Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-03-22
woman's Condition In Various Countries


The inferior condition Of woman In all but
few highly civilized communities Is shown by
the prevailing customs concerning marriage
Everywhere, except in parts of Europe and
America, her personis made the subject Of bar.
ter, direct or indirect, for the male members of
her family. In some places she is openly sold
In the market; In others she is privately bought
with gifts; In still others che Is traded for by
discreet 20 betweens. But nowhere, unless
among few favored nations, has che any liber
ty Of choice In marriage. 17aa .. .''aa Il
OF all the known empires of antiquity, AS
syria was the most ancient. IL was the Gus
tom 10 Assyris to make an auction every year
OF the manageable girls, The beautiful ones
always brought high premiums, and these pre-
miums, by not unwise law, were divided as
portions among the uglier ones, in order to pro-
cure husbands for the latter. The Hindoos
were another ancient people. Among them,
marriage was purely commercial transaction.
The bride was always purchased from the ia
ther, or, If he was dead, from his male repre-
sentatves. In China, II has been, from time
immemorial, and still continues 10 be, the prac.
tice to make the hand of a daughter means Of
enrichlng the parents. The bride In China Is
sold to her future husband, without ever being
eonsulted, and her husband can whip her,
starve her, or even let her out for a longer or
shorter term.
In the heroic age Of Greece, The age which
Homer Commentaries, women we're sold byi
theft fathers. But the high price which brides
usually brought, proves that they were held In
considerable estimation. In one case as much
as hundred oxen, and thousand sheep and
goats, was the amount Of purohase-money
Even afterwards, when Greece had become |
more civilized, women, though no longer OPEN
ly bid for by competing suitors, were regarded |
as the property Of their fathers or guardians, |
who expected 70 be benefited by their settle |
ment In life. Even an Athenian wife never sat |
with her husband at table, nor went out with |
him to dinner. The Romans were really the |
first, among all the nations of antiquity, to re.
cognize the just claims of women, and, by 90 do.
Ing, affect the customs Of later times. It Is
true that the old Egyptians, If we are to credit
some writer's, looked upon the female as equal |
to the male; but there Is no conclusive evidence /
on this point; and the influence of their ex.
ample, even If fthessupposition Is correct, perish
I'd; With themselves. But the Romans, though L
with the most barbarous ideas Of the
Of women, gradually learned to re.
cognize her equality with man, not only by 90.
rial custom, but by legislation also. Even In
this nineteenth century, there are common
wealths belonging to this Union, and civilized I,
States In Europe, whose Jurisprudence, 90 far as
woman % concerned, might take pattern from
that of ancient Rome. ,t.r II
Z All savage nations treat woman as property
'ather than as q person. Among the aboriginal
ribes Of New Holland, the chiefs nonopolized
nearly all the women, just % In other countries
hey monopolized the cattle or the land. Steal.
ng women Is common, and often the poor VIC
Inns, when che theft is Intercepted, perish be-
iReen the conbatants. The Caribs always stole
heir brides, 10 Brazil this custom Ia perpetu-
tied even TO this day among some Of the half
civilized tribes, BY conventional fashion, that
girl. sought in marriage. shall be carried of
apparently BY force. The Circassian, even after
,retends to abduct her. Among the Celtic
ribes Of Ireland and Scotland, II was consider.
d manly, even up to late period, to seize a
ride by force, nor were such marriages regard,
d as degrading by the victims. With our own
North American Indians, stealing or buying I
Vives is the invariable custom. Among the /
halays, the wife, II the whole Of her purchase !
money be paid, becomes the slave Of her hus-
and; but, to evAde this ancient law, It has be.
ONE the practice, In modern times, to leave q
mall portion unpaid, In which case, the bargain
eing considered incomplete, the wife is regard.
d as her husbands equal. Generally, in all
uuntriss advancing In civilization, even orien. Ia
Il ones, the condition Of woman Ia being
1lsmn1gJs b4a ,sisi5hao1,c Ia
Muoh remains to be done, however, even in !
heightened Europe and Americas Marriages
q which practically the bride is cold, ara not
In our own country, and, therefore,
ccur oftenest, perhaps, among those who pre-. h
end the most culture and refnement--for what N
lse but q bargain and sale is marriage of
philadelphia Ledger. N III