married Women of any other Nation but their own that they might avoid all confusion in their Blood. And they never bestowed their Daughters in Marriage too Young Batchelors also did not go a wooing but very late So that by that means the Children which did proceed from two Persons of mature Age of full Proportion and of Vigorous strength were also tall strong and vigorous They even to this day will never marry their Sons but to them Maids which are of a strong constitution of body tall and most likely to bear strong and lusty Children Their Nuptial Ceremonies are m uch the same as of the other People in Europe they differ only in this that the Bride-Maids wear every one a Crown of Gold or of Flowers at the Weddings of their fellow Maids which is not lawful for others to do All the Guests present the Bride with Jewells or Pieces of Gold Silver which thâ—â— cast into a Bason which is placed before the Bride as she sitteth at Table in the middle of Women of her near Relations and they accompany their Presents with civil Acclamations and good wishes of Prosperity and Happiness to the new married Couple There are amongst them some free Weddings in which Men of Honour defray all the charges and there be some also in which every one pays his Scot. Their Feasts last at least three days during which the new married Folks are accompanied with a great number of People in-so-much that a common Handicrafts-man will have oftentimes above sixty Persons at his Wedding For the more People they have about them the more are they regarded and esteemed As for their Gentlemen and Persons of considerable note they present their new married Wives with a Chain of Gold or some Precious Jewel on the next day morning after the consummation of Marriage and this Present they call in their Language Morgengal that is to say the Gift of the morning because they bestow it upon the Bride as soon as they are up as it were to make her some recompence for hâ— Maiden-head which they have taken ayâ—â— If any Maid amongst them hath been so liquorish as to have tasted of the Horse Radish before the time if she by good fortune doth not go away with the bag but is so happy as to marry him that hath already plaid upon her Fiddle then the said couple will go to Church very early in the morning without any Instrumâ—nts of Musick and in some places but especially in Country-Towns all the Neighbours crowned with Garlands made of straw accompany them to Church In many places they compel the Daughters at the Marriages to renounce and disclaim all their Rights as well Paternal as Maternal and this they do in casting some straw into their Fathers Houses Moreover if the Bride doth not shed some Tears when she goes before the Priest to be joined in marriage then her Virginity becomes very much suspected and for that purpose many of them Brides carry Onions wrapt up in their Handkerchiefs that they may force some tears out of their Eyes The Francons observe this order in their Marriages The Bridegroom having some Trumpetâ—rs and Drummers going before him marches between two Persons of Quality then his Relations and Friends follow him two by two until they come to the Church Door then they make a halt till the Bride be come to them who being preceded by many who play on Flutes and being accompanied with many Maids is followed by a great number of married Women which wear very long Mantles of black cloth plated and fastned to their necks with Silver Clasps and then the Marriage is celebrated in the presence of the Parson of the Parish according to the Roman Ceremonial Book In Poland but chiefly in the Country of Prussia and Lithuania Maids seldom marry under four and twenty Years of Age and not so neither till they have first wrought with their own hands as much stuff as is sufficient to cloth every one who must accompany their Bridegroom to Church Amongst them when any Father seeks a Wife for his Son he neither regards her Beauty nor Wealth but only her good Morality ripeness of Age and strong constitution of Body The Women are never married till two of their future Bridegrooms near Relations have had a deep finger in their Pies and then they use to crave their Fathers good consent those People do still retain many Dregs of the old Superstition of the Heathens For when the Solemnity of Matrimony is celebrated the Bride is led three times about a Fire then they make her sit down they wash her feet and with that same water they besprinckle the Nuptial Bed and all the Utensils of the House This done they anoint her Mouth with Honey they bind her Eyes with a Vail Then she is conducted towards all the Doors of the House which she must kick with her right Foot they afterwards strew every Door with Wheat Rye Oats Barley Beans and Poppy declaring that her Bridegroom shall ever enjoy a great abundance of all those good things if she devoutly retain her Religion and if she be careful and industrious in ordering her Family The evening being come when she must bed with her Bridegroom they use to cut her Hair then the married Womâ—n takes a Posie which they fasten on her Head after that they put on her Head a white Hood which new married Women wear until they have brought forth a Son for untill that time they are reputed Maids The Bride is at last conducted into her Bed-Chamber whereafter they have shuffed and beaten her they at length cast her into the Bed into her Bridegrooms armes And then instead of Sweet Meats or Sack Possets they bring them a dish of Rams or of Bears stones to eat For they think that after they have eaten of that meat they become very prolifick and fruitful for this reason thâ—y never use to kill any gelded creature for their use at their Nuptial Feasts In the Island of Goa the person who intends to marry never sees his Mistriss but in her Parish Church where she useth to resort if he liketh her he taking a Priest along with him goes to her house and then is betrothed to her He may visit her after this Ceremony but they are never permitted to be alone together Many men of that Country are not contented to see their Mistresses as they are dressed in their best Cloths but will also view them at Home in the Market and in their ordinary Habits that they may the better discern whether they cover not some natural defect and whether they be not patched or painted They generally marry in the afternoon and they use to go to Church in great Pomp and Solemnity The Bridegroom is oftentimes accompanied with 80 or an hundred Young Men all on horseback richly attired clothed The Relations Friends of both Parties follow them The Bride sitting in a Sedan and the Women which are her
Onset and planted his Artillery in his Queens Breach The People of the Kingdom of Siam may marry as many Women as they please They commonly buy them of their Parents they may also send them packing at their pleasure but they must maintain the Children which they have had by them The Womens Parents may also recal their Daughters to their own Houses provided they pay back again the Mony which they have received of their Husbands They that are Idolaters have the same Customs as those of the Kingdom of Pegu but those amongst them which profess the Mahometan principles are better civilized and moralized The Chinese bestow their Children in Marriage when they are very young and their Fathers contract them oftentimes when they are yet in their Mothers Womb. When any of them is to marry he appoints his future Bride such a Dowry as he is able to give her the Day appointed for the Wedding being come the Brides Father makes a sumptuous Feast to which all his Son-in-Law's Parents and Friends are invited The Day following the Bridegrooms Father doth do the same towards his Daughter-in-Law's Relations This Feast being ended the Husband bringing the foresaid Dowry before the whole Assembly delivereth it to his Bride who presently surrenders it into the hand of her Father or Mother which thing is done for to make them a part of amends for the Charges they have been at in her bringing up and Education and for this reason they that have most Daughters are commonly the wealthiest amongst them For the Parents make use of their Daughters Dowry and improve it not only for their own profit but also for the good of their Daughters because after their decease all the Dowry together with the Improvement returns to their Daughters for their and their Childrens Maintenance The Chinese may have as many Women as they please but their first Love is lookt upon as the only lawful Wife the others being reputed amongst them no better than Paramours or Concubines Wherefore they always live with the first but as for the others they maintain them in several other Places and in case they be Merchants they send them as Factors into their several places of Traffick They are forbidden by their Law to marry within any degree of Consanguinity and they are so strict as not to marry any Woman who beareth the same Sirname as themselves although she were of no Kin at all They esteem Beauty in Women far above their Extraction and an handsome Woman although like a Mushrom born upon a Dunghil is a dainty Dish for their palates As for the common sort of People amongst them they buy their Wives with ready Money and sell them again as soon as their Appetite longs for Variety Mendoza doth write that in some Provinces next adjacent to Tartary the Viceroys do prefix a certain limited time within which both Men and Maids are obliged to marry or else to confine themselves within the Walls of a Cloyster When the said prefixt time is come all that desire to marry and to be married come to a certain City appointed to them by their Governours for that purpose As soon as they are come thither they present themselves before twelve Commissioners elected by their King These Commissioners are commonly grave and the most ancient persons of the said City They take the Names and Sirnames of all Bachellors and Maids which come before them they enquire also into their Qualities and the Dowries which the Men are able to bestow upon their Women This being done they examine their Catalogue and finding more Men than Women or more Women than Men they cause them to draw Lots and by this means the supernumerary ones are cast back till the following Year Six of them twelve Commissioners divide the Men into three Companies Setting aside the Rich in the first the Middle sort of them in the second and the Poorest in the third Whilst that these six are making this Separation amongst the Men the other six are busy in making also a distinction amongst the Women distributing them into three Bands In the First they place them that are eminently Handsome In the Second them that are indifferently Comely And in the Third the Deformed and Hard-favoured by Nature This Division being made they bestow the Fairest upon the Rich men who in regard of that pay a certain Sum of Money limited by the Judges they then give the less Handsome to them of the Middle ability without paying any thing at all As for the Hard-favoured they become the portion of the Poorest sort of Men but withal they receive some Money with them for the Money which the Rich men have paid and deposited in the Judges Hands is distributed