fed against her when the deferves to be chastised; and at the fame time fhe pulls off his boots. The prefent Emprefs, intent upon reforming the rude manners of her fubjects, has discountenanced that ceremony among people of fashion. Very different were the manners of Peru, before the Spanish conqueft. The bridegroom carried fhoes to the bride, and put them on with his own hands. But there, purchafing of wives was unknown. Marriage-ceremonies in Lapland are directed by the fame principle. It is the custom there for a man to make prefents to his children of rain-deer; and young women, fuch as have a large ftock of these animals, have lovers in plenty. A young man looks for fuch a wife, at a fair, or at a meeting for paying taxes. He carries to the house of the young woman's parents, fome of his relations; being folicitous in particular to have an eloquent fpeaker. They are all admitted except the lover, who must wait till he be called in. After drinking fome fpirits, brought along for the purpose, the spokesman addreffes the father in humble terms, bowing the knee as if he were introduced to a prince. He ftyles

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ftyles him, the worshipful father, the high and mighty father, the best and most illustrious father, &c. &c.

In viewing the chain of causes and effects, instances fometimes occur of bizarre facts, ftarting from the chain without any caufe that can be difcovered. The marriage-ceremonies among the Hottentots are of that nature. After all matters are adjusted among the old people, the young couple are fhut up by themselves; and pass the night in struggling for fuperiority, which proves a very ferious work where the bride is reluctant, If the perfevere to the laft without yielding, the young man is difcarded; but if he prevail, which commonly happens, the marTriage is completed by another ceremony, no lefs fingular. The men and women fquat on the ground in different circles, the bridegroom in the centre of one, and the bride in the centre of another. The Suri, or master of religious ceremonies, piffes on the bridegroom; who receives the stream with eagerness, and rubs it into the furrows of the fat with which he is covered. He performs the fame ceremony on the bride, who is equally reVOL. II. fpectful.

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fpectful. The ceremonies of marriage àmong the prefent Greeks are no less bizarre. Among other particulars, the bridegroom and bride walk three rounds; during which they are kicked and cuffed heartily. Our author Tournefort adds, that he only and his companions forbore to join in the ceremony; which was afcribed to their rufticity and ignorance of polite manners. Marriage-ceremonies among the Kamkatkans are extremely whimsical. A young man, after making his propofals, enters into the fervice of his intended father-in-law. If he prove agreeable, he is admitted to the trial of the touch. The young woman is fwaddled up in leathern thongs; and in that condition. is put under the guard of fome old women. Watching every opportunity of a flack guard, he endeavours to uncafe her, in order to touch what is always the most concealed. The bride must resist, in appearance at leaft; and therefore cries out for her guards; who fall with fury on the bridegroom, tear his hair, scratch his face, and act in violent oppofition. The attempts of the lover prove fometimes unfuccefsful for months; but the moment

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the touch is atchieved, the bride teftifies her fatisfaction, by pronouncing the words Ni, Ni, with a soft and loving voice. The next night they bed together without any oppofition. One marriage-ceremony among the inland the inland negroes, is fingular. As foon as preliminaries are adjufted, the bridegroom with a number of his companions set out at night; and furround the house of the bride, as if intending to carry her off by force. She and her female attendants, pretending to make all poffible refiftance, cry aloud for help, but no perfon appears. This resembles ftrongly a marriage-ceremony that is or was customary in Wales. On the morning of the wedding-day, the bridegroom, accompanied with his friends on horfeback, demands the bride. Her friends, who are likewife on horfeback, give a pofitive refufal, upon which a mock fcuffle enfues. The bride, mounted behind her nearest kinfman, is carried off, and is purfued by the bridegroom and his friends, with loud fhouts. It is not uncommon on fuch an occafion to fee two or three hundred fturdy Cambro-Britons riding at full speed, croffing and jostling, to the no fmall amufe

ment of the spectators. When they have fatigued themselves and their horses, the bridegroom is fuffered to overtake his bride. He leads her away in triumph, and the fcene is concluded with feasting and festivity. The fame marriage-ceremony was ufual in Mufcovy, Lithuania, and Livonia, as reported by Olaus Magnus (a).

Divorce alfo depends on the nature of the matrimonial engagement. Where the law is, that a man must purchase his wife as one does a flave; it follows naturally, that he may purchase as many as he can pay for, and that he may turn them off at his pleasure. This law is universal, without a fingle exception. The Jews, who purchased their wives, were privileged to divorce them, without being obliged to affign a cause (b). The negroes purchase their wives, and turn them off when they think proper. The fame law obtains in China, in Monomotapa, in the isthmus of Darien, in Caribeana, and even in the cold country round Hudson's bay. All the favages of South America who live (a) Lib. 14. cap. 9. (6) Deuteronomy, chap. 24.

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