e Roman woman,
whether married or single, became one of great personal and property
independence ... but Christianity tended somewhat, from the very
first, to narrow this remarkable liberty. The prevailing state of
religious sentiment may explain why modern jurisprudence has adopted
these rules concerning the position of woman which belong peculiarly
to an imperfect civilization.... No society which preserves any
tincture of Christian institutions, is likely to restore to married
women the personal liberty conferred on them by middle Roman law.
Canon law has deeply injured civilization."

[179] Canon law is the whole body of Church decrees enacted by
councils, bulls, decretals, etc., and is recognized as a system of
laws primarily established by the Christian Church, and enforced by
ecclesiastical authority. It took cognizance first merely of what were
considered spiritual duties, but ultimately extended itself to
temporal rights. It was collected and embodied in the ninth century,
since which period numerous additions have been made.

[180] The women claimed the right to baptize their own sex. But the
bishops and presbyters did not care to be released from the pleasant
duty of baptizing the female converts.--_Hist. of Christian Religion
from A.D. to 200_, _p. 23, Waite_. The Constitution of the Church of
Alexandria, which is thought to have been established about the year
200, required the applicant for baptism to be divested of clothing,
and after the ordinance had been administered, to be anointed with
oil.--_Ibid._, _p. 384-5_. The converts were first exorcised of the
evil spirits that were supposed to inhabit them; then, after
undressing and being baptized, they were anointed with oil.--_Bunsen's
Christianity of Mankind_, _Vol. VII._, _p. 386-393_; _3d Vol.
Analecta_.

[181] All, or at least the greater part of the fathers of the Greek
Church before Augustine, denied any real, original sin.--"Augustinism
and Pelagianism," p. 43, Emerson's Translations (Waite). The doctrine
had a gradual growth, and was fully developed by Augustine, A.D.
420.--_Hist. Christian Religion to A.D. 200 (Waite)_, _p. 382_.

[182] Milman says that Heloise sacrificed herself on account of the
impediments the Church threw in the way of the married clergy's career
of advancement. As his wife she would close the ascending ladder of
ecclesiastical honors, priory, abbacy, bishopric, metropolitane,
cardinalade, and even that which was above