APALOO, J.: The plaintiff was the customary wife of the defendant. She bore him five children whose maintenance and education are the subject-matter of this action. The parties were divorced about four years before the action and lived separate and apart. All the children lived with their mother, the plaintiff. The latter’s complaint is that since the dissolution of the marriage, the defendant shirked his parental responsibility as father of her children and provided no money either for their education or maintenance. The sums which she said she spent in the past she claims in the present suit as debt and also sought an order against the defendant for future maintenance. The learned circuit judge found in her favour on both issues and rejected the defendant’s claim that he had in fact provided for these children.
The defendant appeals against that judgment to this court on many grounds. I had the benefit of listening to a very able and interesting argument urged on his behalf by Mr. Ab…