Among the Romans, during the republic, the stated punishment of this crime is unknown. Sonic suppose it to have been capital by the laws of the Twelve Tables ; but it seems rather to have been left to the discretion of the husband or parents of the offending female. The general punishment was castration, or cutting off the nose, ears, &c. By the Lex Julia de .idultcras, insti tuted by Augustus, the offenders were banished to se parate islands, and condemned to pay a heavy fine. It was afterwards decreed by Antonini's, that the charge of adultery, brought. by a husband against his wile, could not be sustained, unless he himself were innocent : 'c Per iniquum elfin? -riddle,. CS C 11 t pudicitiam vie rx ?IX Or C exigat, quoin ijise non exliibcat." Constantine is thought to have been the first who declared it a capital crime. In the reign of his son Constantius, adulterers were burned, or sewed in sacks, and thrown into the sea. But this punishment was greatly mitigated by Justinian towards females. The adulteress was scourged, and shut up in a monastery ; from which if her husband did not take her within two years, she was shaven, and con fined for life. Theodosius instituted the abominable punishment of public constupration, which was soon after abolished. The Romans made a distinction be tween a married and an unmarried adulteress. The one was called adullera, the other //Pi/ex, which last be longed rather to stuprum.
By the ancient laws of France, this crime was punish able with death. In the beginning of the fourteenth century, two gentlemen of Normandy, being convicted of adultery with the daughters-in-law of Philip he Bel, were condemned to be flayed alive, hanged, and quar tered; and the. offending princesses were sentenced to perpetual imprisonment. But this punishment was in general greatly mitigated. In 1357, it was ordained in some districts, that the offender should l'1111 naked through the streets, and pay a heavy fine.
Before the establishment of Christianity. the common punishment in Poland was emasculation. Thc: adulterer was carried to the market-place, and nailed by the t•s ticles to a stake, where he was left either to inflict the punishment upon himself, or to perish.
By the Spanish laws, the offender was punished Ix the loss of that part which was the insteumeht of the crime. But the practice of adultery has nn• grown so frequent in that country, antoug the monks, that this punishment is never inflicted. These ascetic 14ortals, being restrained from marriage by therules of their order, and unwilling to refrain from those plea• sures, which by then. Now they have sworn to forsake, indulge themsek es in all the wantonness of lascivious debauchery. The jealousy of the husband is lulled asleep by the devout appearan«• of the offender; and the wife is consoled for the loss of her honour by the promise of absolution,—on infallible specific for a guilty conscience.
In Portugal,an adulteress is condemned to the flames; but this sentence is seldom put in execution.
The Alahommedon code, which rules so extensive a. portion of the world, pronounces adultery a capital of fence, and one of the three crimes which, according to the Prophet, most be expiated by the blood of a .,l/as
subiza 71.
In our own country, the laws, respecting this crime, have varied at different periods. In England, during the Saxon heptarchy, the punishment was death ; and by the laws of Ethelbert, the adulterer was obliged to pay a fine to the injured husband, and to purchase him another wife. In the beginning of the eleventh century, banishment was inflicted on the adulterer, and the loss of the nose and cars was the punishment of the adulteress. In the reign of Henry 1. this crime was punished by the loss of eyes and genitals. The laws at present, though severe, arc almost obsolete ; and the punishment com monly inflicted upon adulterers is so trivial, and so in adequate to the crime, that we cannot but recognise in it a near approach to the popish practice of indulgences. The adulterer is fined at the discretion of a jury, and the fine is given to the injured husband, as a compen sation for the loss or his peace and honour. The of fending wife loses nothing but her dowry.
In Scotland, a distinction is made between notour and sinote adultery. Notour is, when they live openly to gether at bed and board, and beget children. By a statute, 1551, c. 20, this crime was punished by the ins; of moveables ; but afterwards, by an act in 155:1,cap. it was rendered capital ; and during the seventeenth century in particular, several persons were actually ex ecuted for adultery. Simple adultery is left to the dis cretion of the judge, who gives damages to the injured husband, as in England, in proportion to the circum stances of the offender.
In both countries, this crime is sufficient ground fur the injured party to obtain a divorce. In England, this is done by an act of parliament, and in Scotland by a more simple proceeding in the common courts of law. By a divorce, the parties are placed in the same situation in which they were before marriage ; the dowry is restored by the offending husband, and the rank or title acquired by marriage is lost by the offending In England. the persons divorced may marry those with whom the crime was committed ; hut this is prohibited by the law of Scotland.
From the laws at present in force against adultery, we cannot but perceive how far disproportioncd they are to the heinousness of the crime. I,Ve cannot boast of heir haling been at all efficient for the purpose for which they were intended. Adulterr prevails in an alarming degree. Actions of this description, which are yearly brought into our courts of law, seem rather to inc cease. Adulterers arc deprived of none of their fornn•r privileges : they enjoy the same honours with the innocent, and instead of being viewed with that ab horrence, w hie!' their crime is calculated to excite, the ment of a p. itry sum is supposed to have absolved diem limn puoln reprobation, and the offenders are again admitted into the bosom of virtuous soci•t). Sec Paley's /Moral. I'/a/. vol. i. p. 307. 12tii ed. (0