Judgment — Sir  William  Scott.  This  is  a  proceeding  for  nullity  of  marriage,  by
reason  of  the  incurable  impotence  of  the  wife.  The  facts  necessary  to  be  stated  are
shortly  these:  The  parties  were  married  in  1818;  the  wife  being  then,  as  it  appears,
a  widow  of  fifty  years  of  age — the  man  of  forty-two.  The  woman  had  lived  with  a
former  husband  eighteen  years  :  they  appear  to  have  lived  in  great  amity  ;  [329]  and
it  is  no  small  proof  that  he  thought  he  had  no  right  of  complaint,  that  he  left  her  the
whole  of  his  substance  at  his  death  ;  and  no  proceedings  were  established,  by  the
present  husband,  before  March,  1820 — the  libel  not  being  given  in  'till  last  June,
sixteen  months  after  the  marriage.  It  pleads  "defect  incurable,  as  by  inspection  of
matrons  will  further  appear."  When  the  libel  was  debated  on  a  former  day,  the
Court  was  disposed  to  hold  it  to  be  admissible,  giving,  however,  the  party  an  oppor-
tunity of  offering,  by  way  of  protest,  any  special  matter  that  she  might  wish  to
address  to  the  consideration  of  the  Court,  in  that  stage  of  the  cause,  before  it  hurried  on
to  a  decisive  enquiry.  Affidavits  have,  accordingly,  been  given  in  on  both  sides ;  and
the  Court  has  now  the  unpleasant  task  of  deciding  upon  them.  It  cannot  be  concealed
that  cases  of  this  description  are  necessarily  attended  with  serious  mischiefs  to  parties,
in  the  disappointment  of  very  laudable  or  allowable  purposes  of  marriage — the  desire
of  having  children,  and  the  lawful  enjoyment  of  each  other's  person.  Such  cases  of
disappointment,  so  originating,  may  not  be  frequent ;  but  when  any  such  occurs,
it  is  a  subject  which  the  Court  is  bound  to  entertain,  and  to  ti-eat  according  to  the
ordinary  modes  of  investigating  the  truth  of  the  complaint,  for  the  relief  of  the
injured  party.
