The law cannot dissolve a lawful marriage; it is only by the act of the legislature altering the law in this particular instance that such dissolution can be effected. It requires an Act of Parliament to constitute a divorce _à vinculo matrimonii_, but the investigation rests by usage with the Lords alone, the House of Commons acting upon the faith that the House of Lords came to a just conclusion. This divorce is pronounced on account of adultery in the wife, and in some cases of aggravated adultery on the part of the husband. The expenses of only a common divorce bill are between six hundred and seven hundred pounds, which makes the possibility of release from the matrimonial bond a privilege of the rich. A wife cannot be plaintiff, defendant, or witness in an important part of the proceeding for a divorce, which evidently must lead to much injustice. LAWS CONCERNING A WIDOW. [Sidenote: Her property.] A widow recovers her real property, but if there be a settlement she is restricted by its provisions. She recovers her chattels real if her husband has not disposed of them by will or otherwise. [Sidenote: A wife’s paraphernalia.] A wife’s paraphernalia (_i.e._, her clothes and ornaments) which her husband owns during his lifetime, and which his creditors can seize for his debts, becomes her property on his death. [Sidenote: Her liabilities.] A widow is liable for any debts which she contracted before marriage, and which have been left unpaid during her marriage. A widow is not bound to bury her dead husband, it being the duty of his legal representative. [Sidenote: A widow’s one-third.] If a man die intestate, the widow, if there are children, is entitled to one third of the personalty; if there are no children, to one half: the other is distributed among the next of kin, among whom the widow is not counted. If there is no next of kin, the moiety goes to the crown. A husband can, of course, by will deprive a wife of all right in the personalty. [Sidenote: Quarantine.] A right is granted in Magna Charta to a widow to remain forty days in her husband’s house after his death, provided she do not marry during that time. [Sidenote: Dower.] A widow has by law a _right of dower_ of her husband’s freehold lands, which is a right to the possession of a third of them during her life, and a right called _freebench_ to a portion of his copyholds, but these rights are generally taken away by settlements or conveyances, giving the wife a jointure. If she accept a jointure she has no claim to dower. LAWS CONCERNING WOMEN IN OTHER RELATIONSHIPS. [Sidenote: Agent.] A woman can act as agent for another, and, as an attorney, legally execute her authority. A wife can so act if her husband do not dissent. [Sidenote: Trustee.] An unmarried woman can be vested with a trust, but if she marry, the complexities and difficulties are great, from her inability to enter alone into deeds and assurances. [Sidenote: Executrix.]