Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1856-09-20
THE ANTI-SLAvERY BUGLE.

whose safety he had endangered. Convicted Of
such q horrible crime as he had been, he was
none the less lord aud master; the wits could none
the more obtain q release from him and his vice.
He was gaoler by right of English law; and she
was his prisoner by the fat Of English bigotry.
But there is a difference IN properties, the per.
sonal and the real-the first belongs to the husband
the second to the heir,
If u wife die without children, her houses and
lands pass to her next male heir; but If she have
n child, and that child be heard to cry but once,
and both mother and babe then instantly expire,
they belong to her husband for life, under the not
very Ineligible title Of Tenant by the courtesy Of
England Consummats. Should the babe live, the
gualer.marital is only tenant by the Courtesy Of
England Ichoate, and has to give up possession on
the boys twenty!frst birth day. The sheep, oxen,
Sevres china, kid.gloves, satin shoes. lace collars,
gold bracelets, hreloques, chains, hair pins. furni
ture, and pet dogs, constituting among q thou md
little articles, what is called personality, belong
unrescrvedly to the husband; who can pawn, sell,
or give them away, the instant the clergyman has
pronounced the marriage BILE sing. Now, what
do you say to these, rs perquisites Of the goaler-
marital
Turning now from property to d~ivorce-whot
do we fnd2 A gaoler marital may entertain NJ
many ladies light-of-love rs he pleases. lie may
support them out of his wife's property, he may
even endow them with that property after his
death, and leave his Lawful lad" and her children
to want and misery-anG tho wife has no remedy.
The relief OF divorce was not instituted for her.
Many have tried the question. and almost all have
been thrown. In an infinite number of years, aud
out Of millions of victims grooming for deliverance
only four have obtained divorce. Cruelty. infdeli
ty, vice. crime, de~sertion, nothing that would seem
to be n natural and co,nmon-seuse breaking oil the
nuptial bond, is allowed to stand rs n legal sever.
ance, for her benefit, The wife must bear her
chains to the grave though they eat into her very
soul; she must submitt to every species of wrong
and tyranny-the law has no shield for herl But
when q gaoler wishes to get rid of a prisoner, it
is quite another thing! 1t is in reality but an
affair of money. III he can afford the various legal
processes demanded by our wise laws, he cen be
free tomorrow, be his wife the most virtuous lady
in the land. If he chooses, he can collide with
some villain, whom he accuses of being mis- wife's
lover. The man. does not defend the action, and
judgment is allowed to go by default. The viii
lain is assessed in damages which he may pay with
one hand and receive with the other. We say, that
all this may happen 1t q gaoler will; the law does
not provide against such II possibility. The &c.
cused wife is not told Of the time or manner Of the
trial. She is not supposed to appear rs a witness,
nor to defend herself by counsel. The sction is
not brought against her, but against the lover, fol
damage alleged to be done to the gaoler's property
the wife's existence, as wife or woman, is ignored
she is only judged and assessed by her m~one.ary
value. This is the English law of divorce, and
English gentlemen's feelings on conjugal ~infdelity
Aad then we rilicule the foreiyners's belief that
{ w FS'' - "''N'' NS~"NNS " ~ NV h'hS h'Nhh ~
market with a halter round .heir necks-at least
not when we are in good society-and because we
only receive money AZ u manly manner of com
pensatiOn, when thay have given their souls and
love to another. The difference may be great
in form certainly the one mode is simpler than
the other; but surely the spirit is identically the
same
This. then, Is marriage-on the one side q gaolel
on the other n prisoner for life, y nOnentity, classed
with infants and idiots; or, if 'here should evel
come liberty, coming only through that poor pris
oner's hopeless ruin--ruin she is powerless tC
avert, be she the most innocent of Gods creatures
Neither property ncr legal recognition, neither lib
. erty or protection, has she-nothing but II mans
!, tickle fancy, and II mans frail mercy, between her
!. and misery. between her and destruction. Thin
is marriage, as by the law of England. Let thost
a who doubt it, ana those who d. not doubt it, cNn
/ suit the Wig ,rous and maply writer, with n head a
sound as his his heart, whose pamphlet has sup
e piled these notable illustrations. Household
Words.