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    husband can be induced to be an adulterer and stop away from bis wife long enough , if he can be provoked to use violence , or if he be fool enough to subject himself to the penal law as a bigamist , then the compact can be dissolved . It is already the law that divorce can . be obtained for those who can afford it , if . the wife commit the . offence ; but it does not seem to have occurred to those who have the handling of this subject as a matter of legislation * that fche crime would , in manycases , mt be committed if the occasion of it were taken away .

    While the bill is passing through Parliament , there comes before the House of Lords the . petition of Madgewick : Spicjsb . Davidson , praying that the marriage with Cathe--binb Anne , his wife , be dissolved , on the ground of adultery . The bill has passed the House of JJords ; the Lobd GHANCEiiOB lias delivered judgment , giving credence to

    the story told in court ; and we may therefore , although we have still some reserve of doubt , assume for the purposes of argument that the tale was rightly told . But it is one which far less establishes the ground of divorce , than it shows that the husband and wife ought to have been released from an untoward bond before the offence was

    committed ; and that in fact they ought never to have been brought together . Catherine Anne Wooi > is the daughter of a gentleman in "Wiltshire , a widower with four children . Mabgewick Davidson is a solicitor . At the time of the marriage ^ in February , 1855 , he was thirty-nine years of age , and the young lady was then under

    twentyone . She had no fortune , but Mr . Davidson had : been happy in his business , and he was enabled to settle upon her 8000 Z . One of the objects of the bill was to set aside this settlement , on the ground that it had been obtained by the means of a pretended attachment on the part of the lady . There was no evidence that effectually established that

    pretence . Mrs . Davidson was chargeable with extreme folly ; she was extravagant in her dress ; she appears to have exacted from her husband a lavish expenditure 1 , and t 6 have been , capricious in her wishes ; but there was hoi evidence to proved that either before marriage , or after , she had shown that kind of attachment which woman displays for man when they should be married . On the

    contrary , ; before her marriage she wrote to a music-seller in Rat hb one-place with whom she- had been a customer , invoking his aid . She ! tdld him that she was a victim to injustice and tyranny ; she said that all her letters were read , begging him not to mention having received this bne ^ and she asked him to forward any letter he might receive for' her . She did' receive letters . Orie > was on the

    22 nd of November ^ 1854 » , three months befbrerfodr ;» marriage j she again , received letters through tfao same medium ; after her liiarriage : > v . It is quite clear that they came from ; JEmile Ijaloubtte . This i was a , young man ( whom she had met at a school in franco , U fewvyeors before her nmrriage , 'wheri' Wft » seventeen 'or eighteen . ' It appears that flhe then formed an attachment lor' him eo

    strong that it made h ^ r marry with reluctance , and after her mfarriago , inade her resolve to brdak sho * t the union with-her husband . Mr . Dayisdson tookihor to Paris ; and it is shown thabisUo prepared ' for a long , if not for a pormauef tb , abeonco , Although the excursion * tinly-twbe' shor t ; . In Paris alio found means of meeting iwiAh i liAtouteTTK ; their lovo for eacli other' ' "wrfw ^ nconcoftlcd , although the lad y * gave it -m $ roftjssirtily spiritual twirn ; aitd tbft ^ r \ remained togcth ©* ' Under' * oircuitistancGB vlnbh gave 1 ' doubt a »< td the / indulgdnde * # thodr-iiasiiiom ' > Homsn tend' ^ Juliet conld hot hiydibeeninoite umti ^ iBedliufotfe Ithb < 4 furge

    than the young couple before Mabt Ajftjs Denman , the lady ' s maid . ¦ < - ' ¦ ¦ ¦ All this story is very plain ; it is only wonderful that any gentleman should have desired to retain for his : wife a woman whose affections he had not previously ascertained , without the slightest donbtj to ; be his own and his own exclusively * It was said in evidence that he was " only too indulgent ;" and his /" kindness '' aggravated the charge against the swife . "Very -shortly after his marriage , she withdrew from , him as much as ifc was possible ; -avoided being > a-wife to