equally amongst them The Men being thus coupled with the Women they resort to some publick Houses appointed by the King in every City for that purpose which Houses are furnished with Beds and all things necessary for the new married Folks who remain there fifty days feasting dancing and making exceeding merry After which time all the Men instead of Cloak-bags carrying provision for their Cod-piece betake themselves to their respective Habitations The Nobles of that Country are not obliged to observe the Laws aforesaid but they marry when and whom they please The People of Javan marry usually but one Woman but they send her packing when they list and marry another As for their Women they may not leave their Husbands and take others unless they bestow themselves upon some great Lord who is willing to accept of them The Tartars which are Idolaters have many Wives which notwithstanding their Number live amongst themselves peaceably The First is always accounted the most honourable and her Children are preferred before any others If a Father chances to dye his Son may marry all the Women he leaves behind him his own Mother and Sisters only excepted They commonly marry their Sisters-in-Law after their Brothers Decease and they are very Jovial at every one of their Weddings The Inhabitants of the large Province of Tanguth together with those of the Kingdom of Catay may have as many Women as they are able to maintain These People are great admirers of Beauty and if they be never so rich they will purchase a handsome Woman at any rate although she be of never so mean Parentage They have sometimes to the Number of thirty Wives more or less according to their Abilities but the first is always the most regarded If any of their Women be morose or troubled with any other intolerable Qualities they presently pack her away to learn better Manners they marry their Kinswomen even as the Tartars do their own Mothers and Sisters onely excepted The People of Caindu have extraordinary Customs amongst themselves On their Wedding Day they will invite all sorts of Strangers which sojourn amongst them and leave them without any disturbance to solace themselves with their Brides And their Women like the Sport so well that
Relations are every one carried in their Sedans also They being come near the Church they all alight and the Bridegroom being conducted by two Men of his nearest Relations and the Bride also by two Women of her near Kinswomen into the Church where they are joined in Marriage They call the foresaid persons their four Gossips After the Solemnization of Marriage they return home in the same order as they came the Trumpets and other Musical Instruments playing all the while before them the People as they pass along casting sweet Meats Comfits sweet Waters and Flowers in the street which the Servants scuffling one with another gather up Being come to the house where the Feast is prepared the nearest Relations and their most intimate Friends go in but as for the Young Men they remain without making sport before the door with the running and bouncing of their Horses and fighting with Reeds and Canes which they throw one at another The new married Folks and their Friends standing in the Balconies and others at the Windows looking upon their Sports and Braveries This Pastime being over they all aliâ—â—t off their Horses And being conducted into a low Hall they are presented with all sorts of Sweet Meats of Fruits and with a kind of perfumed Aromatical water called water of Bagulrim Then the Bridegroom comes down to them and dismisses them with all Civility and Demonstration of Thankfulness Then he returns to his Parents and Relations with whom he feasteth But they stay very little at Table every one retiring into their Habitations The new married couple go to bed commonly before Sun set without so many Ceremonies and Drolleries as are practised among the French. The Sclavonians of the Common-wealth of Ragusa are never married but with Persons of their Rank and Quality that is to say the Noble with the Noble so that a Noble Person can not marry a Woman of the vulgar sort or a Stranger for fear of introducing any ignoble Blood into his Family which might blemish the lustre of his Nobility and for this cause the number of Noble Families is so much diminished that there is not above 20 or 25 now left among them which have the Government and Administration of all the affairs of their Common-Wealth Notwithstanding if any Noble Person was willing either for some private conveniency or molument to marry a Wife born out of his own Country he may lawfully do it Provided that she be a Lady born between Zare and Cattaro but not otherwise And besides whosoever should marry such a Lady born in the Country aforesaid it is requisite that he be worth at least two Thousand Ducats of Gold for a Dowry and for the security of the said Lady As for the Portions at the Marriages of their Sons they are limited by the Law at a Thousand Ducats of Gold But at present they little regard that limitation so that a Father will give his Son four five or six Thousand Ducats of Gold and sometimes more according to the Means and Quality of the Woman The Marriage Mony is paid before ever the Man see the Woman he must have and when every thing is agreed upon the Mony paid and the Contract signed and sealed he may then with all liberty go to visit her For it is a constant custom amongst the Ragusians never to court and caress their Ladies but only after that they are made sure with them When a Maid is married it is lawful for her to wear Silk Cloths a month after her Marriage that she may be distinguished from others who wear Cloth ones But when a Lady is married she is obliged to wear on Holy Days a double Hood of red Satin purfled with Gold and Silver Flowers to the end she may be discerned from the common ignoble sort of Women As for the Flemings and other Inhabitants of the Neighbouring Countrys they have that particular Custom that they easily and without any difficulty contract Marriage with Strangers but it is reputed amongst them very unseemly and a very filthy thing for a Young Man to marry an Old Woman or for an Old Woman to marry a Young Man. Tradesmen never marry Gentlewomen nor Gentlemen Tradesmens Daughters and it is never seen amongst them which is commonly practised amongst the French for the Master to marry his Chamber-maid and for the Mistress to marry her Servant In that Country Gentlemen always prefer their Eldest Daughters before the Youngest so that many times they will bestow their Youngest upon them to whom they have refused the Eldest because they reserve her for a better Match and more advantageous Fortune CHAP. III. Rites and Ceremonies practised among Protestant Lutherans THe Protestant Lutherans are married in the face of the Church as Roman-Catholicks are and they are conducted there with great Pomp and Solemnity to receive the Nuptial Blessing from the Hand of their Minister At Strasburgb and in the Neighbouring Countrys when any Young Man goes a Wooing after that he hath sufficiently testified his affection to his Mistress by Letters or any other way he then goes about Midnight with some of his intimate Friends and with many Flambeau's to give his Mistress a Serenade or a Musical Concert before the door of the house where she dwells And if she appear not looking out of her Window then the Young Man may assure himself of a Repulse and that his Suit is but in vain but in case she be seen to be present there then he may sometimes visit her about the Evening provided always that some of her Domestieks be present at their amorous Entertainment After any common Wedding the Trumpets sound on Munday and Tuesday Morning that the People may take notice that there hath been a Wedding amongst People of Trade which are married but on those days As for the Weddings of Noble Persons they last three days and an half There be also amongst them some free Weddings called amongst them Frengaal Hoczeit where People bring Presents but pay nothing but in others every one pays his share In Saxony when any Gentleman is married the Gentlemen and Young Gentlewomen of the Neighbourhood resort without any Invitation at all to the Regale which he is obliged to make according to the Custom As for the Nobles they are strictly forbidden marrying with Tradesmen or Merchants Daughters although they be never so rich for in Leipsick and other Capital Cities some Merchants give their Daughters oftentimes thirty or forty Thousand Dollars that if any Noble Person for lucre of Mony without regard to his Nobility should marry such a one he is degraded of his Title of Honour besides runs the hazard of being pelted to death by the Nobility and Gentry Amongst the Goths the Swedes and the Danes they of the common sort use many Ceremonies in their Marriages too tedious to rehearse here I shall therefore content my self to mention the chief of them The Maids Parents being sufficiently informed and satisfied about the
above the Women as it were an Amphitheater When the Bride receiveth the Presents from her Relations and other Friends she is sitting in the middle of the Gyneconitide or Chamber of Women wearing a guilded Crown on her Head. All the Guests having drunk good store of Metheglin and ballasted their Bellies with variety of Sweet-meats they betake themselves to walking and come back to Supper about the Evening Immediately after Supper the new married Folks without staying for the three publications of their Banes as we do go to bed together The next day morning the married Women come to visit them and to search their Sheet to see whether by good fortune they can sind any marks of a lost Maiden-head which if they find they are extreamly jocund and Jovial but upon a Non inventus they depart as mute as Fishes As for the Bridegroom he fairly sends away his tried Bride to her Parents unless the Turkish Magistrate being a little greazed in the fist constrain him to keep her for better and for worse The Grecian Women which bestow themselves upon Turks Spaniards French or Italians may be afterwards present at Divine Service But they for some time are excommunicated that is to say they are for some time debarred from the Lords Table Which kind of Excommunication Savoureth somewhat like the Spirit of Christianity and is nothing of Kin to the Popes brutum fulmen which dare at tacque the Sacred Heads of Crowned Sovereigns neither is it like the Anathemas of some high flown Ecclesiasticks who wear the Cross-Keys at their girdle with one of which they many times for frivolous causes deliver the Souls of their fellow Christians to Satan and with the other they commit their Bodies to Jails Is this the Spirit of God or the Spirit of Belial But I must conclude this short Digression with this shorter Ejaculation From the Spanish Don 's fiery Inquesto's from the bloody Anathemas of the Popes and from the cruel Mercies of all Reverendos Domine libera nos The Walachians of Transylvania never marry any Women till they have got a snack with them before-hand but they also put them away for very slight and trivial Causes Amongst the Moscovites when a Father intends to bestow his Daughter in Marriage all his