§13. Freedom of religious opinion and worship, or liberty of conscience, is a valuable personal right, included in the term, personal liberty, and is effectually secured in this country. In England, the country of our ancestors, there is a church established and supported by the government. This is sometimes called "union of church and state." The American people, from their love of religious freedom, have, in their constitutions, expressly prohibited congress from making laws "respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." (Amend. art. 1.) And the state constitutions have adopted similar provisions. §14. Another important personal right comprehended in the term personal liberty, and guarantied in the same article of the national constitution, and in the state constitutions, is the liberty of speech and of the press. Some of the monarchical governments of Europe prohibited the people from speaking against the sovereign or his government. Books and papers could not be published until they had been examined and approved. The persons authorized to examine the manuscripts, were called _censors_. Hence the expression sometimes heard, "censorship of the press." To secure the liberty of speaking and publishing their sentiments freely up on all subjects, the people of this country have made express provision in their constitutions; which, however, while they properly guaranty this right, leave men "responsible for its abuse," and liable to prosecution for slander or libel. (§7, 8.) §15. The _right of property_ is the right to acquire property, and to be free in the use and enjoyment of it. To protect men in the enjoyment of this right, is one of the principal objects of constitutions and laws. The rights of property will constitute the subject matter of several subsequent chapters of this digest of "common and statutory law." (Chap. L, and onward.) Chapter XLVIII. Domestic Relations. Husband and Wife. §1. To render a marriage contract lawful, the parties must be of sufficient age, called the age of consent; which, by the common law of the land, is fourteen years in males, and twelve in females. In some states the age of consent has been altered by statute. In Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, it has been raised to eighteen years in males, and fourteen in females; in Illinois to seventeen and fourteen; in Wisconsin, to eighteen and fifteen.