18 Kan. 419 | Kan. | 1877
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The error complained of in this case is, that the proofs do not sustain the finding of the district court. The writer of this opinion believes that the marriage contract is one which should be sundered only for causes that
It would occupy much space to review, or to incorporate herein all of the evidence produced upon the trial, and we will content ourselves with a brief mention of some of the facts testified to on the .part of the defendant in error. Gibbs, the plaintiff in error, was a farmer in good circum
The above is a summary of the most important of the testimony ; and we must hold it sufficient to sustain the finding of the trial court, that the plaintiff in error was guilty of extreme cruelty. All of the law-writers find it difficult to lay down any affirmative definition of legal cruelty. The courts have been equally cautious, considering it more safe not to travel much beyond negative descriptions. 1 Bishop on Mar. and Div. 715-717. In this class of cases, precedents do little more than inform the understanding, and assist the judgment. Perhaps more in this, than any other character of causes, the conclusion to be reached must largely depend upon its own peculiar circumstances, and the character, habits, and disposition of the parties. The authorities generally agree this far, that whatever may endanger the life or health of the party is legal cruelty. If therefore, the evidence in this case shows that the health of the wife was endangered by the acts and conduct of the husband, there was evidence sustaining the finding and judgment of the court. We have referred to the violent and indecent expressions of the plaintiff in error, to and in the presence of his wife, not for the purpose of intimating that these alone constitute cruelty, within any legal sense, but because the use of such language is important on the question of cruelty, and in determining the acts and habits of the husband. The frequent use of such expressions would induce any court more readily to believe evidence as to acts that might endanger the health of the wife. In view