ft
148
from the firft carnal connexion, not from thé date o f the iddrfiugé-,
bechufé one which is invalid does not give a claim to the c&nial
aft, to as to Hand as fuch, whereas the féverfe is thé cafe in a
valid nfarriagfe, as that eftab'lifh'ès fuch claim: and heheè, in the
eftablifhment o f genealogy, the timè is calculated from thé date óf the
marriage..
^ 5 ^ * 0 » *^HE for proper dower) of any woman is to be regulated,
p r o p e r dower, in its amount dr value,, by that of the dower of her paternal relation^
fuch as her paternal ftfters or aunts, or the daughters o f her paternal
uncles, and fo forth, according to a precept of Ibn MuJJliood, u fothe
“ woman belongs fuch a dower as is ufually ajjigticd to her female pa-
“ ternal r e la tiv e s— moreover, men are accounted of the clafs of
their paternal tribe, and the value o f a thing chhnot be eftitaated but
by attending to the value fet upon its clafs.
A woman’s proper dower is not to be eftimated by the dower of
her mother or her maternal aunt, where they are not defeended of
her father’s family, on account of the precept o f Ibn MaJJdaod already
recorded: yet i f her mother fhould be defeended o f her father’s family,
(being, for inftance, the daughter of his paternal uncle,) in this cafe,
a judgment may be formed from her dower, as being delcended from
the family of thefather.
I n regulating the proper dower o f a woman, attention muff !»
paid to her equality with the women from whofe dowers the rule is.
to be taken', in point of 'age, beauty, fortune, underftanding, and-
Virtue,, 'becaufe it varies according to any difference in all tfhele eir-
cumftances;. and, in like manner, it differs according to place of
rciidence, or time, (that is to fay, times of trouble and confufion,
as oppofed to times of tranquillity;)— and the learned in the law
have obferved that equality is alfo to be regarded in point of virginity,
1 hecaufe
I becatiffe the dower is different according as the woman may be a virgin
I or otherwife.
If the Walee [guardian] of a woman become furety for her'
I dower, it is approved, becaufe he is competent to fuch refponfibility,
I (that is, to take fuch obligation upon himfelf,) and he is furety in a
I thing which is a legal fubjeft o f bail, (namely, the dower,) iince that
I is a debt, in which bail is approved: and the woman is afterwards at
I liberty to require her dower either of her hufband or of her guardian,
I as in all other cafes of bail: and if the guardian pay the dower, he lhall
I take the fame from the woman’s hufband, where he has become
I furety at his defire, as is the invariable rule in bail. T h e bail is in
I like manner approved, if the wife be an infant: contrary to where a
I father fells the property of his infant child, and becomes bail for the
I amount, which is not lawful, becaufe a guardian is, with refpeft to-
I marriage, a negociator merely; but, in fa le, he is the executor of the
I contraft, (whence it is that its obligations reft upon him, and its rights
I appertain to him;) and the father’ s difehargeis alfo approved, if he clear
I the purchafer of the whole price o f the infant’s property; and he is
I moreover at liberty to take pofleflion of the price after the infant fhall
I have attained maturity; wherefore, if his bail were to be approved, it
I would admit the principle of a man becoming furety in his own behalf,
I which is abfurd. -
Objection.— A father is at liberty to take pofleflion of the
I dower of his infant daughter, in the fame manner as of the price o f
I his infant child’ s property; wherefore i f the .bail of the father
I with refpeft to the dower be approved, it follows that he is bail in his
own behalf. •
R e p l y .-*—T he authority veiled in a father to take pofleflion of
the dower is becaufe of his -parental relation, and not on account of
his being a party in the contraft, (for which reafon it is that he
is not at liberty to take pofleflion of the dower after the maturity of
his
A woman’»
guardian may
becomefurety
forherdower.