The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-08-25
LAWS OF DIVORCE
in MANY LANDS
VARIOUS REASONS FOR WHICH
MARRIAGE BOND Is SEVERED.
Easy for a Man to Put Girdle of
Grass widows Around the Earth in
a Comparatively Brief Time-Trif-
ling Ground for Divorce in olden
Times and Now.
From the Green Bag.


tribes, brought together, compound a
dish of statutes as analogous to hash
as anything on the legal board. a
year or two ago a London writer hu-
morously suggested that an interesting
piece might be prepared for the stage,
entitled, "Round the Worlds Divorce
Courts in Sixty Days" He would have
the hero or shall I say the villain.
Don Juan, began his matrimonial ad-
ventures in ireland, take a second wife
in Scotland and a third in England.
The laws covering his case, lacking
uniformity between the three coun-
tries, would declare the marriages both
legal and illegal.
Don Juan would next go to America,
where, by reason of the varying laws
of the different states, he could marry
and divorce, remarry and redivorce,
and commit bigamy, trigamy, quad
rigamy, etc, until his itinerary called
him on to fresh fields and pastures
new.
over in Japan he could legally shake
off a wife who talked too much: in
China one who was lll-tempered: in
Australia one who imbibed too freely,
and in Germany one who was too eX-
travagant: and so he could travel
| merrily on, until he had actually grid
led the earth with divorces and grass
widows.
IN ROME.
Divorce was known in Rome as far
| back as the time of the decemvirs.
| The historian Donysius has preserved
a speech of Veturia, in which she men
| tions that her son, Coriolanus, before
| he left Rome, told his wife Volumnia,
| that he was no longer to be her hus-
| band, and wished her better luck in
| marrying another more fortunate than
| himself. This was in the fifth century
| before Christ.
| In ancient Athens the law allowed
| divorce upon very trifling grounds. In
| Crete any man might dismiss a wife
who promised to hamper him with a
| too numerous progeny. The Greek
| wife of today, if she would remain n
| wife, must conduct herself with the
| greatest propriety. The husband may
| obtain a divorce from her If, against
| his wish, she should stay night in
| another house; If. without his know
ledge she should go to the theater or
the races; or If, against his desire, she
| attends a dinner or goes in bathing
| in the company of men.
The divorce procedure of the ancient
Hebrews, judging from the case of
| Abraham and his wife. Hagar, was a
| very simple matter indeed. And Alb
| raham rose up early in the morning
and took bread and a bottle of water
and gave it to Hagar, putting it on
her shoulder, and the child, and sent
| here away"
In early Russian times divorce was
brought about in this way: The couple
who wished to be separated simply
proceeded to a public square, and, each
taking hold Of one of the ends of a
strip of brittle muslin, they pulled 1t
apart in the presence of the towns
people, by this act signifying mu-
tual desire to part company.
1t is not only in japan that hus-
band may divorce his wife if she
should be too talkative. The Chinese
courts allow divorce for loquacity, in
attention to her parents-in-law, thiev-
ishness, ill temper, lasciviousness and
barrenness. The man who puts away
his wife for any other cause is TO be
punished with eighty blows.
IN CHINA.
The ancient Chinese We're much more
liberal in their divorce laws. 1t is re-
corded in one of their old books that
"a. wife was turned away if she al.
lowed the house to be full of smoke, o,
if she frightened the dog with her dis
agreeable noise" by which it would
appear that those old rat eaters
thought more of their dogs than they
did of their wives. Probably the dogs
secured for them their faVorite roden-
tian fare.
| In Morocco a man may leave his wife
on the slightest provocation and marry
again. De Church writes: zone of the
servants here is reported to have haC
nineteen wives already. though he 1:
still middle-aged." Another writer SAYS
that among the Moors 1t is considered
low" for a couple to live too long to-
gether, and the leaders Of fashion are
those who have been the oftenest di.
vorced.
POllak tells us that in Persia a
"Sighe" wife is taken in marriage for
a legally stipulated period, which may
be of any length from one hour tc
ninety-nine years. In Greenland hus-
band and wife are allowed to separate
after living together for six months
The Maldivians are so fond of matri-
monial change that cases are freuuent
where a man marries and divorces the
!, same woman three or four times.
In France, in 1892, during the reign
! of terror the National Convention
tried the experiment of allowing di
vorce at the free will of the parties
concerned. The result was shocking
During the twenty-seven months i'm
mediately following the enactment o
the new law no less than 5000 divorces
took place in Paris alone and the mat.
ter grew steadily worse until in l79,
the divorces actually outnumbered the
marriages. In 1898 the act was amend.
ed. Writing of this period the his
torian Duval says: Couples divorced
for a yes or a mo-; they divorced
under the least provocation without
any more ado than they would hav,
to go and gather lilacs in the meadow.
of st. Gervais. or TO eat cherries a
Montmorency."
IN EARLY NEW ENGLAND.
Judge Cowley tells us that the first
act under which marriage could be dis.
solved by judicial degree in any de.
tendency of the English crown was
passed by the general court of Massa
chusetts In 1889. The new Court OF
Assistants" appointed by that act die
not have long to wait before eXercis.
ing its new prerogative, for at its first
meeting this case was decided
James Luxford being presented fol
| having two wives his last maria ps