t of the husband's estate; being settled at the discretion
of the ecclesiastical judge, on consideration of all the circumstances
of the case. This is sometimes called her _estovers_; for which, if he
refuses payment, there is (besides the ordinary process of
excommunication) a writ at common law _de estoveriis habendis_, in
order to recover it[i]. It is generally proportioned to the rank and
quality of the parties. But in case of elopement, and living with an
adulterer, the law allows her no alimony[k].

[Footnote i: 1 Lev. 6.]

[Footnote k: Cowel. tit. Alimony.]

III. HAVING thus shewn how marriages may be made, or dissolved, I come
now, lastly, to speak of the legal consequences of such making, or
dissolution.

BY marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law[l]: that is,
the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the
marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of
the husband: under whose wing, protection, and _cover_, she performs
every thing; and is therefore called in our law-french a
_feme-covert_; is said to be _covert-baron_, or under the protection
and influence of her husband, her _baron_, or lord; and her condition
during her marriage is called her _coverture_. Upon this principle, of
an union of person in husband and wife, depend almost all the legal
rights, duties, and disabilities, that either of them acquire by the
marriage. I speak not at present of the rights of property, but of
such as are merely _personal_. For this reason, a man cannot grant any
thing to his wife, or enter into covenant with her[m]: for the grant
would be to suppose her separate existence; and to covenant with her,
would be only to covenant with himself: and therefore it is also
generally true, that all compacts made between husband and wife, when
single, are voided by the intermarriage[n]. A woman indeed may be
attorney for her husband[o]; for that implies no separation from, but
is rather a representation of, her lord. And a husband may also
bequeath any thing to his wife by will; for that cannot take effect
till the coverture is determined by his death[p]. The husband is bound
to provide his wife with necessaries by law, as much as himself; and
if she contracts debts for them, he is obliged to pay them[q]: but for
any thing besides necessaries, he is not chargeable[r]. Also if a wife
elopes, and lives with another man, the husband is not chargeable even
for necessaries[s];