" Williamson v. Williamson, 1 Johns. Ch., N.Y., 488, 492, 493. This doctrine has likewise been followed in New Jersey. In Bartow v. Bartow, N.J. Eq., 122 A. 888, the Court said that a petition for divorce on the ground of desertion filed after a delay of 25 years could not be maintained in the absence of satisfactory explanation for the delay. Later, in Tarbell v. Tarbell, 123 N.J. Eq. 581, 199 A. 57, the Court held that a husband was not entitled to a divorce on the ground of adultery, which he alleged occurred 17 years before the petition was filed, because he was not diligent in pressing his charges.
There is no statute in this State limiting the time within which a suit for divorce may be brought. Although delay in bringing a suit after the discovery of the commission of the offense which is the ground of divorce of itself constitutes no bar, yet it is a circumstances always open to observation and may in many cases ought to determine the court against granting relief, because if the interval be very long between the date of the offense and knowledge of the facts and the bringing of the suit, the court will be inclined to infer either an insincerity in the complaint, an acquiescence in the injury or a condonation of it. Cummins v. Cummins, 15 N.J. Eq. 138; Barker v. Barker, 63 N.J. Eq. 593; Bartow v. Bartow, N.J. Ch., 122 A. 888. A husband cannot wait to make his charges until the years dim the relevant proofs to the contrary.