There was no change in
these laws until 1870, when limited divorce, a relic of churchly
superstition, was done away with entirely in this State, the grounds
upon which it had been granted being at the same time made cause for
absolute divorce, with the condition, however, that all such divorces
should be in the first instance _nisi_, that is, conditional, to be
made absolute after three years in the discretion of the court, and
after five years as of right. Prior to this time, in 1867, it had been
enacted that all decrees of divorce should be first entered _nisi_,
to be made absolute in six months in the discretion of the court, and
this act of 1870 therefore left nine causes for absolute divorce; but in
all cases for cruelty, desertion, intoxication, or neglect or refusal to
support, the decree must remain conditional for at least three years.
Since that date there have been many changes in the statutes, but all in
the direction of regulating the entry of the decree, without affecting
the causes therefor, except that in 1873, habits of intoxication, even
if contracted before marriage, were made good grounds for a decree.
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