Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1891-02-14
iJI&DOO BRIDE :
I'll" Girl Tia N"thtng % say About
Choosing Her Husband.

SE.o.ju,. I.,r Iru.btud
r,.. .,.I. II H.. Fnyii.h IN lt,li. i,
not -. !. '.n,....,,,a. aIIeoed b., tl,os,
~, -, ara. ,r,r,rt IF tba coudifio,; Of
! tba ,.,,:,,,,. .n,.,to. r.ligions and ra.
tin,.,Iili,. ~ tho p.pin-uI, ono of
+,-r,u,,i,.,l Zorro, ,1,a,. subject races On
tIa coutr,.,- - j. of inaOtimabla HESS
iro fl, ff.,,.,,.,t.v,. Tho FngIisI IuIe
mora -. aci,II,, .inca if ba. been rxer-
ci.ad nv, tho ,,,..r,,,,,e,t Of fine counfry
in nlorn of II o J,1..f India COMPANY. and
1o,. ,,,,ia,t,- f. - I...,,, or,nross Of India
has bann ex,rci...l in tha best interests
Of tba ,,e,nI.. IF tba various nations
that comno,a it, teenlinp plpuIatinn.
The wars which " ere constantly occur
RING hnt,vaau th. different nationalities
cor, ~, Ior,,,, ,I,o r,Iaca
the varji.e AIaboned,ns do not now
tvranniza over the other races The
brutal and degrading rule which was
! exercised bv some of the minor princes
has Leen abolished and the prosreritv
of fine ne,nle advanced bv their being
under The control of one stable govern.
ment All this good work has been
done without Interfering more than was
!
caste pref lice, and religious feelings
of the prcp.c at large. Nevertheless.
the burning of widows alive on the
| funeral piles of their husbands, the
roisolino, f infants. the drowning of
the aged. and the crushing of imbeciles
and fanatics under the wheels of the
! Car of Ju@eernaut, have been abol-
ished: but there still remains a custom
| in India which is worse in its evil ten
dency than any IF the practices that
have been abolished by the firm handed
benevolence of the British rule. THIS
custom is the marriage of iindoo chill
dren in their infancy, the enforcement
of the marriage so performed as they
grow into girlhood, and the laws relat-
ing to these child wives should the has
baud-often a man far advanced in
years-die and leave them widows.
The Hindoo conception of marriage is
that it is a religious duty, and every
Uindoo parent regards the nonmarriage
of his daughters as disgrace; they arc
consequently married when mere chill
dren, at the age not infrequently Of or
g. The husband may be a child like the
| vic OI ne may We ttIl OlNt man w nv
makes profitable business of becom-
ing the husband of children he will
never see again, or he may claim his
wives as they arrive at the age of girl
hood with or without their consent, at
the earliest time consistent with de-
| cencv; the husband may be a brute OF
the lowest character, the wife nay abhor
him, but her consent is not asked; she
is given over to him, and. a child her
self, becomes the mother of weak y
progeny, such as may he seen in our
own country, carried about by tie girl
mothers in the lowest districts of Lon
don and the manufacturing towns.
Sad as the fate of these poor lIindoo
girls is when they become wives, it is
aggravated a thousand fold should they
lecome widows; they then become
outcasts, Stunned like polluted beings
by the families of their late husbands;
they wander about with sh2Ven heads
clothed in squalid rags, the outcast of
s cety. living a life o. de Eradaton, to
which death Itself would he far prefer
able. The child ly the death of her
aged husband often becomes a widow
I before size lbs Itlu llcl patent y IlOillc-
perhaps at the age of 8 or 49, The
degradation Of squalid attire and the
expulsion from the family is at once in
1licted u on her, and when she is old
enough to comprehend the story is told
that she is punished because in Il previ-
Gus state of eX,s.ence she was bad
woman, and this terrible explanation is
perhaps the first iutimation to her that
she has ever been married. The ex-
pulsion from the S, C ETY. to which she
las been accustomed leads to the most
fearful degradation aud Generalization.
1t is true that by the law as modified
by the English government a widow
can remarry, but only by giving up all
claim to the property of her late hus-
band. But even if this were not so the
strong caste pr"jud'ces of the Hindoo
prevent the remarriage of widows, even
when their husbands died during their
infancy. The Consequence of this state
of public opinion in India is that not
less than 1000, 600 Hindoo women live
life of degradation.
TO remedy these evils, without out
II;7,a9, oa,,,,,i+4od h.. loo,, f,,,,,.,1
/ - N''>>