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 247 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 248 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.