The Sun.
London, England, 1857-02-14 00:00:00

_ .
ration de biens, either with or witbotit a serval on de
corps, but she could also obtain an autorisation—an au-
thority by which her property was placed beyond the
reach of her husband. This aas not an ex parte proceed-
ing, for if the husband appeared he was heard, and the
judge, after an examination of all the circumstances, de-
cided the case. Mr. Macqueen related an anecdote which
' illustrated the effect of this law. A. washerwoman
belonging to the hotel which that gentleman was in-
habiting was married to a man who had deserted her ;
' the creditors of her idle, worthless, dis-ipated husband
' claimed her earnings, but she was allowed leave of absence
from her work for half-a-day, and by the time she re-
turned she had obtained an autorisation, which effectu-
ally protected her and prevented the creditors from
. touching a farthing. He had heard an anecdote which
illustrated the effect of the English law. A French
gentlewoman,', not being stiecesefol in her business in
Paris, came, by the advice of an English lady, to Len-
don, where she established, and f,,r some time carried
on a fionristeina business. Her husband heard of her
success and came- to England, swept away all her
entire
ncf tended
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tdrnp eestrtdhrorcyoropot
required
r'
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earnings and collected her debts. She returned to
l
i
Paris, saying to her English friend, " Ab, Madame
how can you bear to live in such a barbarous
ori
resolutions,t
amendment,
tdhegh
en eord impracticabler namdwr
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hess eatotaffisfhatt
naehnr tnday:l
ratil
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remedy
yin
property,
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y. he
Hwould
lawhe
r:eb9ttu_ hi, thataiur-
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Society,sahn(cul
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colleague
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allowedpreparedmen hdb
into effect the first and most effectual remedy. -He had
been told that it was hopeless to expect that such a bill
would pass, lout be comforted himself by remembering-the
observation of Lord Bacon, that no renprovernent in jeris-
prudence founded 'upon a 'good priuciple was ever proposed
which did not sooner or:later bear fruit, however despe-
rate its chance of success might at first appear. There
was a time when all men despaired of the possibility of
abolishing the slave trade ; but the day came when that
enormity was brought to a close so far as this country
was concerned. Then, again, for' about 20 years the
demand for the abolition of slavery itself was by many
believed to be hopeless, and yet they lived to- se 4 the '
system of slavery put down. The labot?rs of ftomily,
too, might be recalled to comfort those who were
engaged in .what might appear a hopeless struggle.
When'that distinguighed individual brought in a bill -to
compel men
._to do what'all, honest men did—pay their
debts out of their freehold estates—he was opposed
with as much determination as if the-mea.ure had in

olved a confiscation of property. Thatlittle modicum
of reform was carried, and then oatne those other at-
tempts of his 'to mitigate the severity of the criminal law
which had reflected so much honour on his memory, and
we had lived to see the full fruits of his labours, almost
all capital offences having now been struck off oar crimi-
nal code. Even within the 1:1,1 14 or 15 ycars many.
safe and prudent measures of law reform, .at first
opposed, had been successfully carried. In 1845 he
brought in nine bills for the-amendment of the law.
Every one of those bills seemed then to be hope-
less, but seven of them were the 14. w of the land
within five or six years afterwards, one of them
being that important measure which allowed parties
to be examined as witnesses. These were his grounds
for entertaining a sanguinc—he could hardly say a con-
fident—expectation that the present measure, as one
founded on the same principle, would ere long pass into
a law, and thus give inexpressible relief to a most inte-
resting portion of-the community. The noble and learn-
ed lord concluded by moving his resolution.
Earl GRANVILLE-said it was matter of deep regret
that the noble and learned lord should be obliged to
leave this country, and that it would not be in his power
to assist their lordships in the consideration of those
most important law reforms to which their attention
would be drawn. With regard to the question of the
rights of married women, to which the noble and learn-
ed lord had just directed their notion, be had summed
up in a most lucid and satisfactory manner, and illus-
trated with. his peculiar talents all that had been pre-
viously said in their foidships' house on that subject.
The evils to which he had referred were admitted to be
great, and, though some of them were, no doubt, inci-
dental to the relations' that existed between the sexe.,
yet it was universally admitted and acknowledged
that the law did create artificial difficulties and
artificial evils of its own. (Hear, hear, bear.) With
regard to the resolution proposed by his noble' and
learned friend, he presumed that he only took that mode
of leaving on record his views of the subject, and that it
was not hie, wish to commit the house in any way to the
expression of an opinion regarding it. He could say
that he bad listened with great interest and admiration
to the statement of the noble and learned lord, who was
so well entitled to be heard, considering the great and
extraordinary efforts he had made in the cause of law re-
form. That there was great room for an improvement of
the law was almost universally admitted ; but the chief
obstacle to the removal of the evils tbat existed lapin this,
that when any practical measure was brought forward
with that object there arose such a difference of opinion

among those who were connected with the profession of
the kw regarding it as to present almost insuperable diffi
culties to its being carried. He hoped the speech of
the noble and learned lord on the great and important
subject to which it related would have the effect of narrow-
ing the difficulties that surrounded the question, and his
hope was that some satisfactory conclusion regarding it
would be arrived at during the present session, and be-
fore the noble and learned lord returned. (Hear.)

Lord CAMPBELL felt that this was not the time-to
enter into the details of the proposal made by his noble
and learned friend, though he was ready to concur in
the general spirit of the resolution. Toe law of this
country, ae.regarded, married women was barbarous, and
be hoped a remedy. would be soon provided. ~ tie was
above all daairoaa' to see a better mode enabling women
to separate from their husbands who deserted them or
used them cruelly. He confessed he thought that moot
of the objects sought to be attained by his noble and
learned friend would be attained by the bill which the
Lord Chancellor had recently introddcod, and therefore
that the necessity for his noble and learned friend's resolu-
tions was the less apparent. (Hear, hear.) When Isis
noble and learned friend was intr(iducing his proposal to
the house, he (Lord Campbell) thought he heard a noble
earl ask what was to become of the children of a mar

riage in case it passed into a law. Tnat was a very
natural question, and as it appeared to him (Lord Camp-
bell) conclusive to show the impolicy of any such propo-
sition. Was the wife, for instance, to be committed to
prison in case she refused to contribute her proper share
to the expenses of the menage! He contended that the
proposal would lead to perpetual discord amorg married
persons, and prove detrimental to domestic happiness.
The LORD CHANCELLOR was about to put the
resolutions, when
Lord CAMPBELL moved the adjournment of the
debate to this day six weeks.
After a few words in reply from Lord BROUGHAM, the
motion of Lord Campbell was agreed to.