The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-04-23
Curious Marriage Customs in Various
Nations.

Curious Marriage Customs i'm Various
| Nations.
Marriage is the first and most ancient of
all Institutions. As the foundation of so
ciety and the family, it is universally OBJ
served throughout the globe, no nation
having been discovered, however barbar-
Gus, which does not celebrate the union of
sexes by ceremony and rejoicing. The
abuses of the Institution, as pOlygamy, in
fidelity and divorce, have in no manner
touched its existence, however they may
have vltiated its purity.
The condition of woman in all countries
has afforded fruitful theme for the OBJ
servation of the traveller, and the specula-
tons of the philosopher and the novelist.
Ii has been uniformly found that the saw
age is the tyrant of the female sex, while
the position and consideration given to
woman are advanced 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, sometimes even includ-
ing the power of life and death. The wife
was always defined and treated as a thing,
not as persOn-the absolute property of
her lord. In the earlier ages man might
sell his children or wife indifferently, and
relies of this rude.custom still survive, even
among nations called civilized and Chris
| tan.
In the countries of the East, where DO
| lygamy is almost universal, marriage is
not the sacred tie which it is held to be i'm
Christian countries. In Persia men marry
either for life or for a determined time.
! Travellers or merchants commonly apply
to the magistrate for Il wife during their
residence in any place, the Cadi producing
a number Of girls for selection, whom he
| declares to be honest and healthy. Four
wives are permitted TO each husband in
Persia, and the same number is allowed
by the Mohammedan law to the Mussul-
man.
In Chinese Tartary kind of male po-
! lygamy is highly respected. In Thibet it
is customary tor the brothers of family
to have wife in common, and they gen
orally live in harmony and comfort with
her. Among the Calmucks the ceremony
is performed on horseback. The girl is
first mounted and permitted to ride off at
full speed, when lover takes a horse and
gallops after her. If he overtakeS the fu-
gitive, she becomes his wife, and the mar
riage is eonsummated on the spot. 1t is
said that no instance is known of a girl
ever being overtaken unless she really is
fond of her lover.
The Arabs divide their affections be-
tween their horses and their wives, and
regard the purity of blood in the former
as much as in their offspring. 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
her whom he wishes to become his wife to
buy her clothes. These she sells for a
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, at her fathers
house, and they pass the night in each
others company. Next morning, if mu-
tually satisfied, they appoint the day of
marriage. They are permitted to separate |
whenever they please, and so freq emily |
avail themselves of thisprivilege, that they |
sometimes change a dozen times before |
their inclinations are wholly suited.
In HindOOstan the women have a pc
culiar YeneratiOn for marriage, as it is |
part of the popular creed that those fe-
males who die virgins are excluded from |
the joys of paradise. In that precocious |
country the women commence to bear |
children at the age of twelve, some even at |
eleven. The proximity of the ma
tives to the burning sun, which |
-llptllH lllCll anu NOlIlCll as well as DlalJS |
at the earliest period in those tropical lati-
tudes, is assigned as the cause. The dis
Tinguishing 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 sought after is abundance of flesh.
TO obtain corpulence is regarded as the
only real comeliness. A female who
moves with the aid of two men is but a
moderate beauty, while the lady who can
not stir, and is only to be moved on a
camel, is estimated as a perfect paragon.
Nor is this queer fancy for obesity in COM
mon confined to the savage of the torrid
zone, since we read in WraXall's "Travels
in Russia" that, sin order to possess any
eminent degree of loneliness, a woman
must way 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 proven
bal levity, and marriage vows, if report
speaks true, are easily broken. Young
virgins are Systematically bartered and
sold by their parents, and young people
are married who never saw each other be-
fore. COncubinage is a constant remedy
for these ill-advised and deceitful mar
riages, and the peculiar Italian cicisbeo in
dicateS the indemnity which custom pre-
scribeS for the fair sex fettered to husbands
unbeloved.
In France, as has often been remarked,
woman monopoliZes all the society, and a
large share of the business of life. The
the theaters, the shops, the
cabarets or drinking-shops, are filled with
women. Women lord it at all assemblies,
and are better informed and more capable
managers than men. Marriage is looked
upon not so much as matter of affection
as of interest, and the sacredness of the tie
is proportiOnally slender.
Russia appears to be the most barbarous
country in Europe in its treatment of the ]
relation. The nuptial ceremonies,
all and 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 number of women {
to see if she has any bodily defects. On her :
she is crowned witha gar
land Of NORWOOD, to denote the bitterness
Of the married state. She is eXhorted to be
Obedient to her husband, and it is a custom {
IN some districts for the newly married
wife to present the bridegroom with whip, {
in token of submission. and with this he
seldom fails to show his authority. In that
cold, cruel country, husbands are some
times known to torture their wives to
death, without any punishment for the
murder. If a woman proves barren, the
husband generally prevails on her to retire {
INTO a convent, and leave him at liberty. If
he fails in his persuasion, he is permitted |
TO whip her into obedience.
Such is the slavery in which the Musco-
vites are kept by their parents and guar !
ilans, that they are not allowed to dispute :
any union agreed upon by their elders, |
however odious or incompatible it may be.
This extends so far that officers in the army
ire not permitted to marry without the 7
consent of the sovereign. and wives they q
10 not want are sometimes forced upon I
hem. v
Whether il be the result of this system e
Of oppression, or of their savage climate, a
'r Of the unnatural. hot air of their stove c
heated apartments, it is certain that more
lnlOvely set of women than the Russian
would be difficult 10 find They want
avs an English traveller, Z" the genuine &
lavOr which only Nature can give. That =
], arr,1in ~ firm ness and plaStio;fT % .3orl - ~