care is to look for a Young Man to his own liking Having found such a one he presently proffers her to him as a Wife with such a Sum of Mony for her Portion as he is able to give If the Young Man accept of his proffer then the said Father goes immediately to the Young Mans Parents to whom he makes the same Offers For in that Country a Young Man may not see his future Bride until the very day of the Wedding but his Mother and other Women of her near Relations go not only to visit her but also diligently to search her to know whether or no she doth not hide some bodily Infirmity The Daughters Mother doth the same towards the Young Man. The Wedding Day being come before the Celebration of Marriage the Bridegroom and the Bride together with their Relations and the Parson of the Parish make extraordinary great Cheer together and paint their Noses with such lively Colours that they scarce go to Church till they be passingly well dipt As soon as they are come there the Priest according to the Custom demands some Loaves which having received he desires the Bridegroom to take his Bride by the hand then drawing nigh to the Bridegroom he asks him whether he be willing to be joined in Marriage with that Woman If he answereth to the Affirmative then he again asks him whether he will misuse or beat her the Bridegroom answering Negatively He doth then turn himself towards the Bride likewise asketh her if she be well contented to take that Man as her lawful Husband to govern his Family and to be faithful to him she answering yea he then crowns them both with two Garlands of Rue and gives them the Nuptial Blessing That being done he takes some Wine in a gilded wooden Cup and having wisht them all Prosperity and happiness he drinks to them they also pledge him in the same Cup But after that the Bride hath drunk then the Bridegroom snatching the Cup from her hand presently with all his Force flings it on the ground treads it under his feet till it be all broken in pieces and then he prays to God that all those who should go about to bring any division between them may be likewise trodden upon and destroyed by his Infinite Power He afterwards receives the Presents of all that are there So that in that Countrey no Man may have more than one Wife but withal he keeps her no longer than she pleaseth him for as soon as he begins to be displeased with her he presently puts her away for the least occasion in the World. They may also put away their Wives if they prove barren And they may after that divorce warry six weeks after It is lawful for Widdows to marry again the second time But if they should marry three times they are reputed very wanton and light heel'd House-wives CHAP. VI. Nuptial Rites and Ceremonies of the Abissin's ALthough the Inhabitants of that Kingdom profess the Christian Religion yet notwithstanding they may marry as many Women as they please and that without the licence of their Negus or High-Priest The men of that Country are so far from receiving any Portion from their Wives that on the contrary they must allow them a Dowry which consists in a Sum of Money which is deposited in some trusty hand of the Womens neerer Relations who pays him the interest as long as the Woman lives But in case she dieth without issue he then may command the Principal but if she leave any Children then the Interest goes towards their Maintenance And coming to Maturity of Age they divide the Principal amongst themselves These are the Ceremonies which they observe in their Marriages The Couple that is to be married are both sett before the Church Door and three Priests going three times round about them sing many Hallelujahs then cutting two Tuffs of the new married Folks Hair they put them in Wine sweetned with Honey After that they take up the Bridegrooms Tuff of Hair which they put upon the Brides Head on the very same place where her own hath been cut off they also take up the Brides Tuff of Hair which they likewise put upon the Head of the Bridegroom And having sprinckled them both with Holy Water they receive the Communion and the Nuptial Blessing The Priest doth last of all give them notice that they are both but one Flesh This Ceremony being ended they all return home where there is a great Feast prepared and they make very great cheer But the new married Folks must not stir out of the Door till a month after the Solemnization of their Marriage After which time the Bride must when she goes
they set a Token at their Doors and never take it down till they are all departed and then their sottish Cuckolds may have free Access They of Cascar are as much given to that silly piece of Hospitality towards Strangers as those of Caindu for they are never jealous if Strangers partake never so largely of their Pyes so that they may have a Finger in it in due season If a man be absent from his Habitation twenty days the Woman may marry another Husband The Men may likewise do so in their Wives Absence The Canarins which inhabit the Island of Goa worship a certain Idol like a Woman all naked When they have a mind to bestow their Daughters in Marriage upon any Man the Parents use to conduct their Daughters towards that Idol where they perform their antick Devotions after which they are bestowed upon them that promise the most As for their Nuptial Rites and Ceremonies of Marriage we have made mention of them before when we treated of the Solemnities of the Marriages used amongst the Christians of the City of Goa The Negroes of Africa Inhabitants of the Kingdom of Serroliana have in every Town and City a large House like a Nunnery appointed for young Maids to dwell in together and to be instructed in all manner of Civil Deportment and good Housewifery They have there several grave Matrons with a Venerable old Man who is President over all that have a special care of these Probationers At the Years end these young Maids come out together as fine as their Hands can make them and coming to the most publick Place of the City they dance there at the Sound of several Sorts of Instruments Their Parents are there present and the young Bachellors resort thither as to a Fair every one making his choice of her he liketh best but he must pay something to her Father before he can have her away He must also bestow some Gratuity upon the President of the said Place in consideration of his Care for her Entertainment and Education Which being done without any more Complements every one carrieth away his own Bride to his Lodging where they make very merry In the Kingdom of Guinney as soon as their Sons are come to Maturity of Age the Parents go a Wooing for them and bring them Women which their Children are obliged to accept of although they never saw their Faces before The Maids Parents give her fourteen ounces of Gold for her Portion And this Custom is so strictly observed amongst them that even their petty Kings allow no larger Portion to their own Daughters excepting only that they allow them some Slaves to wait upon them Every Maid that is to be married amongst them must take her Oath that she shall be dutiful to her future Husband and that she shall never violate her Conjugal Fidelity As for the Men they never use to require any such Oath from them Moreover if after their Marriage the Man hath been so thrifty a Husband as to have got Wealth sufficient for the maintenance of another Wife he may take another provided that the former give her Consent to it He must also allow her a certain weight of Gold for her Good will So that he may afterwards marry another but she is reputed rather as his Concubine than as his lawful Wife and when this second Wife begins to grow in Years he casts her off as an Almanack out of Date and marries another He notwithstanding is obliged to keep always the First who is the only Mistress having the Command over all his Family The People of the Empire of Monomotapa in the lower Ethiopia marry as many Wives as they can maintain but the former is always lookt upon as the most Honourable and her Children only may challenge every one a part of their Parents Inheritance As for the other Women they are bound to wait upon her and observe her Directions and Commands No man may marry a Maid until she be capable of Conception Wherefore as soon as the Parents perceive any such Marks by their Daughters they make very merry in their Families The Maids go naked till almost that time but when they are to marry they then put on thin Cloths made of fine Cotton and afterwards when they have bore any Children they cover their Breasts with a Piece of Woollen Cloth. The Inhabitants of the Island of Zocotora in Africa marry as many Women as they please and when they have their Belly-full of them they drive them to the Market where they truck them for others as we do our Cattel The People of Canada may if they please take many Wives they notwithstanding are well contented with one only As for them of Samaya they have many not so much for to satiate their appetite as for to increase their Grandeur for they repute it honourable to have many Friends Allies and Children The Fathers bestow nothing upon their Daughters on the contrary he that will have any of them must make some Presents to the Maids Parents according to her Quality and Beauty They make great Solemnities at their Weddings For besides Feasting Balling and Dancing they make Nuptial Harangues Epithalamiums if any married Woman be surprised in Adultery both she and her Ruffian are in great Jeopardy of their Lives But as for their Maids they are very favourable towards them for they repute their Instruments never the more jarring or the less Musical although their jolly Gallants have plaid never so many Courants upon their Fiddles before Marriage Amongst the People of Florida no man is permitted to marry above one Woman their Kings and Nobles only excepted who may have two or three Wives but upon this condition that the First shall be always esteemed as the Lady-paramount amongst the other and that her Children alone shall challenge their Parents Honours and Inheritances Their Women are very thrifty Houswives very careful to improve every thing to the best advantage of their Families and never use to lie with their Husbands after Conception As for the Islanders of Cuba before their Island was depopulated they married many Women but they did use to leave their Wives at pleasure the Women also using the same Liberty Their Caciques marry as many Women as they list but they have this Custom altogether extraordinary which is that when any of them is married all the Men that are invited to this Wedding are obliged to try their Manhoods upon the Bride This Custom is observed not only amongst the common Sort of People but also amongst them of the best Quality The People of Mexico before they had embraced the Christian Faith were married in this manner The Bridegroom and Bride went together to their Idol Temple and presented themselves before the Priest who taking them both by the hand did desire them to let him know their pleasure which having known he presently took a Corner of the Vail wherewith the Brides Head was covered and fastned it to
