The Shasta courier., 1867-09-28
COURIER r
How Different Nations Regard the Mari
tai misunderstanding Resume.

| tai Relation--interestinS Resume.
Marriage is the first and most ancient of
all institutions. AS the foundation of society
and the family. it is universally observed
! throughout the globe, no nation having been
discovered, however barharous, which does
not celebrate the union of the sexes by cere
mony and rejoicing. The abuses of the in
stitution, as pOlygamy, infdelity and divorce
have in no manner touched its existence,
however they may have vitiated its purity.
The condition of woman in all countries
has afforded a fruitful theme for the observa-
ton of the traveller and the speculations of
the philosopher and the novelist 1t has
been uniformly found that the savage is the
tyrant of the female sex, while the position
and consideration given to women is advanc-
ed in proportion to the refinement Of social
life. Under the laws of Lycurgus, Numa,
and even later law givers, the power of the
husband over his wife was absolute some
times even including the power over life or
death. The wife was always fined and
| treated as a thing. not as a persOn-the alb
soute property of her lord. In the earlier
ages. man might sell his children or wife
indtferently, and relics of this rude custom
still survive, even among nations called civ
ilized and Christian.
In the countries of the East where poly
gamy is almost universal. marriage is not
the tie which it is held to be in Christian
countries. Is Persia men marry either for
/ life or for determinate time. Travellers or
merchants commonly apply to the magistrate
| for wife during their residence in any place,
the Cadi producing number of girls for
selection, whom he declares to be honest and
healthy. -Four wives permitted to each
| husband in Persia. and the same number is
allowed by the Mahomnedan law to the
Mussulman.
In Chinese Tartary kind of male poly
gamy is practiced, and plurality Of husbands
is highly respected In Thibet it is custom
arY for the brothers of a family to have
wife in common. and they generally live 10
harmony and comfort with her Among the
Camucks, the ceremony of marriage is per
formed horse back. The girl is first mount
ed, and permitted to ride off at full speed,
when her lover takes horse and gallops
after her If he overtakes the fugitive she
becomes his wife, and tn marriage is con
summated on the so. 1t is said that no in
stance is known of Calmuck girl ever
being overtaken unless she is really fond of
her pursuer.
The Arabs divide their affections between
their horses and their wives, and regard the
purity of blood in the former quite as much
as in their offspring. Polygamy is practiced
OILY by the rich. and divorces are rare.
In Ceylon the marriage proposal is brought
about by the man first sending to her whom
he wishes to become his wife, to pur-
chase her clothes. These she sells for
stipulated sum, generally asking a, much as
she thinks requisite for them to begin the
world with. In the evening be calls on her
with the wardrobe, at her fathers house,
and they pass then sht in each others com
pany. Next morning. if mutually satisfied,
they appoint the day of marriage. They are
permitted to separate whenever they please
and so frequently avail themselves of this
privilege, that they sometimes change q
dozen times before their incnations are
wholly suited.
In Hindostan the women have peculiar
veneration for marriage, as it is part of the
popular creed that those females who die
virgins are excluded from the joys Of para
disc. In that precocious country the women
begin to bear children at about the age of
twelve. some even at eleven. The proxim-
| ity Of the natives to the burning sun. which
ripens men and women as well as plants at
the earliest period in those tropical latitudes.
is assigned as the cause. The distinguish
ing marks of the Hindoo wife are the most
profound fidelity. submission and attach
ment to her husband.
On the banks of the Senegal, and among
many African tribes, the matrimonial prize
most sought after, is abundance of flesh
To obtain corpulence is regarded as the only
real comeliness. A female who can move
with the aid of two men is but a moderate
beauty, while the lady who cannot stir, and
is only to be moved on q camel, is estimated
perfect paragon.
! Nor is this queer fancy for obesity in
women confined to the savages of the torrid
zone, since we read in Wraxall's Travels in
Russia that ain order to possess any pre-
eminent degree of loveliness a woman must
weigh at least two hundred weight"
The Empress Elizabeth and Catharine
H., both accounted very fine women, were of
this massive kind.
| In Italy matches are made with proverbial
leVity. and marriage vows, if reports speak
true, are easily broken. Young virgins are
systematically bartered and sold by their
parents, and young people are married every
day who never saw each other before. Con
cublnage is a constant remedy for these ILL.,
advised and deceitful marriages., and the
peculiar Italian term eicisbeo indicates the
indemnity which custom prescrbes for the
ln France, as has often been remarked
women monopolize all the society and large
share OF the business of life. The coffee
houses, the theatres, the shops. the cabarets,
or drinking shops, are filled with women
Women lord 1t at all assemblies, aud are
better informed and more capable managers
than men. Marriage is looked upon not so
! much as a matter of affection as OF interest.
and the saeredness of the tie is proportion
ably slender.
Marriage in Sweden is commonly governed
wholly Sy the will of the parents. and is
founded upon interest. A stolen match is
almost unheard Of and persons of either sex
seldom marry before the age of twenty FIVE
To thirty. Divorces are very rare
Russia appears 70 he the most p-eposterous
country in Error in its treatment of women
TIE nup'ial ceremonies. all and singular.
are based upon the idea of the degradation
Of the female. When the parents have