afflicted by disease. When this is discovered the prostitute is forced
to discontinue for awhile her dissolute course of life, and remain in
a hospital until cured. When, as very frequently happens, the wife
of a soldier takes to this occupation, and becomes tainted, she is
delivered to her husband, who is obliged to sign a bond, engaging for
the future to restrain her from profligacy. The wives of serfs are also
delivered up to their husbands, who must pay the expenses of their cure
at the hospitals. If they refuse to do this, and to answer for the
future conduct of their partners, the women are sent, without further
ceremony, to Siberia.
Another peculiarity in the civilization of Russia is exhibited in
the market of wives, which is annually held in St. Petersburgh. It
is one of those things which many persons exercise their philosophy
by refusing to believe; but its existence is undoubted. It is still
practised, even among the upper orders, while among the humbler classes
it is extremely popular. Every year, on the twenty-sixth day of May,
numbers of young women assemble in a particular part of the City
Summer Garden, where they are exhibited in a formal “_bride_-show.”
Decked with an Oriental profusion of ornaments, all the marriageable
girls are arranged in lines along the shady alleys, while some friends
and professional match-makers stand in attendance on each group. The
men who are inclined to matrimony visit the garden, pass along the
rows of maidens, inspect them leisurely, enter into conversation,
and, if pleased, enter into a preliminary, but conditional, contract.
Numerous matches are thus formed; but very frequently the engagement
here concluded, has long, between the youthful couple, been a matter
of contemplation. Those who do not possess sufficient beauty or
fascination are sometimes loaded with the signs of property to induce
men to take them. A mother once, desiring to match her daughter to
a man of substance, hung about her neck a massive chain of gold, to
which was attached six dozen silver-gilt tea-spoons, and three dozen
table-spoons, besides two heavy punch-ladles of the same metal, which
soon attracted the attention of the young men. In the towns, indeed,
we are told that marriages among all classes are generally settled
by interest. In the rural parts this is also the case, but in a less
degree. There it is the custom--among the peasantry--for the bride
and bridegroom to enter the church door side by side, which they take
care to do with the utmost regularity, since the superstitious idea
prevails, that the one who plants a foot first inside the threshold of
the edifice, will be supreme over the other, and become a tyrant in the
family. The serfs cannot marry without the consent of their masters.
In all parts of Russia the marriage of a felon is dissolved by the
sentence which condemns him; but if he be pardoned before his wife has
married again, he can recover her.
It will, from this account, be seen that the manners and morals of the
Russians are dissolute in an extraordinary degree. There is, perhaps,
no part of Europe where the people, as a race, are so profligate.
This does not imply that the society of St. Petersburgh or Moscow is
not distinguished by many virtuous families; but, on the whole, all
travellers concur in showing the facts upon which we have based our
estimate of the national character with respect to morality[84].
OF PROSTITUTION IN SIBERIA.
From Russia the transition is natural to the contiguous and kindred
region of Siberia. Thence we may, without any apology, extend our
inquiries to the remotest north--for the Arctic countries do not
present themselves with sufficient prominence to occupy a separate
account, and to none could they be added as a supplement more fitly
than to the snowy wilderness which spreads on one side to the shores
of the Frozen Sea, and on the other to the frontiers of the Chinese
Empire. It may appear anomalous to include any of these tracts under
the head of civilized countries; but we place them as an appendage of
Russia, to which, indeed, they form an appropriate companion.
The state of manners at which the population of these snowy tracts
have arrived is extremely low. Nature has taught them many rude
arts; but their civilization has not advanced far beyond its crudest
elements. The severe rigours to which they are exposed have produced
pressing wants, which they have ingenuity enough to satisfy, and
further than this their education does not appear to go. They are rude,
ignorant, and gross. Some remain with none but the faintest idea of
a Deity; others preserve the ancient heathen belief of the Shamans;
others have accepted a form of Christianity; but in few of them has a
variation in their religious ideas resulted in a change of manners. In
fact, the form, and not the spirit of our creed has been introduced
among them.
Throughout the immense tracts of Siberia we find numerous tribes, and
even nations, classed under various denominations; but all, in their
general manners, very much resembling each other. The condition and
character of the female sex among them is low; but it is not treated
with that harshness or contumely which it experiences in some savage
races. Although the rude Ostyak, for instance, considers his wife as
no more than a domestic drudge, seldom thinks of giving her a cordial
word, and loads her with tasks, he does not use her with positive
severity. Among the Samoyedes, women are much less happy and more
harshly treated. In the perpetual migrations of the tribes they are
charged with the principal burdens, and drag after the men like a train
of slaves. The wife is viewed as a necessary but almost disgusting
appendage to a man’s household. She is regarded as unclean under
many circumstances--especially childbirth, after which her husband
will not approach her for two months. When about to be delivered she
experiences, instead of the kind, considerate usage which some, even of
the wildest savages pay to their women in such situations, a scorn and
indignity to which, by long custom, she has thoroughly learned to bend.
