Page:The Galaxy, Volume 5.djvu/213

Rh if she do not at once renounce the character of wife, refrain from the assertion that she ever held that relationship, and cease to call herself by his name, she be fined fifty pounds for every offence, or imprisoned in default, and, finally, that she be put to silence there-anent.

Let my readers imagine for themselves the horror and amazement with which the deserted wife received this first billet-doux from the idol of her youthful idolatry, the cherished husband of her soul, united to her, and living with her in the grace of God; the father of her child, the protector of her home, her all on earth, and half her hope in heaven! The wretched slave mother, when sold away from all she loves, and all her natural ties, to a strange home, alone, can hardly feel more desolate, more appalled and horror-stricken than the Scottish wife when the formal document announcing these atrocities is placed within her quivering fingers. She has no redress but to defend the action, or lie down and die under it. If she fights, it may be through fifteen years of miserable litigation, in which she must spend every shilling she has to prevent a judgment against her by default. It is in vain she puts forward incontrovertible proof of her marriage. Jactitation admits of explaining away actions by "arrière pensée." The doctrine of "no intention," "no consent," is set up, and upon this hobby-horse of metaphysical disquisition, lawyers and judges mount and canter to Coventry, till one litigant or the other is ridden to death, or must step, aside from dearth of funds; so, whichever can pay the best fee is the winner. It stands to reason that where a man is allowed to appeal to retrospective motives to efface the meaning of an action which speaks for itself, not law, nor logic, nor equity can be of any avail. Now, he says, "you have proved I went through the form of marriage, but no consent was exchanged. I say it was a preconcerted fraud, and I defy you to prove it was not." In no other action would such a plea be tolerated by a court of justice; for the first grand principle of all law is that a man shall not take advantage of his own fraud. Happily, it is probable after this exposé, that the days of jactitation are numbered, and that the bill now before the House of Commons will put it away with the kindred relics of barbarism, with the ancient "bridle" for scolds, the "ducking stool," and the "cane as thick as his thumb" with which a man might beat his wife.

The ardent supporters of "Woman's Rights," can find abundant employment for their energies long before they reach that of voting. Women in England have done something when they have been sufficiently goaded to turn and resist. The Honorable Mrs. Norton, celebrated alike for her exquisite songs and writings, and for her beauty and misfortunes, obtained the right for a woman to hold property independent of her husband, when living separate from