Qualifications of her Suitor her Father presents his Daughter to him speaking these words I give thee my Daughter for to honour thee that she may be thy Wife for to have the half of thy Bed the Key of thy Doors with the third part of thy Mony and other Goods moveable and immoveable At the day assigned she is conducted to Church with many Torches done about with Silk stuffs of several Colours The Solemnity being over she is handed Home by her Bridegroom But before she may bed with him she must go to the Stoves or hot Baths many Maids going before her and as many Married Women accompanying her but before they come thither they have made great Provision of Strong Beer or of Wine in that place for to refresh the Women in the Bath lest being overcome with the Heat they should faint wherefore they recruit their strength with eating tosted Bread dipt in some of the foresaid Liquors which are sweetned with Cinamon and Sugar When they come out of their Baths they wear every one of them a Garland of Rue upon their Heads as for the Maids they go to Supper with the Bride The Gentlemen usually marry Women of their Rank and Quality As for Tradesmen and Mechanicks they commonly present the Bride with Swine Sheep or Cowes but they present the Bridegroom with some Colt Dog Cat or Goose In Livonia when a Maid is led to Church to be married they crown her with a very high Crown of Silver guilded and all the Women and Maids march before her covered with long plated red Mantles which reach from their Heads to their very Heels CHAP. IV. Nuptial Rites and Ceremonies used amongst Evangelical Protestants Having treated of the Ceremonies which those Protestants of Luthers perswasion do use at their Marriages it now remaineth that I should give some account of the Customs and Solemnities performed at the Weddings of Evangelical Protestants And first I say that by Evangelical Protestants I mean the English Dutch Switzers and many other People which do not pin their faith upon the Church's or Popes Sleeve but rejecting all vain Traditions and Novelties ground their belief upon the Pillar of Truth and Gospel verity As for the English their Ceremonies are so generally practised throughout this Kingdom and consequently so well known that I will pass them over in silence least I should seem to light a Candle at Noon-day wherefore I come to the Dutch. When the parties are all agreed then they send for the Minister who betrotheth them one to the other and then they give them drink every one in their Glass asunder He that fills the Drink takes the two Glasses and mingles the Wine of one with the other he presents the Glass of the Bridegroom to the Bride and that of the Bride to the Bridegroom After they have drunk the future Bridegroom doth present his betrothed Bride a Ring But before they may marry it is requisite that the Minister make Publication of their Marriage three Sundays consecutively lest there be amongst them any Impediment or other Engagement After which publication they may lawfully marry Then at the day appointed the Bridegroom resorts to the Church with his Parents and Relations the Bride also with a Garland of Flowers upon the hinder part of her Head is conducted thither by two Men or two Young Bachelors of her near Relations many Maids with married Women of Relations and Guests following her thither When she comes out of the Church she is led to her Bridegrooms House by the same Persons The Widdows which marry again may not wear a Garland upon their heads but only a large Nosegay in their Bosoms and are led to Church by two Widdows of their near Relations In Friezland the men of that Country did not at all regard the Quality or Portion of their Women but only their Handsomness and good Morality so that many Gentlemen and rich Merchants did marry vertuous comely Women although they were never so poor But now adays the case is altered for they not only regard their Quality and Descent but also expect a competency of Wealth answerable to their Estates The Bride wearing a Crown upon her head and accompanied with a long train of Maids goes to Church where the solemnity of Marriage being celebrated they return to her Fathers house where they are feasted The Guests seldom present the Bride with any Money But the Brides and Bridegrooms Relations come very liberally to offer her their Presents whereof the Bridegroom takes good notice The Feast being ended the Musicians begin to play on several Instruments and then every one dances in order On the next day all the Guests resort to the same place and the new married Woman presenting every one of them with a glass of the best Wine or of some other aromatical Liquor she dismisses them with honour thanking them for their Civility and kindness And this she does to the end that she may make it appear that she is now become a Houshold Wife In Hungary Bachellors never marry with Widdows although never so rich because they are perswaded that if any Bachellor marries one who is not a Virgin he shall never enjoy any Prosperity in this World wherefore if any amongst them did discover that the Women which they have married have plaid any Legerdemain with others before Marriage they would put them to a cruel Death As for the Lords of that Country they usually marry their Children very young and many times as they ly in their Cradles And this is done on purpose to entertain good correspondence and Friendship amongst Honourable Families and when the Children have attained to ripeness of Age they are obliged to consummate their Marriage lest by their refusal they should procure their Parents implacable enmitie the Sequels whereof might prove very dangerous and tragical In Scotland formerly and in the days of Popish Idolatry the Brides did lay down their Propira Feminea before their Lairds of the Mannour who did shake their Hair-bags on the first night after the Solemnization of the Marriage But since the Light of the Gospel did shine bright in that Kingdom that Barbarous Custome hath been exploded wherefore the Brides do not now pay their Marks in specie but only by way of Exchange the Bridegroom paying half a Mark to his Landlord for that Right and that Right is now called the Womens Marks The Irish in their Marriages I mean those who are partakers of the English Civility use the same decent Nuptial Ceremonies as the English do But as for the Popish wild Irish they are so Barbarous and Brutish that they do not deserve to be mentioned here CHAP. V. The Rites and Nuptial Ceremonies of the Grecians BEfore the Grecians Marriages the future Bride doth openly shew what she is able to bring to her future Bridegroom the Bridegroom also is to declare the full extent of his Estate and that is done in a spacious Room upon a Table the Men sitting
out of the Doors wear a black Vail upon her Face which she ought not to lift up but at six months end after unless she doth prove with Child CHAP. VII Nuptial Rites and Ceremonies of the Egyptians AMongst the Egyptians when a Couple is to be married the Friends of both Parties resort to the place where the wedding Feast is preparing the Bridegroom goes to fetch his Bride to her Dwelling and handeth her to the foresaid place Where being come they refresh themselves with their Relations and Friends drinking some Glasses of Wine and distributing some dry sweet-Meats This done the Bridegroom's Relations and Friends accompany him to Church then they come again to the Bride and conduct her thither also many Torches and Wax-Candles lighting them on the way they go along the Streets singing Psalms and Hymns in their Coptick Language and with little wooden Hammers knocking upon little Rulers of Ebony which is instead of very Harmonious Musick amongst them this Ceremony is performed immediately after Midnight Being come to Church they conduct the Bridegroom into the Chancel where usually the Divine service is celebrated As for the Bride she is led to the Womens Apartment Then the Priests together with the people begin some Prayers with Hymns which last a considerable time The Divine service being ended the Priest who is to celebrate the Solemnity of Marriage coming out of the Vestry in his Robes leads the Bridegroom into the middle of the Chancell and reading upon him three or four Prayers doth sign him with the Sign of the Cross at the beginning and ending of every Prayer This done he causeth him to sit down on the Ground his face turned towards the Heikel and holding a Silver Cross upon his head behind him he readeth many more Prayers Whilst that these things are done in the Chancell the Sexton carrying a Seat out of the Chancell places it at the Chancell-door and speaking to the Bride desires her to sit down on it with a Woman of her nearer Relations Then the Priests begin to say the Prayers which they call the Prayers of the knot which being ended the Parson puts on the Bridegroom a long white Robe like a Surplice girdeth him with a white Girdle above his Loins and covereth his Head with a clean Napkin He then taking him by the hand conducteth him out of the Chancell to his Bride and making him sit down near her he takes the Napkin from his Head and bringing both their Heads together covers them both with the same Afterwards he anointeth them both with consecrated Oil on their Foreheads and above their Wrists Then having joined both their Hands together he reads to them aloud an Exhortation of the Duties which they ought to render one another mutually So endeth the Solemnity of their Marriages which they call the Coronation of the Bridals Last of all they begin Mass and the Bride and Bridegroom having very devoutly upon their Marrow bones swallowed up their Breaden God every one returns to the place of Feasting CHAP. VIII Nuptial Ceremonies amongst the Sabeans THe Sabeans who are otherwise called the Christians of Saint John are those People which inhabit in the Confines of Persia towards the Kingdom of the Turks They indeed retain some Principles of the Christian Religion but as they border upon Turky and have great Commerce with the Jews they also partake something of Judaism and Mahometanism They may according to their Law marry two Wives As for the Ceremonies of their Marriages they are but very short being these Both Parties being come to Church with their Friends and Relations the Priest doth presently put the Bride upon her Oath before all the People asking her whether she be a pure Virgin or no. And although she answer in the affirmative upon her Oath yet notwithstanding that must not serve the turn but the Priests Wife with other married Women must search her And in case they bring a Verdict conformable to what she hath deposed upon Oath then the Priest baptizeth them both Which being done he bringeth them back to back and having read some Prayers the Solemnity is ended Then the new married Folks are conducted to the Brides or the Bridegrooms house for to feast according to the Custom of their Country The Priests as well as Lay-men may also marry two Wives and their Children if they be but Sixteen years of age succeed them in their Priestly Office but in case they leave no Children then their nearest Relation succeds them in their Places CHAP. IX Nuptial Rites or Ceremonies of Marriage amongst the Christians of Colchis Georgia Circassia and other adjacent