all charges and deductions whatever, for and during her natural life, payable quarterly, on the first days of January, . April, July, and October, in each and every year; which said C. D. hereby agrees to take in full satisfaction for her support and maintenance and all alimony whatsoever.

And said C. D., in consideration of one dollar to him paid, hereby covenants and agrees to and with said A. B., to save him harmless from all debts of his said wife to be hereafter contracted; and if said A. B. shall be compelled to pay any such debts, said C. D. hereby agrees that he may retain the same with interest, from the quarterly allowances that shall thereafter become due.

In witness whereof, the parties have hereto set their hands and seals, the day and year above first written.

3. SAME, WITH SURRENDER TO WIFE OF ESTATE WHICH

WAS HERS.

This agreement, made this 10th day of June, A. D. 1869, between A. B. and M. his wife of the one part, and C. D. of the other part, witnesseth, as follows:

Whereas, the said A. B., by virtue of his marriage with the said M. and of deeds and settlements made by her, and by others for and on her behalf, is seized of, and entitled to, estate and property of considerable value: and whereas the said A. B. and M. have, by mutual consent, agreed to live separate and apart and to the intent that the said M. may support herself in a manner suitable to her condition; he, the said, A. B., hath agreed to convey, release, and surrender, all the estate of every nature, real and personal, which he is now, or at any time hereafter shall be, seized or possessed of, or in any manner entitled to, in right of the said M., or by or through her: to be held and enjoyed by her hereafter to her sole and separate use, and to be at all times and abso

lutely at ner disposal, as if she were sole and unmarried; without being subject to his debts, encumbrances or control, or to any claim or demand, by, from, or under the said A. B. on any account whatsoever.

Now, for the more effectual execution of said agreement, the said A. B. hereby covenants and agrees with the said C. D. as follows: that he, the said A. B. and his heirs and assigns, will, from time to time and at all times hereafter, upon the request and at the cost of the said C. D. and his heirs, grant, convey and assure to said C. D., his heirs and assigns, all the right, title, and interest which he, the said A. B., has in possession, reversion or expectancy, in and to all the said . lands, estate, property, &c., and all rent and arrears of rent,

and other profits and advantages, which are now due and owing or accrued to the said A. B., and that he will permit the said C. D., and his heirs and assigns, to take and receive all such rents, issues, and profits, now accrued or which may hereafter accrue; and also that he, the said A. B. and his assigns shall and will bargain, sell, assign, transfer, and deliver, to said C. D. and his heirs and assigns, all plate, household goods, furniture, and all other personal estate of every nature, now remaining in the possession of the said A. B., or any other person in trust for him, or for his benefit, which he became seized or possessed of, or entitled to, by his intermarriage with the said M. or otherwise, by, from, or under her, or which were at any time her property or estate; and all the estate, right, claim, interest or demand, of him the said A. B. in and to the same or any part thereof, free and clear from all debts, incumbrances, and obligations, of the said A. B.; and that M. and her heirs may, at all times hereafter, have, hold, and enjoy, to and for their own sole and separate use, all said lands, &c., and all rents, &c., now due, or which shall hereafter accrue from any and all persons, and also all the estate of every nature aforesaid; and further, that said M. shall hereafter have power and be entitled, notwithstanding her coverture, and she is hereby and hereto authorized, from time to time and at all times, freely and absolutely, to dispose of any and all the estate and premises

aforesaid, at her will and pleasure, either in her lifetime, or by her last will and testament, without the control or hindrance of said A. B., or of any person claiming from or under him, as fully and amply as if she were sole and unmarried; and that he will suffer the probate of such will by the execu tor thereof.

In consideration whereof, the said C. D., on behalf of said M., covenants and agrees with said A. B., his heirs and assigns, that she the said M. shall and will, whenever thereto requested by said A. B., his heirs or assigns, release and surrender all right and title which she has or may have, to any jointure, dower, or homestead, or third part, or other interest of, in and to the estate, real and personal, of said A. B., or any part thereof; and also, that she, the said M., shall and will indemnify and save harmless, the said A. B., his heirs and assigns, from all debts, charges, and encumbrances, contracted or to be contracted by her, at any time or on any

account.

And lastly, the parties hereto mutually promise and agree, each with the other and others, to execute all such other transfers, deeds, and conveyances, for the fuller confirmation or execution of the articles aforesaid, according to the true purpose and intent thereof, as by their counsel shall be advised and required, whenever the same shall be tendered and required to be executed.

In witness whereof, &c.

[To be executed, acknowledged, and recorded like an ordinary deed.]

CHAPTER XXXIV.

OF PARENT AND CHILD.

SECTION 1. The Duties of Parents.

THE ordinary duties of parents toward their children are said to be, maintainance, protection, and education. These are certainly duties of high moral obligations; and whether they may be enforced against parents at common law or not, they may be properly treated as duties of parents. At common law, the parent at his death may devise by will, away from his children, his entire estate; in which respect our law is less careful in enforcing the obligations of maintainance than the Roman and Athenian laws were, under which a father could not disinherit a child from mere caprice, passion, or prejudice, but only for substantial reasons, to be approved of in a court of justice.

Chancellor Kent says, "The obligation of the parent to maintain the child continues till the child is in a condition. to provide for his own maintainance, and it extends no further than to a necessary support. The obligation of parental duty is so well secured by the strength of natural affection, that it seldom requires to be enforced by human laws. According to the language of Lord Coke, it is nature's profession to assist, maintain, and control the child.' A father's house is always open to his children. The best feelings. of our nature establish and consecrate this asylum.

"Under the thousand pains and perils of life, the home of the parents is, to the children, a sure refuge from evil, and a consolation in distress. In the intenseness, the lively touches and unsubdued nature of parental affection, we discern the

wisdom and goodness of the Great Author of our being and the Father of mercies."

The statute law of most countries and States makes provisions supplementary to those laws arising out of our nature, and which are sometimes too feebly sustained without such practical support; and the obligation imposed is usually reciprocal, and extends to parents and children, and also to grandparents and grandchildren.

The natural obligation continues only during the minority and weakness of the child; but, for the protection of the public, the statute obligation remains during life. A father may be sued for necessaries furnished and education bestowed upon his minor child, under proper and suitable circumstances. Where, however, the child has separate estate, the father is sometimes allowed to appropriate a proper portion of it, for the support and education of the child, in a manner suited to such income and perhaps beyond the unaided ability of the father.

Such an allowance should, however, be asked for in advance; for the courts will not, ordinarily, make an allowance from the estate of an infant for past maintainance. The English statute, of 43 of Elizabeth, required reciprocal maintainance from parents and children and some other blood relations, and it has been generally adopted and acted upon as the law of this country, in the absence of other statute regulations. We have said that a father is liable, under proper circumstances, for necessaries and education furnished his son he is, however, not so liable, unless an actual authority be proved, or the circumstances be such as to imply one; it being manifestly unfit that the father should be compelled to adopt his infant son as his agent. And it must always be a question for a jury, whether, under the circumstances of the case, the father's authority was to be inferred.

A parent is not liable for the wilful acts of his minor child, as for setting the parent's dog upon the animals of a third person. The parent is entitled to the services of his children during their minority; and, generally, the law will not imply a contract for wages between those standing in the re