    him . ; was cold and indifferent ; and ail this notwithstanding that he had settled 80002 . upon her , that he gave , her money for her most extravagant wishes , kept three saddlehorses exclusively for her use , and relinquished 230 / . a year out of his income in order- that he might return home at an earlier hour . It is a fact however , —although they < tell it in romances , —although we find ibinHtoineo and Juliet , and although it corner out sometimes in cases of this kind , —that even 8000 L a year ^ a fu ll purse , and three- saddlehorses will not always render the lover blessed . In this case the ; suitor had dreadful

    leeway to make up , inasmuch as . he was about twice his wife ' s age . If we judge by experience , no man shall safely ipresume that , after he has obtained possession of a woman , he shall win her heart by an exhibition of cash and saddle-horses . Some women may be so won , but they are seldom worth the ¦ winning . Xet the reliance placed upon these aids in the evidence would imply that the suitor relied upon them in fact , Perhaps he believed that it was the duty of the wife to be won ; that it was no longer his place to be a suitor after he was married . It is often

    a ruinous case when the husband-falls back upon his " rights . ! . ' .. It violates thephilosophy of that astute gentleman who said that if a man did not want . his wife to be seduced from him , he should keep on : seducing her himself . But it is not to be done with 8000 ? . and three saddle-horses . It . is , to be done without these auxiliaries ;? for , there is no statement that Emi ^ e % jAJj&unjyiE was- able to comm&ud the assistance of 8 Q 0 O 2 . and three saddle-horses . * * ¦ f , ^< h \ ... f-. t ;¦ '

    Some persons , had the' power . to dispose , of Catherine Annjs Wood , ; < and , jthety so far defied experience , past and present ., : a » , to venture upon the hazardous experiment of rendering her one with Mai > Qewick SyiOEB Davjdsomv The experiment proved . a failure . It was absolutely necessary for both their sake * , that they should be rdivided . It , will be happy if their story , which is laid before the whole world iii the columns of the Times , should teach other i men i and women , where

    there ia no love ; on , both side s * not -to-., venture upon th © ectperimeuti . It should teach others , who can dispose of young worn en'before , they have attained their , majority , not . thus to usurp the power of Provwfaoce * f But the case may also teach oue legislators how absurd ifc : i 8 to be making special > acfcso £ Parliament every time these matrimonial disasters occui * , instead of revising , once ffbar nil /; the' law of matrimony and its ; relations 1 , with a proper jurisdiction to settle inevitable idisputes on the grounds of juatice and humanity .

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    PARLIAMENTAllY MAGIC . On » foriwer occrtsion wo 'deemed it our duty to support the claims of Meeb Ja ^ jtimr Atj I against 1 the East India'Company . 'Since ' theh We have seen no rbadoni to change our opinion « s > toth » abstract 'justice ''of nib case . '' 'Bat the manner in widi thttt * ' x * t \ m has- - been brought before the public sugg *« st $ Bbmo ' stirio \ m ^ u ^ Btidnri , ' TH « J * flgi ^ ittui » a ha 8 wisbly providett sttingont ) € Wactm « eatfls ttfeftiwsil 'bribery and'corruption duritog tUo ' elebtioiii ^ f' tho re ^

    presentatives of the people . ; It has not ye t ^ however , taken into consideration the pectt * liarities of Khutput . It is not many years ; scarcely niany months , since this word of itt omen first startled the press , the : public , and the- Parliament . The phrase had been just imported from India by the ^ overland routes