Places THe Christians of the States of Colchis Georgia Circassia and other Places adjacent as they little differ from the Sabeans in the Principles of Religion so their Ceremonies are much alike with this difference only That if any of them intends to marry if the Bishop or Curate of the Parish be absent then they choose what Priest they please and going with him into their own Cellars which they repute as holy as their Churches the Priest holding two Crowns in his hand sets one of them upon the Bridegrooms head saying Be thou crowned N our Servant of our great God for N the Handmaid of the Lord. He sets also the other upon the Brides Head saying likewise Be thou crowned N the Handmaid of our great God for N the Servant of the Lord. He stitches afterwards the Bridegrooms Coat and the Brides Gown together He then takes a Glass of Wine which he presenteth to the young Couple who having drunk one to the other their Gossips cut the Thred wherewith their Cloths were fastned and this is all the Ceremonie of their Marriages As for the Circassians the Promise which the Man and the Woman make to one another before some Witnesses makes up all the formality of their Marriages They never marry a second Wife till their former be dead or that they are otherwise constrained by some very great reason either of Barreness or Adultery THE Second Treatise Nuptial Rites or Ceremonies of Marriage observed and practised amongst Mahometans ALL the Turks may according to their Law have four lawful Wives and as many Slaves as they are able to maintain But as soon as their Women Slaves have brought them a Child they obtain their Liberty Wherefore they may bestow them away upon their Friends but never sell them Their Church-men also may marry many Women excepting the Dervises Monks and other Religious Persons It is also lawful amongst the Turks to put away their Wives and to take them again even to the fourth time They may also marry not only Women of another Generation but even of their ow n near Kindred for they hold that by a double Tye the Knot of Friendship and Love is the stronger When they intend to contract Marriage the nearest Relations of the Man and of the Woman gather themselves together for to agree amongst themselves about the Dowry
which the Young Man must allow his future Bride For the Parents never allow them any Portion at all which thing is also practised amongst the Eastern Christians This being done the future Bridegroom sends to the Maids Father or to her nearest Relations the Sum agreed upon to the end that a part of the said Sum be bestowed partly in Cloths and partly upon Houshold Goods according to the Quality of the Persons As for the Remnant of the Mony it must remain in the Hands of the future Bride or else she deposites it into the Hand of one of her own Kindred which she can best confide in But her future Husband may never call her to any account for it Now a day 's the Parents of both Parties contribute towards the Expences of the Wedding for they do think it more honourable to do so As for the future Bridegroom he maketh choice of one of his best Friends to invite his Guests and to take care of all the preparation of his Wedding and this man is called amongst them Sagois The future Bride is to remain always within doors her face covered with a Vail eight days before the Celebration of the Marriage and none of her future Husbands Relations may see her As for her Bridegroom he taking his Sagois along with him goes about to invite his Guests The Guests send every one their Presents to the Bridegroom the day before the Wedding The day before the Celebration of the Marriage the Bride is conducted by the Women to the Bath two or three of them washing and rubbing all her Body but especially her Parsley-Garden They also take a certain Powder called amongst them Elcana whereby they cause her Hair her Nails the inward parts of her Hands and Feet to become Red. This Bathing is reputed so Holy a Ceremony amongst them that when the Bride goes to the Bath she is accompanied with many Women of her Relations and Friends who march two by two before her every one of them holding a lighted Wax-Candle in their Hand The Wedding day being come the Bridegroom sends Presents to the Cady intreating him to draw an Instrument in writing concerning the Dowry which by Agreement he ought to allow his Bride This being done his Sagois accompanied with all the Guests go to the Brides House many Drums Trumpets Fifes and other Instruments sounding before them They all stay in the lower Court of the House then the Brides Father coming down with her delivers her into the custody of the Sagois who presently mounts her on Horse-back conducts her to her Bridegrooms House All the Relations and Friends of both Parties go afoot after her the Carts and Horses which carry her Goods and Houshold-stuff following in the Rear The Bride rides upon a Horse richly trapped her face being covered with a thin Vail and an Umbrello carried over their Head She is also waited upon by her Servants Chamber-maids and her Nurse who going a foot at her side shed tears for Joy bewailing her Virginity which is reduced to the last Extremity of being lost In the mean while as she rides along she with a little bowing of her Head salutes them whom she meets in the Streets Which thing no Woman dare do but upon her wedding Day Being come to her Bridegrooms Door the Sagois helps her down and her Bridegroom waiting for her at the Door conducts her to the Womens Appartment And after they have feasted plentifully they begin to dance merrily The ball being ended and the Guests retired to their respective Habitations the Sagois taking the Bride by the Hand leadeth her to the Nuptial Chamber and commits her to the custody of her Bridegrooms Eunuchs until he himself comes As soon as he is come after their mutual Civil Salutations he takes away her Veil and all her Cloths one after another but when he comes to unbutton and take down her Linnen-Drawers there will be a little fumbling and scuffling for she will be sure to shew some little willing Resistance The next day the Sagois comes to pay his Civilities makes them many drolling and frollick Questions As soon as the new-married Wife is up she taking some Women of her near Relations with her Chamber-maids goes to the Bath and having sufficiently duckt her self she returns to her Husbands House These are the Ceremonies which are practised amongst them of the better Quality It is a Common Custom amongst the Turks to marry three Sisters one after another provided that they have married the Eldest at first but if they began at the Youngest they may never marry her Eldest Sister The Arabians did formerly contract Marriage onely for a time prefixt and limited by mutual consent of both Parties And to the end that they might make some shew of Matrimonial Convention the Woman did present her Bridegroom with a Tent and a Dart for her Portion But the limited time being expired she fairly went her way looking for a fresher Customer Which Custome proceeded from the Inconstancy and natural Looseness in both Sexes which loved change and variety in such a a manner that a Woman was married in one place brought forth in another and bred up her Children in anothet without remaining long in any place all her life time The people of Arabia Felix had the Women common in every House The Man that came home at night first having sett a stick before the Door went to Bed with the Woman So that amongst them they never reputed any to commit Adultery but those who had to do with them of another Nation Now adays the Arabians take as many Wives as they please but they never put them away as the Turks do They also buy them with ready Money but they are very strict in not coupling themselves with any Women but them of their own Family or Alliance As for their Formalities of Nuptial Ceremonies they are the same with them of the Turks When the Persians go a wooing if they intend to signalize themselves for their Fidelity and passion towards their Mistresses they use to burn themselves in many places of their Bodies with some kind of Linnen which they sett on fire much like our Chyrurgeon's Causticks And being so burnt they come in this manner into their Mistresses Presence who have a care of sending them some Linnen or Pieces of Silk to bind and heal their Wounds And he that hath most Burnings on his Body is most esteemed amongst the Ladies and will sooner purchase their favourable acceptance They may marry many Women the Mechanicks may have seven and no more but their Nobles may have as many as they are able to maintain When a Person of Quality is to marry his Parents Relations and intimate Friends without Invitation resort to his House wearing his Liveries But if they be neither Relations nor Familiar Friends they may not then be permitted to wear them they only appear in their best Equipage The Bride comes out of her House riding on
Horse-back accompanied with the Women of her Relations and Friends gallantly mounted Many Instruments of Musick playing before them they go towards the the Bridegrooms House who also coming to meet them with his Friends on Horseback these two Squadrons joined together go back to the Brides House where they begin the Ball. The Ball being well begun two Gentlemen conduct the Bridegroom into the Brides Bed-chamber two Gentlewomen lead the Bride to her Bridegroom and resign her into his Armes About Midnight some old Women come down and bring a Linnen which they present to the Bridegroom's Relations if it appear blushing with the Beauty-Spots of a lost Maiden-head then they hug it as a precious Relick but in case it be Facies miris modis pallida then those same old Women bring away the Bride and the Bridegroom divorceth himself from her before the whole Assembly and having paid a very small Sum of Money to her Relations they presently carry her away Amongst the people of Cambaya Palandura and Maldivia this particular Ceremony is observed in their Marriages Both Parties being agreed the future Bride delegates a Man of her Fathers near Relations who hath power to represent her Person this Man goes with the future Bridegroom before the Pandiar or Priest and taking the Bridegroom by the Hand asks him whether he be willing to take his Kinfwoman for his lawful Wife upon such Terms and Conditions as have been propounded and concluded The Priest asketh the Womans Kinsman the same Question and both answering affirmatively then the Priest proceeds to the other Solemnities of Marriage the Relations of both Parties being present as witnesses of the Coniugal Knot This Solemnity being ended they all resort to the Brides House where she waiting for them receives them with all possible Civility and Demonstrations of Respect Then they are regaled many Instruments of Musick playing all the while they are feasting many Persons come to compliment the new-married Couple the Bride presenting them with Boxes of Betel They also send to the Pandiar two Larrins a Dish of the best Meat with a Box of Betel The new married Folks are obliged to send their Presents to their King and Queen according to their Ability But when the King himself is married all his Subjects are bound to