The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1868-02-01
CuriOsities of Marriage.

the family, il il universally observed throughout
the globe, no nation having been discovered, how
ever barbarOus, which does not celebrate tie
union Of the sexes by ceremony and rejoicing.
The abuses of the institution, as polygamy, in
fidelity ard divorce, have in no manner touched
its existence, however they may have yitiated its
purity.
The condition Of woman in all countries has
afforded n fruitful theme for the observation of
the traveller and the speculations of the philoso-
pher and the novelist. Ii has been uniformly
found that the savage is the tyrant of the female
sex, while the position and consideration given tn
woman If advanced in proportion To the refine
ment of social life. Under the laws of Lycurgus,
Numa, and even later law giyeIs, the power of
the husband over his wife was absolute, some
times even including the power over life or death.
The wife was always defined and treated as n
thing, not as n person-the absolute property of
her lord. In the earlier ages, a man might sell
children or wife indifferently, and relics Of this
rude custom still survive, even among nations
called civilized and Christian.
In the countries of the East, where pOlygamy
il almost universal, marriage is not the sacred tie
il Is held To be in Christian countries. In Persia
men marry either for life or for a determinate
time. Travellers or merchants commonly apply
To the magistrate for n wife during their residence
in any place, the Cadi procuring a number of
girls for a selection, whom he declares to he hon
est and healthy. Four wives are permitted to
each husband in Persia, and the same number is
allowed by the Mehommeda law to the Mussel-
man.
In Chinese Tartary n kind of male polygamy
is practiced, and a plurality of husbands is high
" respected. In Thibet it is customary for the
brothers of q family to have a wife in common.
and they generally live in harmony and comfort
with her. Among the Culmucks the ceremony
of marriage is performed on horseback. The
girl is first mounted and permitted to ride off ut
full speed, when her lover takes a horse and gal
lops after her. If he overtakes the fugitive she
becomes his wife, and the marriage is
ed on the spot. 1t is said that no instance is
known of a-Culmuck girl ever being taken unless
she is really fond of her pursuer.
The Arabs divide their affections between their
horses and their wises, and regard the purity of
blood in the former quite as much as in their oil:
spring. Polygamy is practiced only by the rich,
and divorces are rare. |
In Ceylon the marriage proposal is brought
about by the man first sending to whom he wishes
10 become his wife, to purchase her clothes.
These she sells for n stipulated sum, generally
asking as much as she thinks requisite for them
to begin the world with. In the evening he calls
on her with the wardrobe, ut her fathers house,
and they pass the night in each others company.
Next morning, if mutually satisfied, they appoint
the day of marriage. They are permitted to sepa-
rate whenever they please, and so frequently avail
themselves of this privilege, and they change a
dozen times before their indinations are suited.
In Hindostan the women have n peculiar yCner-
alton for marriage, as 1T is n part of the popular
creed that those females who die virgins are ex-
cluded from the joys OF paradise. In that preco-
cious country the women begin to bear children
az about the age of twelve, some even at eleven.
The proximity of the natives to the burning sun,
which ripens men and women rs well as plants at
the earliest period in those tropical attitudes, is
assigned as the cause. The distinguished marks
of the Hindoo wife are the most profound fidelity,
submission and attachment to her husband.
On the banks of the Senegal, and among MANY
African tribes, the matrimonial prize most sought
after, is abundance. To obtain corpulence is re-
gardcd as they only real comelineSs. A female
-. -- .-..L IL - "A 49, --- = -. 2
moderate beauty, while the lady who c,nnot stir,
and il only to be moved ON a camel, is estimated
n pcricc; paragon.
Nor this fancy for obesity in woman confined
10 tho savagcs of the torrid zone, since We read in
Wraxalls Travels in Russia that in order 10
possess any p~re-eminent degree of loveliness, n
woman must weigh Mt least two hundred weight"
The Expresses Elizabeth and Catharine H., both
accounted very line women, were OF this massive
kind.
In Italy matches arc made with proverbial levity,
and marriage vows, Il reports speak true, are
easily broken. Young virgins are Systematically
bar;ered and sold by their parents, and young
people arc married every day who never saw each
other before. Concubinage is n constant remedy
for thcsc ill-adyised and deccitful marriages, and
the peculiar Italian term eicisbe0 indicates the in
dcmnity which custom prcscribes for the fair sex
fettcred To husbands unioved.
In France, as has often been remarked, women
monopolize all the society and u large share OF
the business of life. The cofiee-houscs, the thea
tres, the shops. the cabarcts, or drinking shops,
are filled with women. Women lord il ut all as
semblies, and are better informed and more capa-
bic managers than men. Marriage Is looked
upon not 80 much as a matter of affection rs of
interest, and the sacredness of the tie is proper i
tionably slender. =
Marriage in Sweden is commonly governed ex-
clusively by the will OF the parents, and is found
Ell upon interest. y stolen match is almost un-
heard of, and persons of either sex seldom marry
before the age of twenty-five or thirty. Divorces
are very rare.
Russia appears to be the most preposterous I
country in Europe in its treatment of women.
The nuptial ceremonies, and all singular, are based
upon the idea of the degradation of the female.
When the parents have agreed upon the match
the bride is examined by a number of women to
see if she has any bodily defect. On her wedding
day she is crowned with a garland of NORWOOD,
to denote the bitterness of marriage state. She
is exhorted to be obedient to her husband, and it
a custom in some districts for the newly mar
wife to present the bridegroom with a whip,
in token of submission, and with this he seldom
to show his authority. In that cold and cru
Ell country, husbands are sometimes known 20 tor
their wives TO death, without any punishment
for the murder. If a woman proves barren, the
husband generally prevails on her to retire to a l
and leave him at liberty. If he fails in 1
persuasion, he is permitted to whip her into ODE =
iience.
Such is the slavery in which the Muscovites are p,
by their parents and guardians, that they I
ire not allowed To dispute any union agreed upon
by their elders, however odious or incompatible
L may be. This extends so far that officers in the
irmy are not permitted 10 marry without the con-
of the sovereign, and wives whom they do 4
not want are even sometimes forced upon them. Y
Whether it be the result of this system of op-
preston, or of their savage climate, or of the un- Z
natural hot air of the stoye-heated apartments, it :
: certain that a more unloyely race of women =
han Russian, would be difficult TO find. They :
want, ~ saws an English traveller, ''the genuine =
which only nature can give. That charm