40. Where a wife joins in a fine or recovery, she is bound. By the custom of some clues and boroughs, a bar gain of sale by the husband and wife, where the wife is examined b3 the mayor or other officer, binds the wife af ter the husband's death. So in some places, a surrender of a copyhold by husband and wile, the wife being examined by the steward, binds the wife.
41. If a feine covert levies a fine of her own inheritance without her hos+ and, it shall hind her and her heirs, be cause they are estopped to claim any thing in the land, and cannot be atimitted to say she was covert against the record; but the husband may enter and defeat it, either during the coveriure, to restore him to the freehold held jure uxoris, or after her death, to restore him to his tenancy.
42. In the civil law, the husband and wife are considered as two distinct persons, and may have separate estates, contracts, debts, and injuries ; and therefore, in our eccle siastical courts, a woman may sue and be sued without her husband.
43. If baron and feme are divorced causa adulterii, which is a divorce a mensa et thoro, they continue baron and feme: it is otherwise in a divorce a vinculo matrimonii, which dis solves the marriage.
44. If a man is bound to a feme sole, and after marries her, and they are divorced a vinculo matrimonii, the obliga tion is revived.
45. Tne most usual and direct injuries to a husband, are, 1. Abduction, or taking away his wife. 2 Criminal conversation with her. And, 3. Beating her—to each of which is assigned its proper technical form of legal re dress.
46. Children are, 1. Legitimate, or those who are born in lawful wedlock. or within a competent time after. 2. Bastards, are those born out of lawful wedlock ; and also children born above nine months after the husband has had no access to his wife. In a divorce a mama et thora, if the wile breeds children they are bastards, unless access be proved : in a voluntary separation, the law will suppose ac cess, unless the contrary be shown. If there be an appa rent impossibility of procreation on the part of the hus band, the issue of the wife shall be bastards.
47. In the case of a divorce in the spiritual court a vin culo matritnonii, all the issue born during coverture are bastards.
48. The duties of parents enforced by law to legitimate children are, 1. Maintenance, where they are unable to work through infancy, disease, or accident. 2. Protection. 3. Education.
49. The power of parents over children, is correction and consent to marry when tinder age. The duties of le gitimate children to parents are obedience, protection, and maintenance.
50 The rights of a bastard are such only as he can ac quire ; for he is incapable of inheriting any thing, the law considering him as the son of nobody ; though he may gain a surname by repute, and a putative father for some pur poses, that is, by a man's acknowledging it to be his child. If a man declares a child to he is in ventre sa mere, and dies before its birth, such child does not gain sufficient reputation by the declaration, to entitle it to take a bequest from its father ; but if he had devised an estate to it gene rally, as to the child such an one is enciente with, the be quest would pass to the child.
51. Guardian and ward are, pro tempore, reciprocally subject to the same rights and duties as parent and child.
52. The natural and legal guardians of a child are its parents ; for if an estate he left to an infant, the father is by common law the guardian, and must account to his for the profits ; but an executor is not justified in paying a legacy left a child to its father : for if the father becomes insolvent, the executor may be compelled to pay it over again. A father may by deed or will assign a guardian to his infant children.
53. Guardians for nurture are, of course, father and mother till the infant attain the age of fourteen years : and in default of father or mother, the ordinary may assign some discreet person to take care of the infant's personal estate, maintenance, and education.
54. Guardian in socage, is where the minor is entitled to some estate in lands, and then by the common law the guardianybip devolves upon such of his next of kin to whom the inheritance cannot possibly descend ; as where an estate descends from the father's family, a relative of the mother's will be appointed ; so vice versa.