send him their Presents Some send them Cloths some Robes others send him Turbans and others again only Fruits and Flowers The Men of the fore-said Countries may have three lawful Wives at one time if they be able to maintain them and if they live in the same Island he is bound by the law to divide amongst them the duty of Benevolence equally But this Law is not always observed amongst them The Women never bring their Husbands any Portion at all on the contrary the Husband must not only defray all the charges of the Wedding and provide them all things necessary but also settle upon them a Dowry which in their own Language is called Rans The Bachellours Marry when they please but as for the Maids their Parents bestow them upon the first that offereth any reasonable Terms when they have attained to ten or twelve Years of Age. But in case their Fathers be dead they then are accounted Orphans and they may not marry till they be fifteen When they present themselves before their Pandiar to be joined in Marriage he makes a strict scrutiny whether the persons be any way related to one another in Blood or in Milk. So that if he find that they used to call one another Brother or Sister only for love sake or else that they have sucked the same Nurse it is a lawful Impediment to obstruct their Marriage and their Priest dares proceed no further The Husband puts away his Wife when he pleases provided that the Woman give her consent to it but if shâ— refuses to agree to it he notwithstanding may put her away if he first pay her down her Dowry promised upon Marriage Through all the Island of Ceilan men may marry as many Women as they are able to maintain and Maids are commonly married as soon as they come to be ten or eleven Even as in the Islands of Cambaya Palandura and Maldivia The Mahometans of the Island of Javan may not have above four or five lawful Wives but they may take as many Concubines as they can maintain On their Wedding Day their Friends Slaves and other Menial Servants appear richly clad before the doors of the Bride and Bridegroom where they have set up many Pikes adorned with Fringes of white and red Cotton They also discharge several Volleys of Shot before the Door After twelve of the Clock the Bridegroom goes out to fetch his Bride with this following Pomp. First there are five or six men which carry five or six Basons hanging upon poles these men are accompanied with as many men which holding in their hands little Coco-sticks beat upon the said Basons After these follow four or five other men which carry long Drums which they beat with Switches or else with their Hands After these follow a great Train of Men which having some Basons hung to their Necks beat upon them continually as they march along These are followed with a great Number of Men which carry long Mattocks coloured with Red and adorned with Peacock's and Horses Tails Then come thirty or forty other Men armed with Darts Swords and Bucklers in their Buff-coats these armed Men march with great Pomp and many times making a Halt fight amongst themselves and sometimes dance for to divert the Spectators These last are followed with other Drummers immediately after these come a great company of Maids richly adorned some of which carry Baskets full of Flowers and rich Pictures others little gilded Boxes others carry little Coffers for to keep their Betel The married Women which follow the Maids do not come empty but march every one carrying all manner of Houshold-Stuff all which things are Presents which they bring to the Bride The Bridegroom comes out at last riding on horseback and richly attired having his Relations round about him well mounted on Palfreys This Nuptial Pomp is shut up with all the Guests which are invited to the Wedding all of them gallantly mounted This Cavalcade being come near the Brides House all the Drummers stand before he Door playing merrily but as for those which carry their Swords Bucklers and long Mattocks they order themselves on both sides of the Street making a Lane till this pompous Train be past The Bridegroom being come to the Brides door she stands ready to wait upon him who lighting off his Horse she having a Vessel full of Sweet Water and casting her self upon her knees doth wash his feet which being done she presently rising up takes him by the hand and conducts him into her own Appartment where having staid a little while to pay their mutual Civilitys the Bridegroom helping his Bride on her Palfrey they return to the Bridegrooms Dwelling in the
same Order as they came Being come near the Bridegrooms House they all alight and the Bridegroom taking his Bride by the Hand goes in first and all their Guests following them they remain with them three days feasting dancing and making extraordinary great Cheer The Inhabitants of the Island of Moluccos retain yet some principles of Idolatry with the Mahometanism which the Persians and Arabians have brought in amongst them Those People may have as many Wives as they are handsomely able to maintain but withal they are so exceeding jealous of them that they can in no wise suffer that any Man should so much as cast an Eye upon them They are notwithstanding very Liquorish and let their Husbands use never so great Precaution yet they will be sure to entertain their Gallants and Paramours and get a Lick of the Horse-Radish with them in a corner When any Man amongst them desires to marry he may never go to visit his Mistress till the Parents of both Parties are agreed amongst themselves but after the said Agreement then he is introduced into her presence and she is obliged to accept of him although she never saw his Face before The people of Barbary but those especially of the better sort marry many Wives also but they do not buy them They only allow them Dowries answerable to their Quality as the Ancient Romans did use to do They retain yet some old Customs and Ceremonies which the Goths and Vandals have left amongst them They are also so extreamly Jealous of their Wives that they will by no means allow them to appeaâ— before their own Fathers without their Faces be covered with a Vail The Moors of the Kingdom of Morocâ— marry many lawful Wives besides th Concubines allowed them by their Alcoran Some few days before the Marriage the Bridegroom goes to the Caccis and having with him the Relations of both Parties as witnesses they send for a Notary who having received his Instructions concerning the Dowry which the said Bridegroom is to give to his future Bride the Notary draws a publick Instrument of it which is in their own Language called Codaca So that although they may divorce their Wives afterwards they may not put them away till they have paid them the full Sum mentioned in the Contract of Marriage They are very joviall at their weddings and so extraordinarily profuse that it is a common Proverb amongst them That the Christians spend most in Suits at Law the Jews in their Passovers and the Moors at their Weddings On the Wedding Day the Bride being gallantly mounted upon a Mule richly trapped and adorned and having a Canopy of Turky Carpets over her Head with a thin Vail over her Face She is led in Pomp about Town immediately after her follow many Mules carrying her Furniture and other Presents which her Friends have bestowed upon her After the Mules come all the Men and the Women of her Friends and Relations but the Women as they march along make hideous Outcries which together with their Moorish double Drums make a horrible Noise After this Cavalcade they betake themselves to their Dinner which being ended they go to the Market place and if the Bridegroom be a Military Person then all his Friends appear there on Horseback playing and exercising themselves with their Lances and Javelins on purpose for to divert the whole Assembly after which Recreation every one withdraws to their respective Habitations But amongst Persons of eminent Quality the Bride is mounted upon a Camel sumptuously fett out and charged with a little Turret called amongst them Gaiola her Head covered with a thin Taffeta so thin that although none can see her Face yet she easily can see all them that are about her She is accompanied with many Gentlewomen and Knights which ride along with her and after the Cavalcade she is again conducted to her Fathers House and from thence to her Bridegrooms Habitation where the Feast being sumptuously prepared all the Assembly resort to feast to sing and to dance After which Jollities the Bridegroom begins a new Courant with Bride but in case he find that she hath been vers'd in it before and her case so plain and open that no Tokens of Virginity appear then he presently surrenders her to her Parents who have her away with all her Furniture and Houshold-Stuff But if on the contrary her Clothes appear dyed with the Rose and Lilly then he hugs her as a pure Virgin and her Linnen Drawers are carried in Triumph thorough all the City as an honourable Testimony of the unquestionable Virginity of his new tried Bride The Jews themselves who live in those Countries observe the same Custom They of the Kingdom of Fez practise this particular Custom at their Marriages that as soon as a Father hath promised his Daughter in Marriage then the Parents of both Parties gather themselves in some assigned place going asterwards to the Mosque with two Notaries who write down the Conditions of the Contract This being done and the Parties being fully agreed then the Bridegroom inviâ—es to Dinner them which have accompanied him and have been witnesses of the Contract The Brides Father doth likewise feast his own Relations When the Bridegroom intends to bring his Bride he then sends a Litter covered all over with rich Silks she is carried in it to the publick Place of the city with all her own and her Bridegrooms kindred together with many Flambeau's Fifes Drums and Trumpets the Bridegrooms Friends goe before the Bride with their Flambeaus and his Fathers Familiars follow after her As soon as they are come to that publick place then the Bridegroom comes to salute her Father and Relations which Duty of Civility being performed he then without any more Ceremony betakes himself to his own Habitation waiting there for his Bride who as soon as she is come thither her Father and nearest Relations accompany her even to her Nuptial Chamber Door and resign her into the Hands of her Bridegroom who as she comes into the Chamber sets his Foot upon one of hers and having shut the Door upon themselves every one withdraw some few Women only excepted which remaining at their Doors till the consummation of Marriage come down afterwards bringing the lower Sheet all bedewed with the Tokens of her lost Virginity But in case no such Tokens appear then she is fairly dismist as a Crackt piece and surrendred to her Parents As for the Guests they go their ways with a Peck full of trouble and their Bellies full of Vacuum Those People use to make three severall Feasts at the Solemnity of their Marriages The first is made on the day of the Wedding the Second is made the next day after but this is only for the Women And the Third is prepared on the Seventh day after the Celebration of Marriage and this chiefly concerns the Brides Relations and intimate Friends who are all feasted that Day Her Father sends his Son in Law some
