W I F 



WIESSEN, a town of Germany, in the county of Rie- 

 neck ; 10 miles N.W. of Lohr. 



WIESTERBURG, a town of Weftphalia, in the prin- 

 cipality of Halberftadt ; 7 miles N.E. of Ofterwick. 



WIETHEN, a lake of North America. N. lat. 62° 

 30'. W. long. 99° 50'. 



WIETLISBACH, a town of Switzerland, in the can- 

 ton of Berne ; 20 miles N. of Berne. 



WIETMARSEN.or Wittmarsciien, a town of Ger- 

 many, in the county of Bentheim, with an abbey, which 

 formerly belonged to the Benediftines, and was in the 

 1 2th century fecularized for noble ladies ; 4 miles N. of 

 Northern. 



WIFE, Uxor, a married woman ; or one joined with, 

 and under the protedion of, a hufband. See Marriage. 



A wife, in our Englifh law, is termed feme covert; 

 feemina viro co-operta ; her condition during marriage is 

 called her coverture ; and, in the judgment of the law, is 

 reputed to have no will, as being fuppofed entirely under, 

 and fubjeft to, that of her hufband : uxor fulget radiis 

 mariti. 



A man cannot grant any thing to his wife, or enter into 

 covenant with her ; for the grant would fuppofe her fepa- 

 rate exiftence, and to covenant with her would be only to 

 covenant with himfelf ; and, therefore, it is generally true, 

 that all compafts made between hufband and wife, when 

 fmgle, are void by the intermarriage. A woman, however, 

 may be attorney for her hufband ; and a hufband may be- 

 queath any thing to his wife by will, for that cannot take 

 effedl till the coverture is determined by his death. 



From the unity of perfon that fubfifls between the huf- 

 band and wife, in confequence of marriage, it follows, that 

 whatever perfonal property belonged to the wife before 

 marriage, is by marriage abfolutely veiled in the hufband. 

 In a real eftate, he only gains a title to the rents and profits 

 during coverture ; for that, depending upon feodal prin- 

 ciples, remains entire to the wife, after the death of her 

 hufband, or to her heirs, if fhe dies before him ; unlefs by 

 the birth of a child, he becomes tenant for life by the cur- 

 tefy. But in chattel interefts, the fole and abfolute pro- 

 perty vefts in the hufband, to be difpofed of at his pleafure, 

 if he choofes to take pofTcfBon of them : for, unlefs he re- 

 duces them to pofTeffion, by exercifing fome aft of owner- 

 fhip upon them, no property vefts in him, but they fhall 

 remain to the wife, or to her reprefentatives, after the 

 coverture is determined. 



There is, however, a confiderable difference in the ac- 

 quifition of this fpecies of property by the hufband, accord- 

 ing to the fubjeft-matter ; viz. whether it be a chattel real 

 or perfonal ; and of chattels perfonal, whether it be in pof- 

 feffion, or in aS'ton only. 



A chattel real vefts in the hufband, not abfolutely, but 

 fub modo. As, in cafe of a leafe for years ; the hufband 

 fhall receive all the rents and profits of it, and may, if he 

 pleafes, fell, furrender, or difpofe of it during the cover- 

 ture : if he be outlawed or attainted, it fhall be forfeited to 

 the king ; it is liable to execution for his debts ; and if he 

 furvives his wife, it is to all intents and purpofes his own. 

 Yet if he has made no difpofition thereof in his life-time, 

 and dies before his wife, he cannot difpofe of it by will ; 

 for, having never been transferred from the wife, after his 

 death fhe fhall remain in her ancient pofTeffion, and it fhall 

 not go to his executors. 



Thus alfo with regard to chattels perfonal (or chofa in 

 oS'ton), as debts upon bond, contrafts, and the hke ; thefe 

 the huiband may have if he pleafes ; that is, if he reduces 

 them into pofTeffion by receiving or recovering them at law : 



Vol. XXXVIII. 



W I F 



in which cafe, they are abfolutely and entirely his own : 

 and fhall go to his executors or adminillrators, or as he fhall 

 bequeath them by will, and fhall not reveft in the vvife. But 

 if he dies before he has reduced them into pofTeffion, fo that 

 at his death they ftill continue chofes in aaion, they fhall fur- 

 vive to the wife. 



Thus in both the fpecies of property the law is the fame, 

 in cafe the wife furvives the hufband ; but, in cafe the huf- 

 band furvives the wife, the law is very different with refpeft 

 to chattels real and chofes in aSion ; for he fhall have the 

 chattel real hy inr\\\orihi^^, but not the chofc in aBion ; ex- 

 cept in the cafe of arrears of rent, due to the wife before 

 her coverture, which in cafe of her death are given to the 

 hufband by the flatute 32 Hen. VIII. cap. 37. 



As to chattels perfonal (or chofes in poffefflon), which the 

 wife hath in her own right, as ready money, jewels, houfe- 

 hold goods, and the hke, the hufband hath, therein an im- 

 mediate and abfolute property, devolved to him by the 

 marriage, which can never again reveft in the wife or her 

 reprefentatives. 



The wife alfo, by marriage, acquires a property in fome 

 of her hufband's goods, called her paraphernalia, which 

 fhall remain to her after his death, and fhall not go to his 

 executors. Thefe, fignifying the apparel and ornaments of 

 the wife, fuitable to her rank and degree, the hufband can- 

 not devife by his will ; though during his hfe perhaps he 

 hath the power (if unkindly inclined to exert it) to fell 

 them or give them away. But if fhe continues in the ufe of 

 them till his death, fhe fhall afterwards retain them againft 

 his executors and adminiftrators, and all other perfons, ex- 

 cept creditors where there is a deficiency of affets. And 

 her necefTary apparel is protefted^ even againfl the claim of 

 creditors. 



The wife can make no contraft without her hufband's 

 confent ; and, in all law-matters, fine viro refpondere non 

 fotefl. 



The hufband is bound to provide his wife with neceffaries 

 by law, as much as himfelf; and if fhe contrafts debts for 

 them, he is obliged to pay them ; but for any thing befidea 

 neceffaries, he is not chargeable. Alfo if a wife elopes, and 

 lives with another man, the hufband is not chargeable even 

 for neceffaries, at leaft if the perfon who furnifhes them is 

 fufficiently apprized of her elopement. 



If the wife be indebted before marriage, the hufband is 

 bound afterwards to pay the debt. If the wife be injured 

 in her perfon or property, fhe can bring no aftion for redrefs 

 without her hufband's concurrence, and in his name as well 

 as her own ; neither can fhe be fued, without making the 

 hufband a defendant. There is indeed one cafe where the 

 wife fhall fue and be fued as a feme fole, viz. where the huf- 

 band has abjured the realm, or is banifhed ; for he is then 

 dead in law. See Custom of London. 



In criminal profecutions, the wife may be indifted and 

 punifhed feparatcly ; for the union is only a civil union. 

 But in trials of any fort, they are not allowed to be evidence 

 for or againft each other. However, where the offence is 

 dircftly againft the perfon of the wife, this rule has been 

 ufually difpenfed with ; and, therefore, by ftat. 3 Hen. VII. 

 cap. 2. in cafe a woman be forcibly taken away and married, 

 fhe may be witncfs againfl fuch her hufband, in order to 

 convift him of felony. See Forcible Abdudion. 



In the civil law, the hufband and wife are confidered aj 

 two diftinft perfons ; and may have feparate eftatcs, con- 

 trafts, debts, and injuries ; and, therefore, in our ecclefiaf- 

 tical courts, a woman may fue and be fued without her 

 hufband. 



But, though our law in general coniiders man and wife 

 3 I as 



