Page:Woman's Position According to the Bible.pdf/7

 may make it void" (Numb. xxx. 13). No penalty is put on a man who seduces an unbetrothed damsel, save that he must buy her from her father for "fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife" (Deut. xxii. 29); he has injured the father's property and must make it good by buying it. On the other hand if an unmarried woman is found to have erred, she is to suffer the penalty of death (Deut. xxii. 21). A similar penalty fell upon both man and woman if the woman who committed adultery was married or betrothed (22—24), for here again the sacred rights of property were infringed. In the case of the betrothed wife of a slave, the seducer was only commanded to give a ram as a trespass offering, for the slave being himself a chattel had no right of ownership in his wife or his betrothed (Lev. xix. 20—22).

It is significant also that the husband, being master and owner of the wife, could not commit an act of unfaithfulness to her; the owner has no duties to his chattel; there is no reciprocity of obligation. Thus the man who suspected his wife of infidelity could submit her to the ordeal of jealousy (Numb. v.), but no similar provision was made for the satisfaction of a jealous wife.

The influence of this Bible teaching may be very plainly recognised in the laws of this Christian land. Thus a father can sue for damages for the seduction of his daughter while a minor, and a husband can obtain damages from the seducer of his wife; in each case the money award recognises the damage done to the man's property. Again, a man can obtain a divorce from his unfaithful wife, but no such relief is granted to the wife whose husband has been disloyal to her, unless physical cruelty or desertion be added to the adultery. A short time ago a Mrs. Wodehouse sued for a divorce for adultery and cruelty, and the adultery was proved, but the relief she sought was denied her because the cruelty consisted in threats and cursings only, not in absolute blows.

A similar inequality marks the treatment of unmarried women. The female prostitute is an outcast from society, and the girl, once fallen, is excluded from every home; the male profligate, however flagrant his immorality, is welcomed and caressed, and the fairest maidens of English society lie at his feet for choice, if only wealth gilds his vileness and title covers his shame.