Sweet-Meats and some whole Muttons on that day for a Present But as soon as the Bridegroom goes out of Doors which happens ordinarily but at seven days end he then goes forthwith to buy some Fishes and bringing them Home he delivers them into the hands of his Mother or of some other Woman who immediately fling them all on the young married Womans feet as a fortunate Emblem of her future fruitfulness A Month after the Marriage the new married Womans best Friends send her great Pots full of Bread fried in Oil and whole Muttons ready rosted and the new married Man to retaliate their kindness invites them to a Feast If a Widdow be married again the nuptial Pomp is not so magnificent the Guests must then be contented with rost Mutton Beef and some boiled Hâ—ns They also sett before them a great wooden Platter charged with Porringers of Broth. As for the poorer sort of people they sett before their Guests a great wooden Charger of Broth thickned with Bread grated very small with thick Gobbets of Beef but they make use of no Spoons every one helps himself with his Hands The Inhabitants of the Kingdoms of Tunis and Algier marry but very few Women for they are bound by their Religion not only to divide the duty of Benevolence equally amongst them but also to allow every one of them a Chamber private to themselves The Husband doth also assign his Wife a Dowry and when the Man and the future Brides Relations are agreed about it then the Bridegroom sends her some Boxes of Sweet-Meats On the Wedding Day the Bridegroom Bride their Relations and Friends feast together in the Bridegrooms House They do not sit down upon Seats as we do at Table but lay along upon Turkey Carpets after the Feast they begin to danceafter the Moorish Fashion then the Bride mounts upon a Theater erected for that purpose and there makes a shew of her Bravery having sometimes her face all shining with Diamonds and other precious Stones About the Evening the Bride is conducted to her Nuptial Bed many Drums and Trumpets sounding before her then her Bridegroom follows who shutting the Door after him doth consummate the Marriage All the Women waiting at the Chamber Door for the Brides Linnen-Drawers which the Bridegroom brings them and having fastned them upon a Pole they carry them in great Triumph dancing and making great cheer The Woman after her Marriage keeps seven days within Doors but as for the Man he must go to bath himself which thing they ought always to do after Coition The Moors of Aegypt have many Wives which they keep in one Seraglio as so many Nuns in a Nunnery every one enjoying her private Room But as for the Morisques or Granadins expelled out of Spain called Moros Francos they have but one When the Moors of Egypt are passionately affected towards any Woman they use to testify their zealous Passion by slitting their Skin in several parts of their Bodies and so present themselves before their beloved Object Is she by good fortune chance to kiss her Hand at the sight of them they then presently conclude she hath hung out her white Flag wherefore they forbear attempting any more Assaults at the Breach looking upon the place a s good as surrendred already The Negroes of Jaloffa and Senega marry many Women but they have more respect for them that are better descended They are so civil towards their Women that they never overcharge their Ship but ha ving given them their sufficient Cargo never load them again till they be safe ly arrived to the Harbour which we call Safe Delivery The Inhabitants of Tartaria Deserta which are Subjects of the great Duke of Moscovy may have as many Wives as they can get and he that hath most of that kind of Cattel is reputed amongst them the most honourable Man and the most eminent Vir gregis The Tartars of Chersonesus otherwise called little Tartars may marry as many Women as their Law allowes them They most an end buy them of the Perigorts or Circassians They maintain them splendidly and are very courteous to them and especially to them that have brought them any Children They little regard Beauty or Riches in their Women but only their Fidelity and good Manners If they perceive their Slaves to be duely moralized they do not disdain to take them as their Wives From thence it comes to pass that their Wives are always very faithful and dutiful cautious of giving their Husbands any Offence living with them with singular comfort and Concord If any amongst them having promised Marriage to a Woman chance to fall sick unto Death he then sends for his betrothed Bride who is married with him by his Bed-side He also allows her a competent Dowry with all Houshold stuff fit for House-keeping and this they do upon the prospect of a future Life thinking they shall enjoy one another in the World to come THE Third Treatise Of Nuptial Rites or Ceremonies of Marriages practised amongst Idolaters and Pagans THE Indians are either Pagans Mahometans or Christians but as they observe the Ceremonies of Marriage prescribed by the Religion which they profess we will treat in this following Treatise only of those which remain even to this Day plunged in the woful Labyrinth of blind Idolatry and Paganism All the Indians in generall whether they be Christians or Idolaters make exceeding merry at their Weddings passing many Day 's and Nights in feasting singing and dancing As soon as the Instruments of Musick begin to play they dance round with little painted switches in their hands But as for the Pagans they are so exceedingly Barbarous that they bind their Women by promise upon Marriage that in case they over-live them they shall cast themselves headlong into their Funeral Pile there to be consumed to Ashes The Inhabitants of the Kingdom of Kunkam and Ballagatt contract Marriage when they are hardly come to the seventh Year of their Age but they use not to consummate it till they be eighteen They are very cautious of marrying below their Rank and Quality but their Women bring them little store of Riches For besides a few Jewels of inconsiderable value they bring them their dainty Marigold but not a Dram of Silver nor Gold. The People of the Kingdom of Bisnagar marry as many Women as they please but in case any of their Women be not pleased with their Husbands for want of their sufficient Dose or any other reason they then go to their King and presenting him with a piece of Gold he laying his Sword upon their Right Shoulder sets them at Liberty so that being divorced in that manner they may lawfully seek to mend their Quarters There be some in that Kingdom which consecrate their Daughters Virginity to a certain Idol so that as soon as they have attained to the tenth Year of their Age they are conducted with great Pomp by their Parents to the Temple and being come
there the young Damsells Mother with some other grave Matrons go up with her to a Turret where is erected a Statue about a Cubit high They kneel down before it and perform their Idolatrous Devotions After which the young Maid must embrace the said Statue three times which being done she must remain all her life time as pure a Vestal Virgin as ever served seven years Apprenticeship in our Whet-Stone Park Those of Canara observe the same Nuptial Ceremonies as those of Kunkan and Ballagatt The Inhabitants of Malabar are divided into three Ranks viz into Bramins Naires and Moucois The Race of the Bramins is the most eminent and honourable amongst them They also differ in their manner of Living and enjoy considerable Prerogatives above the rest They may marry two Wives but never any which be inferiour to them in Quality They marry very young when they are yet but seven or eight years of Age. As for their Naires which are the Country-peasants they may not match with any Women superiour to their Order and Quality neither is it lawful for them to marry more than one Woman at one time But as for their Women the case is altered for they may if they please enjoy three Husbands at once all which are bound to contribute equally towards her and her Childrens maintenance The first that comes in leaving his Arms at the Door enjoys her company and they that come in after are so civil as to withdraw and not to go in to her untill the Coast be clear So that there happens no Debate nor Quarrel but they live amicably every one of them Husbands having his Finger in her Pye Successively The Maids of Malabar are naturally very wanton and leacherous wherefore the Noblemen of that Country are very careful to marry their Daughters betimes lest for want of sufficient Toying and Riggling they should unhappily spring a leak So that very few remain unmarried after fourteen Years of Age. But if they prove so unfortunate as to keep their Maiden-heads after that time then they may bewail their Virginity all the Days of their Life for young Men look upon them to as be useless as old Almanacks They are very Jovial at their Weddings as soon as both Parties are agreed they go to their Pagodes Temple where they use to say some Prayers before their Priests Fifteen days before the Wedding the Relations of both Parties conduct the future Bride every Day to the Bridegrooms house for several Days together Who every one of those times treating them conducts her back to her Parents House All this is done with great Magnificence according to the Abilities of the Parties great store of that Countrey-Musicians attending during this whole Nuptial Festival When the time of consummating the Marriage is come the Virginity of the Bride is offered up to an Idol or Pagode seated on a brazen Throne of an horrid frightful Form which hath a sharp Bodkin of Gold or Silver fastned to his Privy-parts On this the Bride is forcibly sett and it by reason of its sharpness forceth great store of Blood to come And if though by her Husband she proves with Child the first Year they believe this Idol got it and more highly esteem it But by reason of the Pain the Priests by enjoying them first quit them from this Ceremony and without one of these two none are marryed Their Samoryn's or Kings themselves not being exempted Who on this account order heir Sisters Children to succeed as being more certainly of the Blood Royal. In these Countreys they change their Wives as often as they please nor seem the Women displeased at it Poligamy is so tolerable or rather acceptable And as the Men are allowed many Wives so one Woman is allowed many Husbands and the Issue bequeathed as she nominates The World affords not more obscene lustful Persons than the Naire's using Provocatives to stir up the decaying heat of Nature And as our European Gallants by making the Husbands drunk sometimes attain their amorous ends so these Naire's act their Amours by the help of a certain herb or Drug called Deutroa which infused or otherwise taken infatuates the Intellect the Poor Cuckolds being in such a Pickle as not to be sensible though he sees before his Eyes another plowing with his Hâ—ifer In Nepapata a Town upon the River Nega the manner of their Marriages is extraordinary For many times the Priest with a Cow and the Man and Woman go together to the Water-side where the Bramyn first mutters