e sex of the
criminal, men being sentenced to be drawn and hanged, while women were
drawn and burnt alive.

[Sidenote: Larceny, bigamy, etc.]

In larceny, bigamy, manslaughter and other crimes, men might claim the
benefit of clergy and by taking holy orders, escape all punishment,
except branding in the hand and a few months imprisonment, while women
might receive sentence of death and be executed for the first offense.
Later the law was changed so that in cases of simple larceny under the
value of ten shillings, they might be burned in the hand and whipped,
stocked or imprisoned for any time not exceeding one year. The
disability of sex and of ignorance were both finally removed and all men
and women admitted to benefit of clergy.

[Sidenote: Adultery and seduction.]

[Sidenote: Rape.]

By the common law, adultery and seduction were not classed with crimes,
but were only civil injuries for which compensation might be recovered
by husband, father or guardian, but the woman, who might be wronged, had
no right of action for the injury to herself, and the State did not
recognize any wrong to society by an injury to the person of one who was
civilly dead. The crime of rape was punishable by death, and consent,
though proved, was no defense, if the offense was committed upon a child
under ten years of age.

[Sidenote: Right of appeal.]

Magna Charta, granted by King John, while redressing many hardships and
grievances incident to feudal times, and confirming and securing to the
people many rights and liberties, among which was the right of the wife
to dower in her husband's property, denied to women the right of appeal
except in case of the death of their husbands. The right of appeal was
the privilege of private prosecution for crime. (Analogus to our present
method of commencing prosecutions by information.)

According to Blackstone, even the disabilities of the wife were for the
most part intended for her protection and benefit, and he adds: "So
great a favorite is the female sex of the laws of England!"

[Sidenote: Reason for discrimination.]

The discrimination made by the common law between men and women, was
based alone upon the assumption that women were, and must be always
dependent by reason of their sex. In the light of a broader humanity,
the distinctions seem cruel and barbarous, but that they were the result
of any spirit of injustice or intentional tyranny, or of any desire on
the part of men to o