ifw» 1 1
m
8ipi t iill I ii! Illl ;
! f i l l
ll
• I I
i l l
il but i f the feller
be a Jlave, precaution
mult be ufed.
I f f
1
■ Û i
1 |nT Mipi i l li
i
iff
1 » '
1 1 1
À woman
may marry
(after obferv-
ing her Edit')
on receiving
authentic information
of
her widowhood
or divorce.
1
A B O M I N A T I O N S . B ook X L IV .
of fuch appearance as the feller is not likely to be the pioprietor of
her, it is mod prudent on that account to avoid buying her. Never-
thelefs, if the purchafe be made, there are hopes of its being lawful,
becaufe of its being fupported by a legal argument.
I f the perfon who offers the female Have to fale be a Have, male or
female, in that cafe the other muff neither accept nor purchafe her
until he enquire into the circumftances; becaufe, as property cannot
be a proprietor, it is evident that fome other is the proprietor of her.
If, however, the feller inform him that “ his matter had licenced
him to fell her,” his word may in that cafe be taken, provided he
be upright and truftworthy: but if he be otherwife, the purchafer
mutt be guided by probable opinion; and if he have not the means of
forming any opinion of him, whether good or bad, he mutt not in
that cafe purchafe her, or admit his allegation concerning her.
If a perfon of an upright and trufty character inform a woman
that her hufband who was abfent had died, or that he had divorced
her thrice,— or, if a gerfon. of a reprobate character deliver her a letter
from her hufband, wherein he acquaints her of his having divorced
her, and fhe, not knowing for certain that the letter was written by
her hufband, fhould however be led to think fo,— in either of thefe
cafes fhe may lawfully obferve her E dit, and then mar r ybe cauf e in
this inftance a circumftance deftruCtive of the former marriage has occurred
without any perfon appearing to contradict it. In the fame
manner, alfo, if a woman inform a man that her hufband had divorced
her, and that the ftated period of her forbearance had elapfed,, the
man may lawfully marry her. If, alfo, a woman inform her foimer
hufband who had divorced her, thrice,, that “ after the lapfe of her
“ Edit fhe had married another, with whom fhe had cohabited, and
“ that having divorced her fhe had again completed her Edit from
“ that divorce,” the firft. hufband may in that cafe lawfully marry
8 her
her again. T h e law is alfo the fame where a woman informs a
perfon that, having been a flave, fhe had received her freedom.
If a perfon inform a woman that her marriage had been originally
unlawful, inafmuch as her hufband was at that time an apoftate, or
her fojler-brother, his word is not in that cafe to be credited, unlefs
confirmed by the evidence of two men, or of one man and two women.
So likewife, if a perfon inform another that his wife had been
ah apoftate at the time of marriage, or that fhe is his fofter-fifter, he
is not in that cafe permitted either to marry the filler of that woman,
or to marry other four women, until the information fo given be fortified
by the atteftation of two upright men. For here the hufband is
informed of an illegal circumftance coexiftent with the marriage;
whereas his execution o f the contract of marriage is an argument in
favour of its validity, and a denial of its illegality; and hence the information
of the other is apparently contradicted. T h e cafe is other-
wife, however, i f a perfon, having married a child, fhould be informed
that fhe had afterwards fucked the milk o f his mother or fitter;
for the information fo given is to be believed, fince here the bar to the
marriage is fubfequent to, and not eo-exiftent with, the contract;
and the execution of the contract, being antecedent to the circumftance
of its illegality, does not therefore afford any proof of its non-
exiftence; whence the information is not controverted.
If a girl, fo young as to be unable to give any account of herfelf,
being in the pofleflion of a man who afferts her to be his property,
fhould be afterwards, when fhe arrives at the age of maturity, met in
another city by a man who formerly knew her, and tell him that
“ fhe is a free woman,” he is not, on the ftrength of her word, permitted
to marry her, as there is an argument againft the truth of it,
namely, her having been in the pofleflion of another.
Information
tending to
annul a marriage,
mult
not be credited
unlefs
fupported by
teftimony.
A man is not
at liberty to
marry a female
Have on
her informing
him that flic
is free.
V ol. IV , If