a short Prayer and then linking their Hands about the Cows Tail pours upon them all his hallowed Oil and lastly forces the Beast into the River whereinto she goes willingly so far as till they be up to the middle in Water Neither returns she nor do they disunite till the Waves advise them Being come on shore they loose their hands and hold that mysterious Tye forcible and sacred ever after In Cochin-China Polygamy is forbidden the Women are modest and differ not in Apparell all of them wearing over them a Veil of White Linnen and indeed they are the civillest of all the Idolaters of those Countries which to say the truth have no Wives all Women being common amongst them They of the Kingdom of Bengala marry as many Women as they can maintain but they are extreamly Jealous of them wherefore they keep them as close as our Euclio's do their Precious Jewels The Inhabitants of Pegu have extraordinary Manners These People neglecting the natural use of Women were formerly much addicted to the detestable Abominations of Sodom wherefore to obviate this Mischief one of their Queens was constrained to enact a Law that whosoever should be Legally convicted of that Crime he should be burned alive She also ordained that Women should go with naked Neck and Breasts to the end that exposing a Samplar of their Wares they might the sooner allure Customers The Men of that Country are very shy in their matching and very fearful lest they should light upon a Crack-piece for to say the Truth their Maids are generally all Fire and Toe They are scarce out of the Shell but their quick Oister will be gaping wherefore their Mothers knowing by Experience the common frailty of their Sex which is never found sure till it be sure bound When their Daughters are yet young they use to stitch their lower Lips leaving nothing but a small Orifice just fit to evacuate their natural Effluvium's On the day of their Marriage their Mothers unstitch them in their Bridegrooms Presence and rubbing them with some kind of Oil they are well enough disposed to play at Putt or else at Ombre The Nobles and other Persons of Gentile Extraction repute it a disgrace to beat upon their Brides Anvils the first night of their Wedding They hire some of their Friends for that Drudgery Nay their King is so magnificent that he will liberally reward the Valiant Champion who hath couragiously demeaned himself in the first
the Corner of the Bridegrooms Gown and being so bound together conducted them to the Brides House where a great Fire was made ready being come near that Fire the said Priest led them seven times about it After which Ceremony the Marriage was ended and then they betook themselves to Feasting The Inhabitants of Civola otherwise called New Granada never marry but one Woman at once but they take the liberty to send her away at pleasure and marry another the Women also enjoy the same Priviledge for in case their Husbands be not so liberal and kind-hearted as to spare from their own Bellies to put it into theirs then all the Fat is in the Fire they will presently seek better Masters The People of Cumana use to send their young Daughters to their Piaces or Priests to be instructed by them and to learn their Duty towards their future Husbands The Nobles of that Country take as many Wives as they please are so extraordinary Courteous towards Strangers that they standing at their Doors will invite Passengers whom they not only delight to regale at their Tables but will bestow their fairest Women upon them also to solace them at Night They of Paria may also have many Wives but the First married is always the Chief among them They of the meanest Sort have commonly three or four but when they begin to be old they turn them off and take others more young The Priests afterwards instruct them according to the customs of those of Cumana The Inhabitants of Caribe marry after the same fashion only the day of the Marriage and some days after they bring out the new married Bride into the Woods with a mighty Noise driving and killing all they meet The Topinanboes Inhabitants of Brasil in the South parts of America when they marry respect only the first degree of Father Mother Brother Sister Son and Daughter for there the Uncle may freely marry his own Niece They take so many Wives as they please and the more they have the more valiant and vigorous are they esteemed Though they have one they chiefly love yet the rest are not at all Jealous or at least discover it not for they labour in their Imployments and live together in Peace As for Ceremonies they have none save that he who comes to see a Maid or other Woman desires her of her Father or nearest Relation and after having discovered their Suit and got their Consent takes her along with him as his Wife It 's ordinary amongst them chiefly those of Quality to promise their Daughters in Marriage when they are very young and afterwards give them to those to whom they are promised who take them according to the Custom of the Country The Husband may repudiate and put away his Wife at pleasure when she offends him And likewise when the Wife designs to part from her Husband she tells him in their Tongue I 'll have no more to do with thee I 'll go search for another The Husband without troubling himself answers Escoain go where thou wilt The Woman may give her self immediately to another Man having the same Priviledge to put away her second Husband The Inhabitants of Peru before they become Catholick have many Wives but of those there is but one whom they reckon the Lawful Wife The Bridegroom on the day of Marriage went to her House and bringing her to his own Habitation he did put on her Feet some kind of open Shoes made with a sort of Rushes which be called in their own Language Ottoya which being done she was honoured as the Mistriss-paramount all the other Women Concubines obeying and serving her and the Issue of her Body was onely capable of Inheritance The Itatins and Varack's inhabiting the Country of Sancta Cruz did likewise marry as many Women as they could maintain An Uncle doth oftentimes marry his own Neece When their Daughters are yet but twelve Months old their Parents look for Husbands for them they also choose him that is next of Kin in the second degree The Parents having thus made choice of a Husband for their Daughter they go to his Habitation presenting him with a Bow and Arrows and a Mattock as Pledges of the Matrimonial Contract If the said Person accepted of them he is looket upon as the Son-in-law and is presently conducted to his Father-in-Laws house there to remain and manage the businesses of his Family until his future Bride hath at attained to Maturity of Age. But in case that a young Man hath any Affection for a Maid which never was offered to him he then makes his application to her Parents and presenteth them with a bundle of Sticks If they receive it it is an evident token that they are well pleased with his motion and presently they admit him into their own House As soon as a Woman is married amongst them her first care is to make two winding Sheets one for her Husband and the other for her self A commendable Example for all Christians to follow the remembrance of our Mortality being a prevalent Antidote against all pestilential Diseases of the Soul. In Guiana otherwise called Nova Andalusia the common Sort of People must be contented with one Dish but as for their Nobles they may enjoy Variety of Women they have the same Marriage-Ceremonies as those of Peru. But as England is esteemed the Paradise of Women so on the contrary that Country is their Purgatory for Women are put to all manner of Drudgery their condition being little better than our common Servants or Chamber-Maids There is a kind of People in Syria called Druses which some Authors have reckon'd amongst Christians but which are neither Jews nor Christians but rather a Crew of Barbarous Mongrels for they marry their Mothers Daughters and Sisters without any regard at all The reason they alledge for this Barbarous brutality is that they have begotten Children for their own use and not for others and that no body ought to forbid them the enjoyment of that which is Naturally their own They have some Holy Days in the year wherein their Men and Women assemble themselves in a publick place where they are extreamly Jovial for after their Feasting and Balling they begin another kind of Dance borrowing one anothers Wives The Eastern Japannois otherwise called Wild Lopps contract Marriage in this manner The day of the Wedding being come all the Bridegrooms Friends and Relations resort to his Tent and being gathered together the Bridegroom goes to his Brides Tent and brings her to his own where being come he in the presence of all the assembly taking a Steel with a Flint strikes Fire with all his force and the more Fire appears the more fortunate they judge him looking upon that as a happy Presage of his future Prosperity This Ceremony ended the Marriage is concluded Then they cause the Bride clothed with Zibellins and Hermines to be sett upon a tamed Boar the Bridegroom being clothed with Bear Skins goes a foot by her side all their Relations following with joyful Acclamations wishing them all Prosperity and a numerous Off-Spring Being come to their Tent they feast and dance which being done they begin to sing the Elogium's of their deceased Hero's and eminent Captains renowned amongst them for their valorous Atchievements in Warlike affairs As soon as they have made an end of their Songs the Bridegroom Bride and all their Guests cast themselves on the ground in a pitiful manner weeping sobbing and lamenting the frailty of their Nature and Mortality About half an hour after the Instruments begin again to play and every one rise up to renew the Dance In the South part of the World commonly called Magellanica when a Man hath Affection for a Woman he goes to her Relations to ask them their good will which having obtained he without any further Ceremony takes her along with him and they Cohabit together like Husband and Wife Their Relations assemble themselves the next day for to feast and make merry after that the Brides Relations offer her some Presents which the Bridegroom receiveth with thankfulness The Women amongst them practise the same Trade as their Husbands If any of them chance to ring Changes and play foul with another Man then her Husband sends her away to her Parents who presently shave off all the Hair of her Head and in case she turning a Convert will return to her Husband he notwithstanding never will vouchsase to honour her with his Bed but she must rest contented to serve him and do all manner of Drudgery Having performed my task gentle Reader and as I hope in part contented thy Curosity about these Nuptial Ceremonies a part of which Ihave been a Witness to of others have received credible Informations from sundry grave Authors and Travellers Nothing remaineth but that I Pray the God of all Unity and Concord in Mercy to heal all our Breaches to the end that our Church may appear like a Bride all Glorious within ready to attend upon Christ her Bridegroom to whom with the Father and Holy Spirit be all Honour and Glory World without End. Amen FINIS