Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (4th ed, 1770, vol IV).djvu/222

210 as thee tolen marriages, under the age of ixteen, were uually upon mercenary views, this act, beides punihing the educer, wiely removed the temptation. But this latter part of the act is now rendered almot ueles, by proviions of a very different kind, which make the marriage totally void, in the tatute 26 Geo. II. c. 33.

III. offence, againt the female part alo of his majety's ubjects, but attended with greater aggravations than that of forcible marriage, is the crime of rape, raptus mulierum, or the carnal knowlege of a woman forcibly and againt her will. This, by the Jewih law, was punihed with death, in cae the damel was betrothed to another man; and, in cae he was not betrothed, then a heavy fine of fifty hekels was to be paid to the damel's father, and he was to be the wife of the raviher all the days of his life; without that power of divorce, which was in general permitted by the moaic law.

civil law punihes the crime of ravihment with death and confication of goods: under which it includes both the offence of forcible abduction, or taking away a woman from her friends, of which we lat poke; and alo the preent offence of forcibly dishonouring them; either of which, without the other, is in that law ufficient to contitute a capital crime. Alo the tealing away a woman from her parents or guardians, and debauching her, is equally penal by the emperor's edict, whether he conent or is forced: “ive volentibus, ive nolentibus mulieribus, tale facinus fuerit perpetratum.” And this, in order to take away from women every opportunity of offending in this way; whom the Roman laws uppoe never to go atray, without the eduction and arts of the other ex: and therefore, by retraining and making o highly penal the elicitations of the men, they meant to ecure effectually the honour of the women. Rh