The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-09-07
TIE Purchase of Wives.

There ere many countries in which,
if man wishes to be legally married,
he has to go go out and buy wife,
though tie market price Of the article
varies considerably. In Uganda you
can get what you require for two or
three bullocks, or even for six good
sewing needles, or perhaps box Of
percussion caps; while inferior wives
can be picked outiin exchange for a
coat, and, if one is Indifferent to
health and beauty, for pair shoes.
In the Caroline Islands wives are
cheap. 4 father will let you marry
his daughter if you give him little
fruit or small present Of fish; while
in Samoa matrimony runs you into
pigs and canoes; among the Fijians,
into whales teeth and muskets. In
Tartary il is best to marry beneath
you (you can do it for a few pounds OF
butter because man who has lordly
notions of marriage with one of the
upper ten must be an owner Of horses.
The aboriginese Of Australia manage
their marriages on most equitable
principle. If A wishes to marry BIS
sister, he allows him to marry his own;
or, if B happens to be widower, then
his daughter will do just as well. One
Of the most Objectionable forms OF
gaining wife is to work for her, a
habit practiced among many uncivil-
lied nations, its only advantage being
that man can get wife on credit,
though his father-in-law takes good
care that he serves his time. Among
some races you have to do your work
before you get your.wife. as Jacob had
to serve for Leah and for Rachel.
Marriage by exchange and purchase
is not customary among uncivilized
nations only. In Central America and
Peru man has to work for his bride.
In China present is given by the
father Of the bridegroom, the amount
Of which is agreed upon by both fam
lilies. The japanese make use OF a
a similar custom, though, in their case,
the giving Of presents is the most I'M
portant part of the entire marriage
ceremony, for after these have been
delivered and formally accepted neither
Of the contracting parties is able to
go back. Wife purchase appears to
have been the basis Of Indo-European
marriage before the separation Of the
peoples took place. Manu- mentions
the Asura form of marriage as one OF
purchase, and according to Aristotle
ancient Greeks were in the habit Of
buying their brides, form the Homeric
age a maiden was called by name
which signifed zone who brings her
parents many oxen.
The old Scandinavians believed that
even the gods had paid price for
their wives, and in Germany the ex-
preston "to purchase wife" was in
vogue until the end Of the middle
ages. The old inhabitants Of Ireland
and Wales were accustomed to buy
their wives with gold and silver or
land. In Servia, at the beginning of
our century, girls had reached such a
price that Black George reduced their
value to one ducat.
Among many savage nations the
equivalents of wife are varied and
grotesque. Poor Bashkirs purchase
theirs with carloads Of wood or hay !;
the Indian Kisans, with two baskets
of rice and a ruple; tribe in Cali
fornia with string of dentalium shell;
and among the Padams, rude peo-
pie of India, the suitor shows his in
tentions by gifts Of field mice and
squirrels.