Litchfield enquirer., 1869-08-12
THE WIFE MARKET IN RUSSIA.

Sitting up all night with a [ couple of
 Russian ladies might, or might not, sug- gest the idea Of telling yoa something of the marriage customs 0i this strange coun- try. A French writer. whose name l. for got. has truly said, The Russians are a nation of polite savages, 8 remark that is
 not very apt, but it helps ustowarda prop: CT understanding of the social condition of the people. The rich are very rich, the poor are very poor. The nobles are court ly, polite, and as refined aina manners as
 those of the same class in Germany; but the serfs, or those awho belonged to the 1 nobles, with the soil, before the emancipa- tlon, are rude, and not half civilized. q E
 Almost as soon as girl is born,h in the better ranks of society, her parents begin Eto1 lrepare the dowry she must have when she goes to her husband For this. is in idispensable in the eyes of any Russian |, young gentleman who. proposes to be inar-
 ried.T She must furnish every thing for an
 outfit in life, even to 2 dozen new shirts for her coming husband. :. sTsm6~ a
 l-a7I have heard of a lady of rank and wealth who had prepared a]costly dowry of silks, linen, jewel. plate, etc, for her beloved daughter, who died as she came to be
 twenty years old. dTheImother resolved to oSA tually advertised for them. A host of ap- plicants came, and she selected six. None of them had lovers. But now they had a
 respectable dowry secured, each glrl was speedily engaged, aud, with the husband,
 took the dowry, and paid the rich lady by
 promising toiipray for the rep0se of her
 daugAter's seul.1s. bsfisiug a3gio sat
 Ia no country is this arrangement of terms earned, on with more caution and
 completeness than in Russia. The young
 man goes to- the house of his proposed
 bride, and counts ever the dresses, and ex-
 amines the furniture, and sees to the whole
 with his own eyes, before he commits him
 self to the lrrevocable bargain In high
 life such things are cohductedi with more
 apparent delicacy. but the facts are ascer3
 tained with Accuracy, the business being
 in the <handsof 6 broker or notary. The
 trousseau is exposed in public before the
 weddlng day. asCl,a.q sa1slIijW qCdsld
 SAt Whitsunday there is a curious cus-
 tom, which is gradually giving way with
 the advanceaio Of civilization, The young
 people of neighborhood come. together,
 and the girls stand in a row like so many
 statues, draped, indeed, and not only dra-
 ped, but dressed in their best and paint.
 ed, too; for the young ladies, and the old- CT ones also, of this county. use cosmetics
 freely, and g box of tady's, paint is com
 mon present for Syoahg man to make to the girl he likes. Behind the row of girls
 are their mothers; the young men having
 made known their choice, the terms are settled between the parents of the parties
 The ladies' in Russla are very anxious to marry, because they have no liberty before
 marriage. 4n They are. kept constantly un- der the maternal eye unsll they are given up to the husband, and then they take their
 own course, which is round of gaiety and
 dissipation, only regulated by their means of indulgence. .Gs The Greek church, like Roman. permits no divorce; but the Em- Eperor, like the Pope, can grant special dis Epensations. The Greek priest must marry once, and if his wife dies, he cannot mar ry again. No one in Russia can be mar rled moro than three times. ,..o. st-4.-