CHAPTER 17
SUCH was her state of mind when the dogs of law were let loose on her. Maria
took the task of conducting Darnford's defence upon herself. She instructed his counsel to plead
guilty to the charge of adultery; but to deny that of seduction.
The counsel for the plaintiff opened the cause, by observing, "that his client had ever been an indulgent husband, and had
borne with several defects of temper, while he had nothing criminal to lay to
the charge of his wife. But that she left his house without assigning any
cause. He could not assert that she was then acquainted with the defendant;
yet, when he was once endeavouring to bring her back
to her home, this man put the peace-officers to flight, and took her he knew
not whither. After the birth of her child, her conduct was so strange, and a melancholy
malady having afflicted one of the family, which
delicacy forbade the dwelling on, it was necessary to confine her. By some means
the defendant enabled her to make her escape, and they
had lived together, in despite of all sense of order and decorum. The adultery
was allowed, it was not necessary to bring any witnesses to prove it; but the
seduction, though highly probable from the circumstances which he had the honour to state, could not be so clearly proved.--It was of
the most atrocious kind, as decency was set at defiance, and respect for reputation,
which shows internal compunction, utterly disregarded."
A strong sense of injustice had silenced every motion, which a mixture of
true and false delicacy might otherwise have excited in Maria's bosom. She only
felt in earnest to insist on the privilege of her nature. The sarcasms of
society, and the condemnations of a mistaken world, were nothing to her,
compared with acting contrary to those feelings which were the foundation of
her principles. [She therefore eagerly put herself forward, instead of desiring
to be absent, on this memorable occasion.]
Convinced that the subterfuges of the law were disgraceful, she wrote a paper,
which she expressly desired might be read in court:
"Married when scarcely able to distinguish the nature of the
engagement, I yet submitted to the rigid laws which enslave women, and obeyed
the man whom I could no longer love. Whether the duties of the state are reciprocal,
I mean not to discuss; but I can prove repeated infidelities which I overlooked
or pardoned. Witnesses are not wanting to establish these
facts. I at present maintain the child of a maid servant, sworn to him, and
born after our marriage. I am ready to allow, that education and circumstances
lead men to think and act with less delicacy, than the preservation of order in
society demands from women; but surely I may without assumption declare, that,
though I could excuse the birth, I could not the desertion of this unfortunate
babe:--and, while I despised the man, it was not easy to venerate the husband.
With proper restrictions however, I revere the institution which fraternizes
the world. I exclaim against the laws which throw the whole weight of the yoke
on the weaker shoulders, and force women, when they claim protectorship
as mothers, to sign a contract, which renders them dependent on the caprice of
the tyrant, whom choice or necessity has appointed to reign over them. Various
are the cases, in which a woman ought to separate herself from her husband; and
mine, I may be allowed emphatically to insist, comes under the description of
the most aggravated.
"I will not enlarge on those provocations which only the individual
can estimate; but will bring forward such charges only, the truth of which is
an insult upon humanity. In order to promote certain destructive speculations,
Mr. Venables prevailed on me to borrow certain sums
of a wealthy relation; and, when I refused further compliance, he thought of bartering
my person; and not only allowed opportunities to, but urged, a friend from whom
he borrowed money, to seduce me. On the discovery of this act of atrocity, I
determined to leave him, and in the most decided manner, for ever. I consider
all obligations as made void by his conduct; and hold, that schisms which
proceed from want of principles, can never be healed.
"He received a fortune with me to the amount of five thousand pounds. On
the death of my uncle, convinced that I could provide for my child, I destroyed
the settlement of that fortune. I required none of my property to be returned
to me, nor shall enumerate the sums extorted from me during six years that we
lived together.
"After leaving, what the law considers as my home, I was hunted like a
criminal from place to place, though I contracted no debts, and demanded no
maintenance--yet, as the laws sanction such proceeding, and make women the
property of their husbands, I forbear to animadvert. After the birth of my
daughter, and the death of my uncle, who left a very considerable property to
myself and child, I was exposed to new persecution; and, because I had, before
arriving at what is termed years of discretion, pledged my faith, I was treated
by the world, as bound for ever to a man whose vices were notorious. Yet what
are the vices generally known, to the various miseries that a woman may be
subject to, which, though deeply felt, eating into the soul, elude description,
and may be glossed over! A false morality is even established, which makes all
the virtue of women consist in chastity, submission, and the forgiveness of
injuries.
