Smyrna times., 1876-10-04
Oriental Marriages.

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theory OF courtship. In the East marriage
precedes and prepares for love-at least
this is the Oriental theory of the welded
state 1t quite accords, therefore, with the
Eastern ideas of the marriage relation that
women should enter into it at an age which
10 us seems very unfit; and this practice of
early marriages is also favored by the fact
that women reach their maturity at n
much earlier age than with us. Thev are
at the height of their bloom and beauty at
hiteen or sixteen. They are often married
at thirteen or fourteen, and sometimes as
early as eight or nine; and DR.. Van Len
nep mentions one instance of wedding
which he attended in which the bride was
SO young that she was carried about in the
arms OF her relatives. Naturally courtship
Is done by proxy, and the young men are
cheated out of what the American regards
as one of his most sacred, inalenable rights.
The duty of looking up for the young man
a suitable wife, which even in our own
society the mother, aunts, or sisters often
assume, is in the East, by universal consent.
devolved upon them.
Womanly nature is essentially the same
the world over, and we may safely assume
that they are nothing loath to perform the
duty which social custom intrusts to them.
For this purpose they sally forth in body
on their tour Of inspection, call at any
house which affords reasonable hope of con.
tanning suitable inmate, are invariably
greeted with the utmost courtesy, and
ushered at once into the reception.room ;
the young lady is summoned, and presently
enters, bearing sweetmeats and water !;
she is arrayed in all the fnery and Jewels
which belong to her dowry nor is it con.
sldered breach of social propriety to in.
quire with particularly respecting her mar
riage portion. This frankness prevents
some of the awkward discoveries which
sometimes occur with US after marriage to
mar the happiness of the honeymoon. If
the preliminary negotiations are satisfac-
tory, bargain is made between the parents,
IN which the amount paid by the husband
or on his behalf, either to the bride or TO
her parents, is definitely agreed upon.
This, which under the Mosaic law was fixed
at uniform rate-at fifty shekels, or
twenty-five dollars-varies among the modern
Jews with the condition of the brides
family, while among some of the Circassan
tribes and the Tartars, as among the Afri.
can savages, the daughter, when she reaches
a marriageable age, is sold to the highest
bidder. The parties are considered as
afhanced as soon as the marriage contract
has been agreed to, but the nuptial cere-
mony is sometimes deferred for a consid-
cradle period, during which time the bride
and groom are not permitted to see each
other; their sole intercourse with each
other is through the Intervention of a
"friend of the bridegroom" The we'd
ding dress is even more matter of i'm
pOrtance with the Eastern bride than with
us. The preparation of her toilet, in the
presence of female friends, often occupies
a large part Of two days. The wedding
veil, the bridal crown, the doddos, or cap,
are some of the emblems donned for the
bridal ceremony. The costumes are often
rich and gorgeous beyond expression.
Fashion, as interpreted by an Oriental mil.
liner quoted by DIR. Van Lennep, prescribes
the characteristics Of an ideal wedding
dress. 1t should measure six yards from
the shoulders to the end of the train: the
long sleeves should sweep the floor; the
material is silk it is elaborately EN-.
broidered by a party of professional en-.
broiderers under the direction of a chief.
The sum paid for experimenting the
needle-work on single robe referred to by
DIR. Van Lennep was five hundred dollars,
while the charges for the work done by
the suborlinates was two thousand five
hundred dollars, and the entire cost of the
dress was ten thousand; nor must it be
forgotten that labor in that country is very
much less expensive than in this.
The marriage festivities last often for a
week, and in many sections of the East
the old practices are still maintained.
The bridegroom, with a procession, starts
with music and torches, by night, for the
house Of the bride, where, after a show of
resistance, and sometimes quite a struggle,
she is taken possession of, and borne away
to her future home. This resistance by
the coy maiden to the approaches of her
husband is curiously illustrative of the
marriage customs of many countries, and
in various forms--from that of African
society, in which the bridegroom chases
the fleeing bride, captures, and carries her
away bodily, to that of the HISTORIANS,
where the bride remains in a corner of the
church until the time comes for the join
ing of hands, when she is dragged half
across the building by main strength
toward her intended husband, who is
allowed to seize her hand only after a
vehement struggle, during which the
officiating clergyman stands passiyely by.
--Lagm,an A6oa, in Harper's Magazine for
October.
i A professor was expostulating with a
student for his idleness, when the latter