Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1849-06-15
To the I.ditO,s of The Enquirer.

TAzgwELL, May, lo49'
We are pleased to see from the late acuon
Of the Legislature on the subject, ana sotiI ,re
marks in the papers, that The "hign's VI w
men, SO long the theme OF ridicuie' ~ io"e
trampled in the dust, have, at lensln' poen ..ea
| ed with more respect. But We are sorry 'ha a.,
writer in your paper, over The slgna'u.., w. w.
| 81. c., has entered the lists against ieeole Wv,
man, when, by every rule of ciliVa'ry a.u
humanity, his abilities and intelligence ousn'.o
have been exerled in her behalf. By conouct'
ing his case like special pleader, ne mas o.
hibited considerable ingenuity IN making sno
worse sppear the better cause" But no mas
shown only one side of the picture. we oes
leave 10 differ with him, totally and entireiy'
from the beginning to The end OF his elaborate
essay. From the general scope and tendency OF
his remarks one would suppose that Inc ~noie
race of men were in great danger OF being 90
priyed Of their liberties, and completely over
run BY feeble, helpless woman We DO not WISH
| to be placed in such false positioni we oniy
ask YOU to render unto us that Justicc which
YOU would wish TO be rendered unto you II you
were placed in our situation woman seems
moi 10 mount the rostrum, the professor enai.'
or 10 enter the legislative halls. Puoi'e i'ie
| is contrary to her habits, and repugnanl 10 hei
tastes; she would not, il she coulo, Piace MOI
self in the arena Of political saoiaIors. i"e
privilege 10 sit at home under her own siuo
and fig tree, with none to make hel aiiae
disturb her in the peaceabe possession ., noi
own property, this is all she asks ne aoo,e-
mentioned writer remarks, that "our laws ieia-
ting to property held BY matrmony, are pretty
much the same as the English law was i've
hundred years ago.. This Is oissfdcc'u,
truth: that the rgor Of The English ia" shouid
have been relaxed in favor OF every thins' eA-
cept the rights of women. WHIST aii o'Ief
thing, have been benefited, she alone IS 10 re-
main slave, bound hand and foot, by every ie !.
gal disability Look al her wrelched conai-
tiop, in case Of separation from her husband;
although she may have been forced 10 leave
him, in order to save her own life. ms cruei
old English law tears her children from her
bleeding bosom, and gives them to an unfeelins,
unprinciped and prodgate father, who cares
nothing for them, and only consents TO be bur.
thened with them, that he may thereby give
parting blow to his wife, and embitter Inc rem
naut of her existence, If he can. Witness the
ease of the gifted Fanny Kembe Butler, aud
thousand. OF others Again-how many thou
sands of women, having been reduced from al
fuence to poverty, have nobly stood the shock,
and, stimulated By maternal love, have borne
UP against misfortune with The courage OF
hero and the fortitude OF a martyr. They cheer-
fully turn their thoughts and hands 10 gam an
honest livelihood; they teach school, or open
mIiner's shop and are content. for they are
keeping home for The dear little ones around
them. Hope sits smiling at the helm as their
little barque glides down the stream OF lie;
but, alas! how short-lived their peace. An old
creditor has heard Of their prosperity ne has
a debt against the husband, which he has long
considered as lost; he levics an execution, ana
all her earnings are swept away al once,
nleaying moi wreck behind" Again and
again she rallies, only 10 meet with the same
fate, until she finds refuge only IN the grave
or the mad house And this is your WORK, on!
boosted law Of England! transplanted TO our
shores, when you should have been sunk IN the
"ocean wave" forever. Another case fe-
male, inheriting good estate, marries young
man, they reside IN the house Of his parenlsi
the Young man dies suddenly without viii,
and without having received any bat nominal
right 10 any property. The consequence IS,
that the widow not only gets nothing,
/, hut is robbed Of her own inheritance !;
for this beautiful old English law makes the
father of the husband, the heir he claims all
the property as his and The lao Of the land
rtucs Il 10 hina; and leaves the widow u house.
less bcggar Is this justice2 This writer CIV II.
} c. mentions the names of Coke, Plowden and
Dyer, and says if they could enter our courts
"They would discover much that was 10 them
matter of familiar knowledge and regular expe-
renee" No doubt they would This is mel
auchoy truth SO much the worse for Us that
II is so; for they were a cruel set of pedanllc
old gentlemen Notwithstanding the glory OF their
full bollomed wigs, of which lhls writer makes
honorable mention. They are gone where they
can no longer
fnbafamp oil fate aud sanction Of a God"
] can only regret they did no. carry their
law with them. They sentenced many poor
woman 10 be hung for stealing barely enough
10 keep herself and child iron furnishing 10
death; allowed husbands 10 whip their wives
and 10 sell them at public sale with a rope
around their necks. To witness such enlsht-
eminent as his in our country would, no
doubt be very gratifying TO these gentlemen
The objections against the proposed alterations
in the law are summed up by this gentleman
under three heads : lst, its injustice, End, its
impolicy; Sd, its uselessness. beg leave again
10 dissent from thc truth Of every one Of these
propositions. Instead OF being unjust, Justice
herself demands it, and declares that she has
been to- long cheated of her rights. lmpoli ic;
not so; for honesty is always the best policy, and
| il IS not honest 10 keep another's property
against their will. Uscessness; il il is useless,
presume it will at least do no harm, and you
ought to be the more willing to give it, and give
il cheerfully then woman will find use for il;
for she has felt the need of it.. There is one
thing that seems to be strangely overlooked and
that is, if The Rights of Women are /, be pub
licly discussed, they ought at least TO be allowed
to appear by a champion Of their own choosing,
unless she is 10 be voted cypher Or nonen,l
4 ~; and ii she is noncntity she ought to be ex
| empled from all punishment for crime. The
beautiful fabric Of law seems to he lacking in its
| fair proportion on this subject. To return to
the subject then: II is very tedious TO follow this
writer, step by STEP over all The ground he
covers. II i, my wish 10 be as brief as possible,
but hope some ADLER hand will WELD the pen
| in defence of the helpless, when lay il down.
| ''Reasons are plenty as blackberres," il they
would take he trouble 10 write them TO go a
| little more into detail, then, the gentleman i'm
| AGNES long train Of evils will follow the adop
| ton Of this law. Domestic happiness destroy
| ed, commerce impaired, credit prostrated con-
| hdence banished, the value of personal proper
| ty diminished, the mass of litigation quadrupled,
! in short perfect Pandora box Of evil emptied
over the whole State. We are 10 have JUS, as
nuch plague, Peslllehce anu lauiihe, as tue
| Wings said We were 10 have, before the election
| Of q en- Jackson. | will merely ASK the question:
Have any Of these evil consequences attended
New York, Mississippi, Louisiana or any other
Of The States that have passed similar laws !
| The New York ladies make bargains, sales, con
| tracts, carry on great variety OF business, and
| domestic happiness commerce, credit, conf
| dence, the value Of property have all increased
instead of being diminished Such is the case
also in Mississippi and Louisiana, which being
slageholding States, their position is more analo
gous 10 our own. When Louisiana entered the
confederacy she brought with her The liberal
| French Municipal law, and she still holds il, 10
| her everlasting honor aud glory and prosperity
Will the gentleman say that there is not as much
| happiness of every sort in louisiana a there is
in any land under the sun, md also as much