The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-01-03
POLYGAMY IN HISTORY.
Socrates and Other N otables Who Had
Plural Wives.


nix-up in the barital relations of the
ancients.
Sir John Lubbock, in his "Origin of
Civilization AMI Primitive Condition
OF Man, makes some highly interest
ing observalicrs on this most import
ant topic According to Sir John
marriage s-alnrc!y human institution
which had is beginning under no very
august cpadi ions. The evidence all
points 10 lItAirism, or community
Of wives ~ social relation of the
sexes ~ til primitive condition of
man. ln!ltd, llctaiIsm is recorded
as "a feature u! piato's Modern Re
public. Ihen the women were regard
cd rs the common property Of the
tribe ju>, as the sheep. the oxen, or
the goa. ant no man might lay claim
to exclusive right to any one. The
first ma riac., as we understand the
term was the result Of capture \
band Of predatory warriors return to
their native tribe with Il captive maid
en- apiece a. II part of the freebooter
loot. Each of the fortunate ones seals
unto himself the valued prize, for who
is to say hin nay? She is the prize Of
might.
AS il vas scarcely probable that
the other male members Of the tribe
! would 81 ior. ovo, n ,,;o,or 20 ,ot,;>
more thar one wife who had come to
him By ature, monogamy was almost
certainly The original rule. Besides,
it has been the observation Of travel
ers who have visited primitive tribes
in many parts of the world that as a
rule the mcn usually outnumbcr the
women The circumstances formerly
gave rise TO two peculiar conditions
! polyaudry and cxogamy. There were
not wives enough to go around, and
! where any sort of Il marriage relation
existed lis it did in the Ncighlcry
Hills inlndia when. the English first
visited liic country, the wife had
/ plurality Of husbands. 1t is matter
OF curious speculation us 70 what our
Congress would do if a polyandrous
husband should show up some day as
a delegate from some remote corner of
our lately acquired possessions in the
Orient. What would the women say?
How would the pastors of our church
cs treat this monstr0us perversion of
the 'divine institution Of monoga-
my?' is related that where poly
andry existed the women were quite
as ndependent and ovcrbcaring as
their lords and masters Of to-day.
They commonly made their obcdient
husbands carry them about on their
! backs MI the wealth and the de-
scent went in the female line of the
tribe, ard they took the lead in
everything, including such primi-
tive .cgislation as was carried into cf-
feet.
Mentin is made Of polyaudry by the
cary Greek writer's as existing in re-
mole p.rls of Greece, and the same re-
lations existing between the sexes as
those noted in India.
Exogolny. the other result Of a plu-
rality Of males over females, probably
had more to do with the present social
relations than any other influence.
This term is applied to the custom of
seeking wife outside, as endogamy
is applied to the custom Of seeking a
wife within the tribe. Where there
were more men than women the dispo
sitiqn of the former to get spouse of
his own leo to extraordinary efforts to
either steal or capture one from some
oth{ {r tribe This had two important
res ts-thc breaking up Of conguini-
~ Ia the marriages in particular
tribe, and tic wider intercourse aud ac-
quaintancc which naturally followed
among foreign and frequently hostile
tribes
: rs mankind advanced, and Ehc ne
4 SCS SfiliCS VI cAlSttuCc UcCduc ouTct
andcven wealth in its primitive forms
began to be amassed, we G.st came in
eo4tact with polygamy.
.wPolygamy was unquestionably the
offfpring of plutocracy. Now let Mr..
Rdberts ask the vote Of any Populist
mdmber to seat him if he dare. In
Greece, in Rome and its provinces, in
Germany and the so-called barbarian
tribes on the borders of the empire,
pHgamy prevailed almost universally.
Some Of the most noted men Of Gre
chin history we're polygamists. 1t was
considered mark Of nobility and op.
aEi:scc. Hercules, Aagsus and many
of the heroes Of Greek mythology are
represented as having plurality of
| ,p;roo EursnSoo &bo