DIXON
69
DLUGOSZ
all imcontested cases, and in any other case where in
the judgment of the court it is wise, a disinterested
attorney should be assigned to defend the cause. No
decree should be granted on affirmative proof aside
froni the admission of the respondent. A decree dis-
solving marriage so as to permit remarriage of either
party should not become operative until the lapse of a
reasonable time after hearing or trial upon the merits
of the case. If an inhabitant of one state should go
into another state or territory to obtain a divorce for a
cause which occurred in the matrimonial domicile, or
for a cause which would not authorize a divorce by the
laws of that domicile, such divorce should have no
force or effect in the state of the domicile. Fraud or
collusion in obtaining or attempting to obtain divorces
should be made a statutory crime. The legitimacy of
children born during coverture, except in the case of
bigamous marriages, should not be affected by divorce
of the parents. On the subject of causes each state
should legislate for its own citizens and the common
sentiment of that state should be properly expressed
by the enumeration of causes in its own statute. Those
heretofore given are recognized as representing the
view of the great majority as covering offences against
the marriage contract of so serious a character as to
defeat the purpose of the marital relation. The con-
gress expressed the hope that the number of causes for
divorce would be reduced rather than increased and
declared its opinion that in such jurisdictions as New
York and the District of Columbia, where the only
cause is adultery, no change is called for. It was
recommended that where conviction of crime is made
a cause, it must be followed by imprisonment for two
years, but no absolute divorce .should be granted for
insanity, and that desertion should not be a cause un-
le.ss persisted in for at least two years. Practically
the same causes for divorce a mensd et toro were
enumerated. The provisions of this statute have al-
ready been adopted in Delaware and New Jersey and
are under consideration (1908) in other states. While
the reforms thus suggested will not put an end to what
is known as the divorce evil, it is believed that they
will have the effect of safeguarding trials and abating
fraud upon the courts.
Philosophical thinkers recognize the fact that the prevalence of divorce in the United States arises from two causes. The first of these causes is the gradual change in the attitude of society towards women in the recognition of their individual rights to their own property, and of their capacity to earn their own living in many vocations heretofore closed to them. The legal fiction that the identity of the woman was merged in that of her husband has given place to a growing recognition of her individuality in all relations of life. This has weakened the dependence of women upon their husbands for support and has affected the con- cept of the family relation. The theory of the Protestant leaders of the sixteenth century, that mar- riage is but a civil contract, devoid of sacramental character, has been strengthened by the vicissitudes of modern life, while the facility with which divorces can be obtained has tended to a constant increase of their number. Marriage, not being accounted a sacrament by non-Catholic Christians, is entered into with greater ease than a contract of far less moment affecting prop- erty alone. The knowledge that in case of disagree- ment the parties may obtain a divorce no doubt has its effect. The second cause is the gradual increase and development of irreligion and materialism among non-Catholic members of the community. Leaders of the Protestant Churches in the United .States have be- come alarmed at the progress of divorce, and have been endeavouring in their various denominations to adopt such regulations as would restrict it to flagrant cases or abolish it entirely. It is evident that the prev- alence of divorce is an indication of an un.soiind con- dition of society. Those who now endeavour to
reform the civil statutes in the interest of honest trials,
may succeed in abating some of the evils flowing from
lax methods of administering the divorce statutes in
some of the states, and in obtaining restrictive legisla-
tion in all of them, but it is not probable that the de-
moralization will be stopped until the majority of the
people of the civilized nations return to the belief in
the supernatural sanction of marriage and " that it is a
sacramental union, productive of the graces necessary
to bear with one another's shortcomings ; an indissolu-
ble union as that of soul and body, which can be
dissolved only in death. This means a return to the
Catholic view of marriage, and this return alone can
remove the national evil of divorce ". (See M.vrriage;
Woman; P.4.rents; also the articles on the various
states and countries for divorce legislation.)
Tebb, Essay on Adultery and Divorce; Becker, Gallus and Charides (for Roman and Greek customs and conditions): Kent, Commentaries on Am, Law; Bishop, Marriage, Divorce and Separation; How.\rd, History of Matrimonial Institutions; W.vLTON, Scope and Interpretation of the Civil Code of Lower Canada; Gemmili, in Canadian Law Times (March, 1888); Re- port of the U. .S. Commissioner of Labor (Washington, 1889); Am. and English Encycl, of Law; Proceedings of the Nat. Di- vorce Congress (Washington, Philadelphia, 1906); Otten in The Messenger (April, 1904). For a full literature of the subject see Marriage and Divorce. Bibliography of the World (Compara- tive Law Bureau of the American Bar As.sociation, 1908).
Walter George Smith.
Dixon, Joseph, Archbishop of Armagh, Ireland, b. atCoalisland, Co. Tyrone, in 1806; d.at Armagh, 29 April, 1860. Having entered Maynooth College at the age of sixteen he was ordained priest in 1829. In 1834 he was appointed to the chair of Sacred Scripture and Hebrew, a post he worthily occupied for the next eighteen years. His class had an average of 200 stu- dents, amongst whom was John McEvilly, afterwards Archbishop of Tuam and a distinguished writer on Scriptural subjects. Dr. Dixon's professorship was signalized by his "Introduction to the Sacred Scrip- tures", a work highly praised by Cardinal Wiseman and which was very much needed at the time. The first edition appeared in 1852 and a second in 1875. As Primate of Annagh he held an important synod in 1854, at which all the bishops of the northern province assisted with their theologians. In the same year he began the heavy task of completing the unfinished cathedral of Armagh and almost accomplished the work before his death. In 1856 he formed the dio- cesan chapter consisting of thirteen members. Dur- ing his incumbency he brought some religious congre- gations into the diocese, viz. the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul (1855), who opened a house in Droghoda; the Marist Fathers (1861) who opened a college and novitiate in Dundalk, and the Vincentian Fathers T/ho were placed in charge of the ecclesiastical seminary the same year. The primate was a stanch and fearless defender of the rights of the Holy ,See and at a public meeting in Drogheda denounced Napoleon III for complicity in the acts of the Italian revolution- ists. His speech and subsequent letter to tlie "Free- man's Journal" created a great sensation and the em- peror made them a subject of complaint to Pius IX. The primate was the organizer of the Irish Brigade in the papal service.
CusucK, Life of Dr. Dixon; Sthaht, History of Armagh, ed. Coi.EMAN (1900), 306 sqq.
Ambrose Coleman.
Dlug;osz (T.iit. LoNGiNus), Jan, an eminent medie- val I'olisji historian, b. at Brzeznica, 1415; d. 19 May, 14SI), at ( 'raciiw. He was one of the twelve sons born to John anil Hcata. He received his primary educa- tion in Nowy Korczyn, then entered the Academy of Cracow, where he studied literature and philosophy, lie was ordained priest in 1440, and appointed secre- tary of Cardinal Zl)igniew Olcsiiicki, Bishop of Cra- cow. Later ho became a prelate of the cathedral and preceptor for the children of the Polish King,
