminated on the day of Governmental re-
joicing or not? All Government toadies—all West-
end traders in money or goods—all that numerous
tribe better endowed with money than wit—will
doubtless return an answer in the affirmative.
What reply way be anticipated from those who are
the pith and worth, the intellect and heart, and
arms of the nation ? The question that will natu-
rally arise in their minds is—What should we
illuminate for ? The mob are not to break our
windows, and what other reason is there ? None
has the hardihood to say we have won a glorious
peace, or that the triumphs of our arms have
been at all commensurate either with the forces
at our disposal or the extent of our resources.
None will say the way in which Government
drifted into war, and carried on the War, was
otherwise than discreditable. nd who will
assert that the absorption of three entire years
in putting out our strength redounds at all either
to our credit or safety ? None but those who
would hold out for our emblem the blooming of
the aloes, that Governmental plant which rewards
by an ephemeral flower, of no great beauty, a
century of careful training. What sort of a
peace is it ? An honourable one Z Why, it's not
safe. It mey be broken next week. An ho-
nourable peace ? Why, the French EMPEROR,
and not we, dictated it—the French EMPEROR
and Austria, arid not we, wanted it—the French
Emeeiton and Austria, and not we, served their
turn by it. An honourable peace ? What, in
the interests of the tyrants of I sly H aiour-
able ? What, in that it betrayed 'Sardinia ? Ho-
nourable ? In HEAVEN'S name who shall say
that peace is honourable that leaves us in
such a predicament—we so low and our ante-
plaint so high that special messengers must
be despa•ched to St. Pe'ersburg to soothe
and Pacify the irate add uselessly deceived Mus-
covite. An honourable peace ? If so, the key to
it is not to be found in the harb:eur and fortifica-
tions to the North of Sebastopoi—nor in the
-elation-balls, nor on Cathcart-
buried millions of
bill, eior in the valleys
and by the hill-sideswhere repose, in the winding-sheet of a nation's
gratitude and respect, the bravest of our heroic
brave—the chivalry of the pesple.
Not in Bala-
klava. Not in the Crimea at all. Nor yet in
the Baltic. Turn whither you will, and no other
lesson shall you be able to discover ; but, that
having expended all that was needful for a great
and glorious peace, without having secured the
main objects of the War, you left the enemy so
little weakened as to need an embassy of concilia-
tion, and so much permanently strengthened, as
I a fun discovery of its weak points cats strengthen