ABSTRACT
We are glad to note that the Lord Chancellor has brought in a Bill to amend the law as to the restitution of conjugal rights. For many years both men and women, when the case was put before them, have exclaimed against the tyranny which this law exercised over human affections, and have declared that it ought not to form part of the English code. Again and again women have been compelled under this law to return to an intimate association, which nothing but the sacred influence of love can render tolerable, and make personal concessions, which, when made, must be made with loathing. Sometimes, however, the case is reversed. It is no secret that the last case of the kind which has attracted public attention, is where the lady (of unsound mind, probably) is the petitioner, the husband the defendant: "He had deserted her," she said, "and in vindication of her own character she wished to be restored to the position she formerly occupied as his wife" Sir James Hannen took time to consider, but was ultimately compelled to declare the law as it actually stands, and there is little doubt that this exceptional case has caused the Lord Chancellor's decision to bring the law into conformity with improved public opinion.