In many parts of Siberia, however, a better prospect is presented,
and the sexes appear more on an equality. Towards the centre, away
from the sea on one hand, and Russia on the other, the tribes enjoy
a very independent existence, being, indeed, the most free among
the subjects of the Czar. In the winter time, when the rivers are
completely frozen, the young girls assemble on their snowy borders,
taking care to deck themselves out with every sort of finery they can
procure. Their friends also congregate, forming groups, gossip, and
enjoy themselves, while the youths mix with the maidens--each selecting
the partner he likes the best. It is at this time of the year that the
principal matches are arranged. In all parts it is customary to pay a
certain amount to the girl’s parents to buy the privilege of marrying
her. Should a man not be rich enough to offer the sum required, he
hires himself to her father, who tasks him sometimes very heavily, and
continues in servitude for three, five, seven, or ten years, according
to the agreement made beforehand. At the end of that period he takes
his bride, is redeemed from his servile condition, and enters the
family with all the dignities and rights of a son-in-law.
Among the Ostyaks it is regarded as very disgraceful to marry a
brother’s widow, a mother-in-law, or, indeed, any person connected
in an ascending or descending line with the wife; but it is reckoned
honourable to marry several sisters. The sister of a deceased wife is
considered a particular acquisition, and, indeed, is attended with
a solid advantage, for a man taking the second daughter of a house
pays to her father a sum only equal to half of that which he paid for
the first. No one can marry a person of the same family name; but
this seems to apply to men alone, for a woman under this description
who enters another household, and bears a daughter, may bestow her
upon her brother. In a word, every union is lawful provided the
father of the bridegroom and the father of the bride are of different
families--though custom makes other distinctions, which are generally
observed with as much strictness as those marked by the traditionary
law.
When an Ostyak desires to marry he selects from among his companions or
relatives a mediator. He then goes with a train of friends, as numerous
as his influence enables him to collect, and stands before the door of
the house in which the girl whom he has fixed upon resides. Her father
easily guesses, on the arrival of such a cavalcade, what the object of
it is, and consequently asks no questions, but invites the company in
and welcomes them with a feast. Then, retiring with the mediator into
another hut, he enters into a negotiation about the amount which he is
to receive for his daughter. These things are quietly arranged, though
the spirit of bargaining is generally active on both sides. It is not
necessary to pay down the whole amount at once, but this must be done
before the nuptials can take place. Sometimes, however, a man snatches
away his bride before he has fully discharged his debt. In that case
her father waits for an opportunity to seize her, carries her home, and
keeps her in pledge until the amount be faithfully paid.
Similar customs prevail among the Samoyedes, who are polygamists,
though they prefer the changing one wife for another, according to
the changes in their inclination, to having two or three at once. The
Tungueses, however, often keep as many as five, but even among them
the majority of men marry no more than one at a time. They enter into
matrimony at a very early age. It is common to see a husband fifteen
years old, and a wife, or even a widow, of twelve. There is with them
no feast or ceremony of any kind. The bargain is made and ratified, and
the young couple proceed forthwith to their nuptial couch.
The Bulwattes, who are also polygamists, treat their women well.
Among them one curious observance is,--that the consummation of every
marriage must take place in a newly-built hut, where, as they say, no
impure things can have been. This is, at any rate, a poetical and a
somewhat refined idea. Certain feasts are essential before the union is
contracted.
The Tchoutkas, beyond Nigri Kolinsk, have been baptized in large
numbers. Their Christianity, however, does not incline them to remove
polygamy, for they have in most cases a plurality of wives, whom
they marry for a certain period--long or short, as circumstances may
determine. It sometimes happens in one of these households that the
wife obtains sufficient ascendancy over her husband to bind him to her,
and a convention, intended from the first to be only temporary, becomes
permanent. The woman who accomplishes this achievement is honoured
by the rest of her sex, and is thenceforward supreme in the family.
Generally speaking the women of this tribe are more happy and free than
in any other part of Siberia.
Among the Tschuwasses it is customary on the occasion of a betrothal
to offer a sacrifice of bread and honey to the sun, that he may look
down with favour on the union. On the appointed day, while the guests
are assembling, the bride hides herself behind a screen. Then she walks
round the room three times, followed by a train of virgins bearing
honey and bread. The bridegroom entering, snatches over her veil,
kisses her, and exchanges rings. She then distributes refreshments to
her friends, who salute her as “the betrothed girl,” after which she is
led behind the screen to put on a matron’s cap. One of the concluding
rites performed is that of the bride pulling off her new husband’s
boots--a ceremony to symbolise her promise of obedience to him. When,
however, he on his part takes the cap from her head, she is divorced,
and goes home to her parents.
