Frederick Douglass, in the course of his remarks, said he had seen two young women assistants in the County Clerk's office, also young women going into printing-offices to set type; and he might have added the following, which we clip from the The Una of the same date:
to her children, 2d to her father, 3d to her mother, 4th to her collateral relatives. This order may be varied or defeated by her will . She may devise it as she may please.
Her property before marriage continues hers absolutely.
Upon marriage he is liable to support her, and may be compelled to do it if he prove refractory.
She is not liable to support him, however wealthy she may be, or poor he may be.
He is liable to support the children. She is not so liable, though possessed of millions.
The husband is the guardian of the wife, as against third persons. (Page 488). But he has no power to preserve, retain, or regain the custody of her against her will. (Page 47).
He may maintain his action against third persons for enticing her away or harboring her. But this harboring, to be actionable, must be more than a mere permission to her to stay with such third person. (4 Barb. 225).
If the husband seek to take away his wife by force, it 18 an assault and battery upon her. If a third person resists such force at her request he is not liable to any action. (Barb. 156).
The wife is not the husband's guardian, but if he will desert her he may be put under bonds for her support and the support of her children by him. (2 Rev. Stat., 4th Ed., pp. 53, 54).
The husband is liable for the debts of the wife contracted before marriage, but only now to the extent of her property received by him. (7 W. R. 237, 1st Chitty PI., 66 to 68, laws of 1853). And he is liable for her debts contracted during marriage, if permitted by him, or if for necessaries which he neglected to provide.
The wife is not liable for her husband's debts contracted at any time.
The law casts the custody of the minor children upon the father and not upon the mother. But if this custody is abused, it is by the Court to the mother.
The father may appoint a guardian for his infant children. (2 Rev. Stat. 33. But the
His property before marriage continues his after marriage, subject to her inchoate rights of dower.