ly 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 t