Still more degrading is the custom of the Tchemerisses. A man,
representing the girl’s father, presents to her husband a whip, which
he is allowed freely to use. There is only one occasion during the year
when men permit their wives to eat with them. The Morduans betroth
their children while very young; but the youth does not know his bride
until he marries her. She is then brought to him, placed on a mat,
and consigned to his charge with these words, “Here, wolf, take thy
lamb.” Still more singular is the custom of the Wotyahe tribes. With
them it is usual for the young wife, a few days after the wedding, to
go back to her father’s house, resume her virgin costume, and remain
sometimes during a whole year. At the end of that period the husband
goes to fetch her, when she feigns reluctance, and exhibits every sign
of bashfulness and modesty. The women of this community are habitually
chaste and decorous in their behaviour.
The usual occupations of the men in Siberia are hunting, fishing,
smoking, drinking, and bartering with the Russian traders. Those of the
women are far more numerous and wearisome. They build the huts, they
tend the cattle, they prepare the sledges, they harness the reindeer
when their husbands are away, and drive them also occasionally; they
weave mats, baskets, and cloth; they dye worsted for embroidery; they
tan hides, make garments, cook the food, and, in some tribes, assist in
catching fish. While they perform these varied and harassing offices
without a murmur, as they usually do, their life is one of peace; but
if they repine they are sure to be harshly reproved, if not severely
punished. In some communities the husband is permitted the free use of
his whip; but in others, as that of the Ostyaks, a husband dare not
flog his wife without the consent of her father, and on account of some
grievous fault. If he does she has the privilege of flying home, when
her dowry must be restored, and she has her liberty complete.
Jealousy is a sentiment little known among the Ostyaks, or, indeed,
any of the Siberian races. Sometimes the women wear veils, but not
with that strictness observable with some nations, and more to save
their eyes from the effect of the snow glare than from any other
motive. Modesty, indeed, is by no means one of their characteristics.
Nor is chastity very highly prized. When a Samoyede woman is about to
be delivered, she is obliged to confess, in presence of her husband
and a midwife, whether she has engaged in any criminal intrigue. If
she tell an untruth, the national superstition is that death will
assail her amid the pangs of childbirth. Should she declare herself
guilty, the husband contents himself with going to the person whom her
confession has accused, and exacting from him a small fine by way of
compensation--for having, “without permission,” carried on intercourse
with a stranger’s wife.
The barbarous manners of Siberia do not allow us, indeed, to expect
any refined modesty among its women. Wrangell was introduced into the
family of a rich and influential man--the head of a tribe. Within a
low-roofed but spacious habitation he found five or six women--wives
and daughters, of various ages, all completely naked. They roared with
laughter when their visitor entered, and appeared excessively amused at
being discovered in that condition. The dancing women of these tribes
wear clothing while they display their skill, but otherwise they are
as indecent as possible. Obscene and degrading postures, indeed, make
up the chief merit of their performances. A late traveller, hearing
of these dancers, desired some women to perform, but they appeared so
modest, bashful, and diffident, that he feared to urge them. However,
after considerable solicitation they consented, when he was disgusted
at seeing them fling themselves with marvellous rapidity into a hundred
disgraceful attitudes.
Infanticide is not practised in Siberia, except on those children who
are born with deformities. These are, it is said, invariably destroyed.
There is, in fact, little inducement to the crime, for the whole region
is but scantily peopled, and marriages are not at all prolific.
The morals of the Siberian races are universally low. A licentious
intercourse is carried on between the sexes long before marriage,
early as this takes place. In the great city of Yehaterinbourgh,
where religious dissensions are extremely bitter, profligacy is still
more powerful; and women, from sheer lust, prostitute themselves
to men of all sects, with whom, however, they would rigidly refuse
to eat or drink. In all the towns numbers of prostitutes reside.
They are scarcely, if at all, reprobated by the other classes of
the population, and the young men who do not wish to marry, or
cannot afford to procure a wife, as well as widowers, resort to them
continually. The process, in fact, which educates a Siberian prostitute
to her calling, appears to be this. A young girl, in a community where
general licentiousness of manners prevails, is brought up from her
mother’s breast with the most loose ideas. She is not taught to prize
her chastity, though told that marriage is the destiny to which she
must look, and warned that her husband will require her to be faithful
to him. Meanwhile, however, there is little in her own mind, or in the
care of her friends, to protect her virtue. She forms acquaintances,
and is seduced, first by one, and then by another, until her profligacy
becomes so flagrant and so public that no one will purchase her as
a wife. Accordingly she follows as a means of livelihood that which
she has hitherto resorted to only as a means of indulging her vicious
appetite. Thousands of prostitutes are thus made, especially amid the
crowded communities. In some of the small wandering tribes, the women
are comparatively chaste; but on the whole the refined sentiments of
virtue are unknown, and prostitution extremely prevalent. This appears
strange to those who are accustomed to believe that a warm climate is
essential to form a sensual race. It seems, on the contrary, that one
extreme of temperature is accompanied with influences as demoralising
as another, for it is certain that nations dwelling in the temperate
zone are more moderate in their passions, and more abstemious in the
gratification of them.