"I pardon my oppressor--bitterly as I lament the loss of my child,
torn from me in the most violent manner. But nature revolts,
and my soul sickens at the bare supposition, that it could ever be a duty to
pretend affection, when a separation is necessary to prevent my feeling hourly aversion.
"To force me to give my fortune, I was imprisoned--yes; in a private mad-house.--There,
in the heart of misery, I met the man charged with seducing me. We became
attached--I deemed, and ever shall deem, myself free. The death of my babe
dissolved the only tie which subsisted between me and my, what is termed,
lawful husband.
"To this person, thus encountered, I voluntarily gave myself, never considering
myself as any more bound to transgress the laws of moral purity, because the
will of my husband might be pleaded in my excuse, than to transgress those laws
to which [the policy of artificial society has] annexed [positive]
punishments.--While no command of a husband can prevent a woman from suffering
for certain crimes, she must be allowed to consult her conscience, and regulate
her conduct, in some degree, by her own sense of right. The respect I owe to
myself, demanded my strict adherence to my
determination of never viewing Mr. Venables in the
light of a husband, nor could it forbid me from encouraging another. If I am unfortunately
united to an unprincipled man, am I for ever to be shut out from fulfilling the
duties of a wife and mother?--I wish my country to approve of my conduct; but,
if laws exist, made by the strong to oppress the weak, I appeal to my own sense
of justice, and declare that I will not live with the individual, who has
violated every moral obligation which binds man to man.
"I protest equally against any charge being brought to criminate the man,
whom I consider as my husband. I was six-and-twenty when I left Mr. Venables' roof; if ever I am to be supposed to arrive at an
age to direct my own actions, I must by that time have arrived at it.--I acted with
deliberation.--Mr. Darnford found me a forlorn and
oppressed woman, and promised the protection women in the present state of
society want.--But the man who now claims me--was he deprived of my society by this
conduct? The question is an insult to common sense, considering where Mr. Darnford met me.--Mr. Venables'
door was indeed open to me--nay, threats and intreaties
were used to induce me to return; but why? Was affection or honour
the motive?--I cannot, it is true, dive into the recesses of the human
heart--yet I presume to assert, [borne out as I am by a variety of
circumstances,] that he was merely influenced by the most rapacious avarice.
"I claim then a divorce, and the liberty of enjoying, free from molestation,
the fortune left to me by a relation, who was well aware of the character of
the man with whom I had to contend.--I appeal to the
justice and humanity of the jury--a body of men, whose private judgment must
be allowed to modify laws, that must be unjust, because definite rules can
never apply to indefinite circumstances--and I deprecate punishment upon the
man of my choice, freeing him, as I solemnly do, from the charge of seduction.
"I did not put myself into a situation to justify a charge of
adultery, till I had, from conviction, shaken off the fetters which bound me to
Mr. Venables.--While I lived with him, I defy the
voice of calumny to sully what is termed the fair fame of woman.--Neglected by
my husband, I never encouraged a lover; and preserved with scrupulous care,
what is termed my honour, at the expence
of my peace, till he, who should have been its guardian, laid traps to ensnare
me. From that moment I believed myself, in the sight of heaven, free--and no
power on earth shall force me to renounce my resolution."
The judge, in summing up the evidence, alluded to "the fallacy of letting
women plead their feelings, as an excuse for the violation of the marriage-vow.
For his part, he had always determined to oppose all innovation,
and the newfangled notions which incroached on the
good old rules of conduct. We did not want French principles in public or
private life--and, if women were allowed to plead their feelings, as an excuse or
palliation of infidelity, it was opening a flood-gate for immorality. What
virtuous woman thought of her feelings?--It was her duty to love and obey the
man chosen by her parents and relations, who were qualified by their experience
to judge better for her, than she could for herself. As to the charges brought
against the husband, they were vague, supported by no witnesses, excepting that
of imprisonment in a private madhouse. The proofs of an insanity
in the family, might render that however a prudent measure; and indeed the
conduct of the lady did not appear that of a person of sane mind. Still such a
mode of proceeding could not be justified, and might perhaps entitle the lady
[in another court] to a sentence of separation from bed and board, during the
joint lives of the parties; but he hoped that no Englishman would legalize adultery,
by enabling the adulteress to enrich her seducer. Too many restrictions could
not be thrown in the way of divorces, if we wished to maintain the sanctity of
marriage; and, though they might bear a little hard on a few, very few
individuals, it was evidently for the good of the whole."