statutes, or delve in black letter law, in search of a principle
written in living letters upon the heart of every man.' If the idea
contained in this answer of Wirt, were more fully appreciated by our
modern jurists, it would be all the better for the country.

"The common law is said to be the perfection of reason. This is
doubtless true, but it is the perfection of the reason of the present,
as well as of the past. Its principles are elastic, suiting themselves
to the civilization of all ages. They are progressive, keeping pace
with the progress of all times. They are not immutable, save in the
element of right, and they therefore shape themselves to all
circumstances, moving along with the onward march of trade, the
commerce, the social relations, and business of the people. The
learning of to-day, the wisdom, the philosophy of to-day is profounder
than that of any preceding century, and it is folly to overthrow it
by, or compel it to give place to, the learning, the wisdom, the
philosophy of departed and ruder ages.

"In regard to your question, whether there is not some relaxation of
the law necessary, in vindication of the civilization of the age,
against the legal barbarisms remaining upon the statute book, and in
the common law in regard to our wives, I answer frankly that I do not
know about that. The law, as you read it in Blackstone, and as you
expounded it to your wife, on your fishing excursion, has been
somewhat modified. Wives have been given a _status_ by modern
legislation; and a woman, by becoming a wife, does not now cease to be
a legal entity. The law permits her to retain and control her property
irrespective of her husband, and she has, therefore, thus far, ceased
to be 'nobody.' But my private opinion is, that, as a general thing,
the women of this country get along very well, even under the pressure