Year: 1868

In Ceylon the marriage proposal is


brought about by the man first sending


to her whom he wishes to become his


wife, to purchase her clothes. These she
sells for a stipulated sum, generally ask
ing as much as she thinks requisite for
them to begin the world with. In the
evening he calls on her with the ward
robe, at her fathers house, when, if mutu-
ally satisfied, they appoint Gay of mar
riage. They are permitted to separate
whenever they please, and so frequently
avail themselves of this privilege that
they sometimes change dozen times be-
fore their inclinations are wholly suited.


In Chinese Tartary a kind of male po-
lygamy is practiced, and plurality of
husbands is highly respected. In Tibet
it is customary for the brothers of fam
lily to have wife in common, and they
generally in harmony and comfort with
her. Among the Calmucks the ceremony
of marriage is performed on horseback
The girl is first mounted and permitted 10
ride at full speed, when a lover takes
horse and gallops after her. If he over
takes the fugitive she becomes his wife,
and the marriage is ccnsummated on
the spot 1t is said that no instance is
known of Calmuck girl ever oyertaken
unless she is really fond of her pursuer


Russia appears to be the most preros-
ferrous country in Europe in its treat


uent of women. The nuptial ceremo-
nes, 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 num-
Der Of women to see if she has any bod
lily defect On her wedding day she is
crowned with a garland of wormwood,
30 denote the bitterness of the marriage
state. She is exhOrted to be obedient 10
her husband, and it is custom in some
districts for the newly married wife to
present the bridegroom with a whip in
token of submission, and with this he sell
dom fails to show his authority. In that
cold and cruel country husbands are
sometimes known to torture their wives
to death, without any punishment for the
murder.


Such is the slavery in which Musco-
vites are kept by their parents and guar
dians, 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 of
the army are not permitted to marry
without the consent of the sovereign, and
wives whom they do not want are some
times forced upon them.


Whether it be the results of this sys-
tem Of oppression, or OF their savage eli
mate, or the unnatural hCt air of the
stove-heated department, it is certain that
a more unloyely race of women than the
Russian would be difficult to find. 'They
want" SAYS an English traveller, ''the
gentine flavor which only nature can
give" That charming frmness and elias
ticity of flesh, so indispensably requisite
to constitute beauty, and SO delicious to
the touch, exist not among the Russian
females, or in very few of them.


On the bank of the Senegal and a.
mong many African tribes, the matri-
momial prize most sought after is abun-
dance Of flesh, to obtain corpulence is re-
garded as the only real comeliness. A fe-
male who can move with the aid of two
men is but moderate beauty, while the
lady who can not stir, and is only to be
moved OF q camel, is estimated perfect
paragon.


Nor is this queer fancy for obesity in
women confined to the favages of the
torrid zone, since we read in WraxhalPs
Travels in Russia, that sin order to pos
sess any preeminent degree of loveliness
q women must weigh at least two hun
dred weight" The Empress Elizabeth
and Catharine II, both accounted very.
line women, were of this massive kind


in Hindostan TIE women have pecu
lar veneration for marriage, as it is a
part of the popular creed that those fe-
males who die virgins are excluded from
the joys of paradise. The distinguishing
marks of the Hindoo wife are the most
profound fidelity, submission and attach
ment to her husband,