Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1816-12-28
Richmond, Dec. "a.
Virginia Legislature.

|doctrine of dlvorees--In the case of SO
|phia McCaushen--Some of the membef.
lcontending, that the Legislature coul,,
not properly establish the facts ia sucb
cases, and that it was exr.tIient in all
such cases to refer the preliminary in
Ivestisation to a court O. chaneery-
others again contending that the Legis
lature ought to keep the whole lurisGic-
Ition over the matter in, IT'S own lmnds.-
AS to the uatu'e of the marriage tie, some
|cuHtentea thai it wa n ecclesiastical
institution and that those whom Gnd had
Joined together no man could put asun
Ider Others regarded matrimony as a
civil institution only ore gentleman en-
CURED when Adam and Eve were nla :
RED, whore was the parson p As to the
consequences OF divorces, some contend
ed that il you once letin divorces. where
was tie limit !? that at a certain STAGE Of
the French revolution, when they wrote
over their burial grounds This is the
y lace Of eternal sleep, there were net
less than 1873 cases that would justly the
tribunal in divorcing the parties: and
THAT the general effects OF tins i0Osening
I the bonds of mafrimoBy, were yi:,,le in
the general depravify of morals, and in
breaking up all the bohds AID charities of
domestic Iite-0'her gentlemen eontend
led, that there were cases which would
iiustify such an interference Of The lie
gislative power, those cases it was con.
Ifessed were indeed desperate ones
that the case of Sophia McCaughen was
of this character, she having been abo,
minably treated by her husband, who had
now deserted her for yeas, and there
was every reason to believe would never
return.
Mr.. Heath, the moyor Of the measure,
and the principal advocate Of Sophia Nc
Caus hen, oRered a Ryder to the bill,
which goes to forbid Charles Me- aughen
from marrying again, and declares that
liz such case he shall be deemed guilty
iof bigamy-h few remarks were made
on this question, whether the man could
be considered as guilty of bigamy, his
| first wife being divorced from him that
lis, whether the man csUld be considered
as tie husband Of two wives, when ote
of them was in fact no longer a wife--in
iother words, whether husband and wife
were cOrrelative terms, and whether he
could be husband, when she was no lon,
ger a wife.
! The House adopted the Ryder--and
the question being.put on passing the
bill and the Ryder, it was carried, with
tout division.
The resolution offered by The commit
tee of Schools and Colleges, for establish
.;ng Bank for the benefit of the Literary
Fund, was taken up for consideration :;
when Mr. Mercer of H. speke cons-
derable time in favor of it conteldDg,
that without some such great addition,
as This scheme promised to make to the
Fund, it was Impossible to carry into ex,
location the great objects whIchhe wish
ed that fund TO embrace, viz, One Uni
versity, FOUR College, twenty, Or five and
twenty Academies, and primary schools
established over this State, besides max
ling additional contributions to the Col
llege of William and Mary, and the Aca-
denies now in existence that the Whole
|amount of that Fund Was but $4,000.
exclusive CT The appropriation which mad
heen made to it out Of the debt paid by
the y. States {: that there was about
100000 more which might be expected
FROM that source, making in all, when
Ipaid, about 81, 100000 belonging to the
Literary aund: that the contemplated
would cost about s 100000
land Mr. Mercer enquired, where the re-
siduary S700,0O0 was TO come IRON be
hunted out the proposed bank as 1hel