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csUcd Advowtrv) a crime committed by marrltd peiToni, 

 againft the faltli pledged to tiich otl c/ in maniaj^t, by 

 having cainnl commerce with fomc other; or even bv a 

 perfon not mnrricd, who has the fame iiitcrcourle willi 

 another tliat is. 



Morahlls, and canonills, and divines, have diilinguiflicd 

 fevcral fpecies of adultery ; as, 



Adultery, mamfjl^ that wherein the parties arc caught 

 E» £,iyi', tn the fail, or, as loine exprcLs it, i\s in re. 



On fr.ch occafions, ftraijfrers, or people nut intcrcfted in 

 the family, have been allowed to accule, and profcciite women 

 for adultery, either if committed during a huiband's long 

 abfence, or through his connivance. 



Adultery, occult or pcret, that kept concealed from 

 the knowledge of the world, and only dlvulgrd to a con- 

 feflbr, or tb.e lijce. — In the canon law this is moll favourably 

 dealt with ; perfons were admitted to penance for this, 

 and abfolved, who were refufed it for the open kind. Du- 

 Cange. 



A.DVhTtti'i , prefumptlve, that which is only difcovered or 

 infened from certain figns, or indications. Such are the 

 parties being foimd in bed together, nudus cum nuda. 



Adultery, interpretr.the, or reputed, denotes an aft 

 which though not properly included under the denomina- 

 tion, yet is reputed as equivalent to it, and punilhed as fuch. 

 Thus mixed marriages between Chriilians and Jews, e. gr. 

 between a Chrillian man and a Jewilh woman, arc put by 

 the laws of Arcadius and Honorius, on the footing of 

 adultery. 



So alfo fecond marriages are called by fome, as Athena- 

 goras, and St. Ambrofe, an honourable or better fort of 

 adulteries. 



Adultery, improper, includes other extraordinar)' cafes 

 and fpecies ; fuch are the commerce with a woman only 

 efpoufcd, not aftually married ; with a married woman, 

 who lives as a common whore ; \vith a married vvomas, 

 taking her for fmgle ; with a putative wife, or concubine, 

 taking her for a real wife ; and with a nun, who by her 

 vovts \i deemed efpoufed. 



Ar)V\.riK'^,Jigurative, that intended only to reprefent, or 

 prefigure another faft, or convey forae other inllruftion. 

 This coincides with typical, or allegorical adultery, and 

 Hands oppofed to aftual. So the adultery of Mars and 

 Venus is turned into an allegor)' by naturahfts, moralifts, 

 alchemills, &c. 



AdulterVj^w^A', is that where only one of the parties 

 is married, in contradiftintlion from double adultery, which 

 is, where both parties are married. This diftinftion is fa- 

 miliar and important in the canon law ; but was unknown 

 to the jurifprudence of the Code and Pandefts. 



Adultery, incejluous, that wherein the parties are re- 

 lated within the third degree of confanguinity. 



Adultery, licit, that not prohibited by any exprefs or 

 known law. 



It has been dlfputcd whether adultery be malum in fc, or 

 only malum prohibitum, i. e. evil in itfelf, or only rendered 

 evil, by virtue of pofitive laws and prohibitions. St. Am- 

 brofe and fome others have maintained, that adultery was 

 rot criminal before the Mofaic law. Hobbes de Civ. cap, 6. 

 § 1 6. Budd. Ifag. lib. ii. cap. 4. See the clofe of this 

 article. 



It has been controverted, whether adultery may be law- 

 fully committed in war, with the enemies' wives ? The 

 anfwer is in the negative, and the authorifed praftice of 

 civilifed nations is agreeable to this. It has alfo been a 

 famous queftion, whether it be lawful for a woman to com- 

 mit adultery with the confent of her hufband, and for the 



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procuring fome great good to him ? St. Auftin apparently 

 allows of it ; at leail, does not cond. nui it. l)e Serm. 

 Dom. in Mont. lib. i. cap. 16. j> 49. & Dc Civ. Dei. lil>. 

 xvi. cip. 2 J. 



It has likcwlfc been a difjiute, nhetlicr it be lawful for 

 one of the panics married to comi,iit adultery, with the con- 

 fent of the other, for the i;\\:^ ot having. children ? C'f 

 which we have iultances in Abniham, who, on this account, 

 convirfed with Hagar ; and likcwife among the Greeks and 

 Romans. 



Pullman, a German profefTor, has a dilTertation on the 

 hufband's right to alienate his wife's body to anotlier's ufe. 



Adultery, iUici!, that which i-. exprcfsly contrarj- to 

 fome obligatory law : fuch, according to the generality of 

 cafuills, is all adultery, proper, improper, fmgle, double, 

 open, and occult ; becaufe of a natural bafeneis or turpi- 

 tude in the thing, as well as its being a violation of con- 

 jugal failh, and injury to our neighbour. 



Accordingly, punilhments have been annexed to adultery 

 in moll ages and nation;, though of differe nt degrees of 

 fevcrity. In many it hath been capital, in others venial, 

 and attended only with flight pecuniary multts. Some of 

 the penalties are ferious, and even cruel ; others of a jocofe 

 and humorous kind. 



Among the ancient Egyptians, adultery by confent, wag 

 puniflied in the man by a thoufand ladies, given with rods j 

 and in the woman, with the lofs of her nofe. Neverthelef* 

 adulteries were not unfrequent among the Egyptians. 



The Grecian laws exprefs great indignation againft adul- 

 tery. In the earher times of Athens, the punifhmcnt of 

 adultery fcems to have been arbitrary. In other parts of 

 Greece, adultery was feverely punifhcd. 



Rich adulterers were fometimes allowed to redeem them- 

 felves with money, and the fine, called /^cixayfia, was paid 

 to the injured hufljand : and it was cuftomary for the father 

 of the adulterefs to return the whole dowry which he had 

 received of her huftand. Homer Odyff. 1. 9. v. 317. 329. 



In the later times of Greece it was ordered by Draco* 

 that he who catched an adulterer in the faft might impofe 

 on him any arbitrary punifliment ; and this law was con- 

 firmed by Solon. Neverthelcfs it appeared to have been 

 highly impolitic, as it gave full fcope to private revenge, 

 inftead of leaving the punifhment to the (late. 



It was by the Grecian law farther ordered, that if any 

 one was ihjurioudy confined upon fufpicion of adulter)-, he 

 (hoidd make his complaint by appeal to the Thefmnthets^ 

 which if they found juftifiable, he Ihould be acquitted, and 

 his fureties difcharged from their bail ; but in cafe he were 

 found guilty, the judges were to inflidl on him what pu- 

 nifhment they would, death only excepted ; and the offender 

 was obliged to procure friends to be refponfible for his fu- 

 ture challity. 



The Spartans, indeed, may in one fenfc be faid to havf 

 tolerated adultery, fince they laughed at thofe who thought 

 the violation of the marriage-bed an infupportablt affront : 

 they allowed other men the liberty of embi. icing their wives, 

 which freedom they took with others in their turn. Nay, 

 even llrangers, as well as citizens of Sparta, were allowed 

 the fame freedom with their wives. Yet wc find that their 

 kings were exempt from tliis cuilom, that the royal blood 

 might be preferved unmixed, and the government remain io 

 the fame lineal defcent. 



But notwithftanding this liberty, which was founded on 

 mutual confent, they accounted all other adulteries the 

 moll heinous crime in the world ; and while they adhered 

 to their ancient laws they were wholly ftrangers to them, 

 AlDong tlK ancient Spartans the idea of infidelity on the 

 L I part 