For the races inhabiting the Arctic regions, the Esquimaux may be taken
as a proper type. As a race, they are dirty, poor, and immoral, but
not so grovelling as the tribes of Western Africa. Though their ideas
of beauty and grace are totally at variance with ours, it is wrong to
suppose that they have none, for the Esquimaux woman, who tattooes her
skin to charm a lover, exhibits undeniably one of those characteristics
in human nature which allow opportunities to civilize individuals and
nations. They are an ingenious industrious people, understanding well
how to make use of those conveniences and appliances of life which have
been placed by nature at their disposal; and they who make themselves
comfortable and happy in the coldest and most desolate parts of the
earth, must possess a certain amount of that genius which, properly
developed, flourishes in civilization.
The estimation in which women are held among the Esquimaux is
somewhat greater than is usual among savages. They are by no means
abject drudges, those cares only being assigned to them which are
purely domestic, and which are apportioned to the females among the
humbler classes in all European countries. The wife makes and tends
the fire, cooks the food, watches the children, is sempstress to the
whole family, and orders all the household arrangements, while her
husband is labouring abroad for her subsistence. When a journey is
to be performed, they, it is true, bear a considerable share of the
burdens, but not more than among many of the poor fishing populations
of civilized countries in Europe, in some of which the man’s occupation
ceases when his boat touches the shore. It is a division of labour, not
so much imposed as shared, and the toil is not by any means hateful to
them. During the stationary residence in the winter, the life led by
the women is in fact one of ease, indolence, and pleasure, for they sit
at home, cross-legged on their couches, almost all the day, enjoying
themselves as they please, with a fire to warm the habitation, which it
is a pleasant task to attend.
The Esquimaux women are not very prolific, few bearing more than three
or four children. They generally suckle them themselves, but it is not
uncommon for one woman to nurse at her breast the infant of another who
may be closely occupied at the time. They are more desirous of bearing
male than female offspring, for parents look to their sons in old age
as a means of support.
The Esquimaux are permitted by their social and hereditary law to have
two wives, but the custom is by no means general. Parry describes a
tribe of 219--69 being men, 77 women, and the rest children--among
whom there were only twelve men who had two wives, while a few were
doubly betrothed. Two instances occurred of a father and son being
married to sisters. Children are usually plighted during infancy--that
is, from three to seven years of age, and the boy sometimes plays with
his future bride, calling her wife. When a man has two wives, there is
usually a difference of six or seven years between their ages, and the
senior being mistress, takes her station by the principal fire, which
she entirely superintends. Her position is in every respect one of
superiority; but this is seldom asserted, as the two generally live in
the most perfect harmony. The marriage contract has nothing of a sacred
character about it, being merely a social arrangement which may be with
great facility dissolved. A man can without any ceremony repudiate
his wife, to punish her for a real or supposed offence, but this is
rarely done. The husband, who is usually older by many years than his
partner, chastises her himself when she irritates him, though caring
comparatively little for her fidelity. Absolute in his authority,
according to the laws of the Esquimaux, he is sometimes, nevertheless,
ruled by the women. Usually, however, he upholds his prerogative, and
punishes any infringement of it in a very summary manner; but the
utmost harshness commonly employed is to make the delinquent lead her
master’s reindeer while he rides comfortably in his sledge. Women are
very careful of their husbands, partly no doubt from natural sentiments
of affection, but partly also, we may believe, from knowledge of the
fact that widows are not half so happy as wives, being dirty and
ragged, unless they have friends willing to support them, or sufficient
attractions to enable them to gain a livelihood by regular prostitution.
Respecting the virtue of the Esquimaux women and the morality of
the men, little of a favourable nature is to be said. Husbands have
continually offered their wives to strangers for a knife or a jacket.
Some of the young men told Parry, that when two of them were about to
be absent for any length of time on whaling expeditions, they often
exchanged wives as a matter of temporary convenience; instances of
which have been noticed by the voyager--in some cases merely because
one woman was pregnant and unable to bear the hardship of a journey.
The same writer affirms that in no country is prostitution carried to
a greater length. The behaviour of most of the women while the men
are absent, causes a total disregard of connubial fidelity. Their
departure, in fact, is usually a signal to cast aside all restraint,
and, as the last excess of profligacy, children are sent out by
their mothers to keep watch lest the husband should return while his
habitation is occupied by a stranger[85].
ICELAND AND GREENLAND.