Note 20 — BOOK IV. CONCERNING NATURAL LINEAGE.

The right of dower, established by the Visigothic Code, is Roman in origin. It was derived from the bestowal of the dowry, “res uxorica,” which was an almost indispensable part of every marriage contract, and with which it is sometimes now confounded. While, under the Roman law, the dowry was given by the intended wife or her relations to the intended bridegroom, or to some member of his family, with the Visigoths it came from the bridegroom, and represented, in fact, the purchase money paid for the bride; a survival of the ancient barbarian custom of marriage by purchase, just as the wedding-ring is symbolical of the presumed subordination of the wife to her husband, a ceremony whose purpose, as well as significance, have both long since been forgotten.

Both the rights of dower and curtesy, as defined by the legal polity of the Visigoths, it will be seen, are practically the same as they now exist under the laws of England, and of those of many of the States of the Union. Considering the lapse of time, the differences of race and religion, the wide divergence of political systems, and the antagonistic character of many of the social usages observed during epochs separated by thirteen centuries, this fact is very remarkable. While the wife had a right to the use of half of the deceased husband’s property during her lifetime, he had a right to the use of only one third of hers, as he has to-day. The favor generally shown to the wife in the stipulations of the marriage contract, are largely the result of the independence enjoyed by the sex under Teutonic and Scandinavian customs.—[Ed.]