ABSTRACT
Now, it is no doubt true that we have ceased to think of a man’s family as his slaves, and have at least partially ceased to think of it as his property; but it can hardly be denied that the common way of regarding it is still a good deal influenced b y these older ways of thinking. If the family is the property of the father, why should it be treated differently from any other property ? If he m ay have many oxen and many children, w hy not also many wives ? If he may sell his ox and buy another, why not also exchange his wife ? Or, if we have gone so far as to recognize a certain equality on the part of the woman, we may still ask, W hy may they not both agree to dissolve the union, whenever they please, or whenever one of them pleases ? Looking at it in this way, we do not see any natural constraint in this mode of association.
