control the intercourse of man with woman, and more especially those laws having for their object, directly or indirectly, the protection of women from the machinations and allurements of vice.

The physical constitution of woman, and the part which she is destined to perform in the economy of the world, independently of all higher considerations, render the establishment of some such regulations a matter of absolute necessity. The requirement does not depend on the position which woman holds in the scale of society. Whether man places her on a level with himself, or estimates her merely as his slave, still there must be legislation in respect of her, if not for her, still she must be protected.

Nevertheless, the motive which prompts the establishment of municipal rules and laws affecting the sex will be found a material element in considering their nature and operation. Moreover, we find, in tracing these laws to their source, that they vary in different countries and at different periods; that what was a sufficiently comprehensive provision in one age, is weak and powerless in the next; and that the municipal rule restraining brute force is of no avail against the subtleties of fraud. We are consequently led to perceive, that in the laws under consideration there is a distinction between those having for their object the protection of women from open violence, and those which seek to shield her from the allurements and contrivances of the

seducer. There is a third branch of these laws, which controls the promiscuous indulgence by either sex of inordinate lust, as injurious to the peace and welfare of society.

The distinctions between these three classes are greater than at first appear. The first and second are so far allied that they have the common object of protecting the individual and the sex. But while the first is merely the extension to woman of those rights of freedom from violent coercion, and the preservation of personal liberty enjoyed in all communities, the second adopts a higher and more refined principle, treating fraud as equivalent to force, and also taking into consideration the condition and comparative inability of the woman to guard against it.

The third class, on the other hand, has not for its immediate object the adjustment of the particular rights and wrongs of the individuals with whom it deals. Whether the persons of both sexes are so far acting in concert and without fraud as not to fall within the scope of the first or second class, or whether the woman be indeed the victim of the art and design of man, the law interferes for the sake of others, for the peace of the community at large, for the interests of morality and the happiness of mankind.

It is the second class or branch that is the subject of this essay. But while the immediate purpose is to inquire into the state of the laws in this country having

for their object the protection of women from the machinations and allurements of vice, the connection of the other divisions indicated, is obvious. In viewing the progress of legislation in guarding woman from the designs of the profligate, we must trace the laws back to their origin in the provisions against violence. So, although the object of a particular enactment may be the restraint of open and notorious profligacy and immorality in both sexes, its operation may also protect the inexperienced woman from ruin, and, on the other hand, the restraint on individual design may preserve general morality.

Thus the laws by which Plato would protect the growth of his ideal republic, providing against indulgence in lustful desires, and restraining men from intercourse with women (whether bondwomen or free) other than their wives, on the penalty of being deprived of all honours as citizens; and those enactments (far separated in time and country from the conceptions of the Attic philosopher) of the Anglo-Saxon kings and their "witan," reciting that fornication was prohibited by the law of God, and mulcting in various sums those who led women into the paths of vice, had one effect in common the preservation of female chastity. The object in the one case was the conservation of the physical strength of man and the increase of the human race; in the other, the fulfilment of Divine command nad the atonement and compensation for private injuries:

the means and end of each different; the result to a great extent alike.

Therefore, although we preserve and bear in mind the different objects of the various provisions, and direct our inquiries to one peculiar branch, it will be necessary, in presenting a complete view of the history and effects of particular laws, to notice the other classes already mentioned, as bearing to a greater or less extent upon the subject matter before us.

In the first place I shall take a glance at the various laws instituted in the earliest civilised states of the world, their object, effect, and connection, until we arrive at the laws of this country. Then, tracing their progress down to the present period, I purpose giving a practical explanation, as concise as may be, of the actual state of the law in this country at the present time, so as to serve as a guide to the lawyer, the legislator, the magistrate, and the thinking public.

Having accomplished this, I shall give some account of the laws adopted by modern states of Europe and in other parts of the world, where, from recent revision, or from other causes, such notice is desirable.

Lastly, proceeding to comment on the condition of the law in this country, I shall endeavour to point out its shortcomings and inadequacy to cope with existing evils, and the efforts that have been made from time to time to cure those deficiencies; placing before the reader, as I proceed, such suggestions for amending the

law as occur to me to be practicable and consistent with the great ends the statesman and legislator should always have in view.

The antiquity of the Jewish law, independently of all higher considerations, entitles it to the first notice.

It is declared that the seducer of a virgin not betrothed shall "endow her to be his wife," but "if her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins."* A subsequent law for this particular case provided that the man should give the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, "and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days." †

Not only adultery, but the carnal intercourse of a woman betrothed to a husband with another man, was a capital offence in both‡; but the same offence in a bondwoman was not punishable with death, but with scourging, "because she was not free." §

The forcible violation of a "betrothed damsel" was a capital offence in the man, but no offence of course in the woman; "for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter." ||

There is no distinct and separate provision for the rape of an unbetrothed virgin.

Whoredom was expressly denounced. Parents were

*Ex. xxii. 16, 17.

‡ Id. 23, 24.

|| Deut. xii. 26.

+ Deut. xxii. 28.

§ Levit. xix. 20.