An Appeal to the Public, Especially to the Learned, With Respect to..

1788. A 1788 Attack on Connecticut Divorce Law Trumbull, Benjamin [1735-1820]. An Appeal to the Public, Especially to the Learned, With Respect to the Unlawfulness of Divorces, in All Cases, Excepting Those of Incontinency. The Substance of the Argument Was Pleaded Before the Consociation of the County of New-Haven, December 9th, 1785. To Which an Appendix is Subjoined, Exhibiting a General View of the Laws and Customs of Connecticut, And of Their Deficiency Respecting the Point in Dispute. New-Haven: Printed by J. Meigs, 1788. 53, [1] pp. Octavo (7" x 4-1/2"). Disbound stab-stitched pamphlet. Moderate toning, light foxing and soiling in a few places, trimming to top-edge with loss to page numbers (and annotation on half-title page) but not main text. $300. * First edition. Trumbull, a Congregational minister, attacks the leniency of Connecticut's divorce laws and argues for their reform. With an argument based in scripture, Trumbull shows that divorces are "opposed to the authority of Jesus Christ." The text of his sermon is followed by an appendix which reviews contemporary Connecticut divorce laws and compares them to those of the other New England states, ancient Rome, the early Christian church and the Jews of the Old Testament. A second edition was published in 1819 with additional material by Timothy Dwight as What Therefore God Hath Joined Together, Let Not Man Put Asunder: An Appeal to the Public with Respect to the Unlawfulness of Divorces. Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law 4788.