Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1844-05-17
HUSBAND AND WIFE.

We now come TO trrn, of husband and
wife, and shall inquire, FIRST how marriages
may be made, which will be interesting to
lovers secondly, how marriages may be
dissolved, which will be interesting to unlap-
py couples, and lastly, what are the legal ef-
fleets OF marriage, which will be interesting
to those who have cxtravagant wives, for
whose debts the husbands are liable.
To make "A marriage, three things are re-
qurcd: first, that the parties will marry,
secondly, that they can, and thirdly, that
they do ; though to us it seems if they do, 1t
matters little whether they will, and if they
will, it is of little consequence whether they
can; for if they do, they do and if they
will, they must because, where there is a
will, there is way, and therefore they can
if they choose; and if they don't, it is be-
cause they wont, which brings us to the COZ
cluson, that if they do, it is absurd to spec
ulalc upon whether they will or can marry.
1t has been laid down very clearly in all
the books. that in general, all persons are
able TO marry unless they are unable, and
the fine old constitutional maxim, that ga
man may not marry his grandmother" ought
to be written in letters Of gold over every
domestic hearth in the British dominons.-
There some legal disabilities to mar
riagr, such AS the slight impeachment of being
married already and one or two other oh
slacles, which are too well known TO require
dwelling on.
fla fathers heart should happen to be par
ticuiarly tlinty, a child under AGE has no rem
edv, but stony guardian may be macadam-
lied by the court of chanccry that is to saw,
amarringe to which he objects, may be or
dercd to take place in spite Of him. Ano,h-
Ter incapacity is want of reason in either of
the parties hu, if wan, of reason really pre-
vented marriage from taking place, there
would be an end to half the matches that are
entered into.
A considerable deal of the sentiment at
tacIing to love affair has been smashed by
the 9th and 7th of William, c. IS, explained
by the lst Of Nic'oria, e. 22--lor one act is
always uniutrglhlc until ano,Irr act is pas
sed to say what it means The statute cna-
hles "A pair Of ardent lovers to rusl, to the Of
fee Of the superintendent register, instead OF
10 Grc'na Green; AID there is no doub
tina, if Romeo could have availed himself o
the wholesome section in the act alluded to
Juliet need not have paid premature visit I,
lie tomb OF all li!e CapuctS.
Marriages could formerly only be dissov
ed by death or divnrcc but the new poo
law puts an end to the union between ma,
and wife directly after they enter INTO "A pa
rOchal union. Divorce, except IN the in
stance usl alluded To, is luxury con6nc,
only to those who can afford to pay for il
and husband is compelled to allow none
called ali-money-lo the wife he seeks L
be divorced from. Marriages. il is said, ar
made in heaven; but unless the Office of til
register be little paradise, we don't Sc
how a marriage made before that function
AIRY can come under the category alluded t,
A husband and wife are one in law
though there is often any thing but unity
other matters. A man cannot ertcr into
legal agreement with his wife, but they oiir
enter into dIsagreemen,s which are thorough
" mutual If the wife be in debt bcfo
marriage, the husband in making love to ii
lady has been actually counting the cognovi
she may have entered into; and if the wi
is under an obligation for which she mig
be legally attached, the husband finds hin
self the victim Of an unfortunate attachmei
A wife cannot be sued without the lushan
unless he is dead in law ard law is veal
enough to be the death of any one. A ~
band or "A wife cannot be a witness for
against one another, though wife somclin
gives evidence of the bad taste Of the h,
band in selecting her.
a wife cannot execute deed which
perhaps, the reason why Shakespeare, "
was first rate lawyer, made Macbeth
the deed, which lady Macbeth would ha
don, so much better, had not deed done
woman been void to all in,ents and p
poses.
BY the old law, husband might give
wife moderate correction; but il is dcca
in black and white that he may not beat
black and blue though the civil law ALLOW
any man, on whom woman had brs,ov
her hand, to beslow his fists upon her at
own discretion. The common people, "
are mn IN attached to the common law,
exert the privilege Of beating their wiz
and woman in the lower ranks of life
she falls in love with a man. is Liable, a