Lords Sitting of 6 February 1857

THE DIVORCE COMMISSION—FOREIGN LAWS OF DIVORCE—

  MOTION FOR A PAPER.
  LORD CAMPBELLsaid, he wished to move for a valuable paper, to the production of which he believed there would be no objection. He was sure that all who had any notion of its contents would rejoice in seeing it laid on their Lordships' table. Their Lordships were aware that four years ago a Commission, of which he had the honour to be the head, was appointed to consider the law of divorce; and that they made a Report on which was founded a Bill that had twice been laid upon the table of the House. It had, however, been thought proper, and he considered very wisely, to extend the measures

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  which that Commission had recommended, and he believed that the Bill which his noble and learned Friend (the Lord Chancellor) had promised to introduce this Session would be of a more comprehensive description than the proposal of the Commissioners; and that it would take into consideration what should be done with respect to the rights of women who had been separated from their husbands, and the various rights and liabilities arising from the important relation of husband and wife. The secretary of the Commission, Mr. Macqueen, furnished with valuable introductions which he received from the noble and learned Lord opposite (Lord Brougham), who was so intimately connected with the other side of the water, had been in Paris, and in consequence of that introduction he had obtained much information, both from oral communications and from written books; and he had composed a most valuable paper, which he had laid before the Commission, having reference to the whole laws on the subject of husband and wife; and divorce, which prevailed in France under the ancien régime, under the Code Napoleon, under the Bourbons on their restoration, and under Louis Philippe, and continued in existence up to the present day. He had also furnished them with an abstract of the codes of other continental nations, especially those of Austria and Prussia; the code of the latter being particularly interesting, as it was a Protestant country, and, like England, did not consider marriage indissoluble. It was, he thought, of great importance that their Lordships should all have an opportunity of reading this valuable paper before the whole matter was brought before them, on the Bill being introduced by the Lord Chancellor; and what he proposed was, that a copy of it should be laid on the table, and should be printed and circulated for the use of the Members of the House. The noble and learned Lord then moved an Address for a Copy of the Paper on foreign Laws of Divorce, prepared for the Divorce Commissioners by their Secretary, Mr. Macqueen.
  LORD BROUGHAMsaid, that he agreed entirely in the opinion expressed by the noble and learned Lord as to the value of the document, and the propriety and high expediency of having it before them in time to well consider its contents before any discussion arose on the measure of the Lord Chancellor. His noble and learned Friend (Lord Campbell) had not, in the
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  smallest degree, gone too far in eulogising the paper of Mr. Macqueen, for it was impossible to over-estimate the importance of the information it contained. His (Lord Brougham's) opinion on this subject remained precisely the same as it was when the subject of marriage and divorce was last before the House; with this difference, that his conviction had been strengthened by further reflection and further experience of the evil consequences of the present law.
  Motion agreed to.

ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE—

  QUESTION.
  LORD BROUGHAMwished to ask his noble Friend on the woolsack whether the Bill which he contemplated introducing into that House, with respect to ecclesiastical discipline, contained any provision for doing what he (Lord Brougham) had so frequently urged the necessity of upon the attention of that House, as well as elsewhere; namely, giving to the Court of Appeal—the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council—the very great benefit of having access to the opinions of the Episcopal Bench, or a portion at least of that Bench, upon questions of doctrine incidentally, but most importantly, coming before them. He did not mean to say that the Court of Appeal should be bound by the answers which the ecclesiastical authorities gave to questions, but that it should have the benefit of their opinion and information on questions submitted to them, in the same way that the Court of Chancery had the advantage of the opinion of the Courts of Common Law without being obliged to act upon it.
  THE LORD CHANCELLORsaid, that such a provision would be found in the Bill which he should ask permission to lay on the table. His most rev. Friend the Archbishop of Canterbury had been kind enough to communicate to him a sketch of a Bill which he had framed, in conjunction, he believed, with a great number of the right rev. Prelates, for the Amendment of the present law relating to church discipline. That Bill contained a provision for the purpose mentioned by his noble and learned Friend; but, as it was very inconvenient and cumbrous, he had not thought it desirable to adopt it. The course which he proposed to adopt was exactly that which his noble and learned Friend suggested—namely, that some of the Episcopal Bench should attend the Judicial Committee as assessors when their

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  presence would be likely to throw light upon any matter brought before that Court.
  House adjourned to Monday next.