    It was in everybody ' s mouth , but within the comprehension < . of ; very few . < Ultimatel y ; it was explained that ; a * Court of his ^ HigJ ? t ? ness the Gruicowar certain - practices had . pre * vailed indicative of a very ^ low es timation- of honour and public morality .- iAUf things-were venal , though not ostensibly offered for galenas ' marketable commodities . The British BersLr

    dent at Baroda at that tune was a ; higftr minded , honourable gentleman ,. but -not rer markablefor acutttoess ,. and by no means a match for Oriental : intrigjae and deception . Had he been at all aware of what was going on , there is no dou-bt he would have reportetl the circumstance to his superiors . But while * he dozed on in blissful ignorance , the most

    frightful corruption ; was spreading aroundi him . Handsome shawls , richly-caparisoned steeds ,. costly jewels , and other valuable " considerations , " were secretly presented to . the wive » ,. daughterSj and near , relatives of persons ia power . That female gratitude and , female influence Bhouldfail to make a suitable , return for such acceptable compliments , cowld hardly be expected from human nature . , This form of bribery was known as Khutpir t * v evil

    When the existence of this monstrous gradually came to the knowledge of the , Indian Government , great and just was the indignation , it excited ; and all good men must remember gratefully the vigorous mear ; sures adopted by General Ouxeam : to expose and put down a state of things so ; disgraceful and pernicious > At home theires ¦ was - »• general < . outcry against the . corrupt ' condition of society in . India , and honourable ^ membera of the House of Commons loudly

    inveighed against the i Government under which such flagrant enormities were . possible . With a sjight change of names , the same , , charges may now be brought against , these grave moralizers themselves ; - . The faults they found : so grievous , ia their , fteig ^ bours lose . their deformity on , ; nearer andi personal < aor | quaintance . Khutput has raised its , hydfffti headj , unrebuke 4 , in the very lobby , fof tb 0 ? faithful : Commons . , Many , a fajr dame m ^ no-w ; exhibit a real : Indaau cashmere ^ ^ h » ,

    has hitherto ; been doomed to theM ^ s ^ j fashionable ( productions of , the SfuenclTBOt ! English loom . Many a rosy-fingered damafili displays on her well-rounded arms " bairf ^ baric pearls and gold , the wealth of Ormuz or of Ind . " ' Ita bonum publicnin , ut in pleri 8 < tue neyotiU solet , privatA gratid devictttm'J / Unhappily this ianqt the only bad featuurai in the case . The claims of Meek JAiFHiivtt : Am were enforced by means of a private briil . i There is precedent , , indeed ,: for such a courae ;

    and i one . eminently oaksulated to <; encourago the abettors aiiid advo cates , of the Ameers It - is known-to ; the istudent of , Indian histexrjh as the Nozid cas ^ e , bub for ' th © sake of mere English readeire , it may be worth while tof recapitulate ita most salient points . ' ^ i In tho year 1775 , at a time when the civil Government of Madras was notoriously cor-J rupt , Mr . Jam * s Hodges , Meinbcr of nth ^ advanced of

    Cou-nbil ' of Masulipatnm , < a" sum' > money to N&RSivca Appa ^ ao , ' / Zbrnindarwotf Nozi'd , attd also t 6 ok uponac ^ iibself'tliecpay-i ment of his debts to tb <^ otot ior members * of' the OounciL 'He ^ thia ra 1 became the ! a ^ - mihdar'ri bredttorUo- ^ h 6 'ffrwountnof fl 7 i € < SJJ Mivdttis pagoattB , ^ though he > "was attrttfe that BUohi'Y 5 t > nd « te < i' was in direct cWriWa * veniion ) U ) -t \ m wiahes ' of ' the C ^ 6 urt ;» ^ hig ibreg . tilai « tr ^ hi ^ ction > tt ^ B < 7 adi < Midly'KepU ^ m tli ^> kn 6 ^ 1 edg ^ of"aovfirumdnt oofatil IT' 7 ^

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    feT 12 , ia& 6 ; 3 ' grg ' E' Ij CE A TOMKT 6 M

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 12, 1856, page 661, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2149/page/13/