he husband also, by the old law, might give his wife moderate
correction. For, as he is to answer for her misbehavior, the law
thought it reasonable to intrust him with this power of restraining
her by domestic chastisement, in the same moderation that a man is
allowed to correct his apprentices or children. But this power of
correction was confined within reasonable bounds, and the husband was
prohibited from using any violence to his wife, _aliter quam ad virum,
ex causa regiminis et castigationis uxoris suae licite et
rationabiliter pertinet_ (except as lawfully and reasonably belongs to
a husband, for the sake of governing and disciplining his wife). The
civil law gave the husband the same, or a larger authority over his
wife, allowing him, for some misdemeanors, _flagellis et Fustibus
acriter verberare uxorem_ (to beat his wife severely with whips and
cudgels); for others only _modicam castigationem adhibere_ (to
administer moderate chastisement). But with us, in the politer reign
of Charles II., this power of correction began to be doubted, and a
wife may now have security of peace against the husband, or, in
return, a husband against his wife. Yet the lower rank of people, who
were always fond of the old common law, still claim and exact their
ancient privilege, and the courts of law will still permit a
husband to restrain a wife of her liberty in case of any gross
misbehavior."--_1 Blackstone_, 366.

"The legal effects of marriage are generally deducible from the
principle of the common law by which the husband and wife are regarded
as one person, and her legal existence and authority are in a degree
lost or suspended during the continuance of the matrimonial
union."--_2 Kent's Comm. on Am. Law_, 129.

"Even now, in countries of the most polished habits, a considerable
latitude is allowed to marital coercion. In England the husband has
the right of imposing _such corporal restraints as he may deem
necessary_, for securing to himself the fulfillment of the obligations
imposed on the wife by virtue of the marriage contract. He may, in the
plenitude of his power, adopt every act of physical coercion which
does not endanger the life or health of the wife, or render
cohabitation unsafe."--_Petersdorff's Abridgement, note_.

"The husband hath, by law, power and dominion over his wife, and _may
keep her by force within the bounds of duty, and may beat her_, but
not in a violent or cruel manner."--_Bacon's Abridgemen