place unless the husband was twenty-five years of age and the wife
twenty-one, unless they had been married for two years, nor after twenty
years of marriage, nor after the wife had completed her forty-fifth
year; and further, the approval of the parents of both parties was
required. In case of divorce by consent, the law required that a proper
agreement should be made for the maintenance of the wife and the custody
of the children. A husband could obtain a divorce _a vinculo matrimonii_
for adultery, but the wife had no such power unless the husband had
brought his mistress to the home. Both husband and wife could claim
divorce on the ground of outrage, or grievous bodily injury, or
condemnation for an infamous crime. If the divorce was for adultery, the
erring party could not marry the partner of his or her guilt. A divorce
_a mensa et thoro_ could be obtained on the same grounds as a divorce _a
vinculo_, but not by mutual consent; and if the divorce _a mensa et
thoro_ continued in force for three years, the defendant party could
claim a divorce _a vinculo_. On the restoration of royalty in 1816
divorce _a vinculo_ was abolished, and pending suits for divorce _a
vinculo_ were converted into suits for separation only.

Divorce in France, after the repeal of the provisions respecting it in
the Code Napoleon in 1816, was re-enacted by a law of the 27th of July
1884, the provisions of which were simplified by laws of 1886 and 1907.
But a wide departure was made by these laws from the terms of the Code
Napoleon. Divorce by consent disappeared, and the following became the
causes for which divorce was allowed: (1) Adultery by either party to
the marriage at the suit of the other, without, in the case of adultery
by the husband, the aggravation of introduction of the concubine into
the home required by the Code; (2) violence (_exces_) or cruelty
(_sevices_); (3) _injures graves_; and (4) _peine afflictive et
infamante_. _Exces_ is defined by Locie as "a generic expression
comprising all acts tending to compromise the safety of the person,
without distinction as to their object or motive, premeditation as well
as furious anger, attempts upon life as well as serious woundings."
_Sevices_ are acts of ill-treatment less grave in character, which,
while not endangering life, render existence in common intolerable
(Kelly's _French Law of Marriage_, p. 122). _Injures graves_, as to
which the courts have considered themselves entit