[19] Musters, At Home with the Patagonians, p. 197.
[20] Brownlee, in Maclean, Compendium of Kafir Laws and Customs, p. 118.
The power which the husband possesses over his wife much more commonly implies the right of inflicting pain on her than of punishing her capitally; but even among savages and barbarians the former right is not universally granted to him. The Pelew Islanders do not allow a husband to beat his wife.[21] Among various Eskimo tribes the women are rarely, if ever, beaten.[22] Among the Central Eskimo the husband “is not allowed to maltreat or punish his wife; if he does, she may leave him at any time, and the wife’s mother can always command a divorce.”[23] Many, or most, of the North American Indians consider it disgraceful for a husband to beat his wife.[24] Among the Kalmucks a man has no right to raise his hand against a woman.[25] Among the Madis women are never beaten.[26] Among the Ondonga a man is not allowed to chastise his wife.[27] Among the Gaika tribe of the Kafirs “a husband may beat his wife for misconduct; but if he should strike out her eye or a tooth, or otherwise maim her, he is fined at the discretion of the Chief.”[28] According to the native code of Malacca, “a man may beat his wife, but not as he would chastise a slave, and not till blood flows”; if he should do so, he is fined.[29] According to Muhammedan law, a husband may chastise an obstinate wife, but he must not cause her great suffering, nor inflict on her a wound.[30] We read in the Laws of Manu:—“A wife, a son, a slave, a pupil, and a younger brother of the full blood, who have committed faults, may be beaten with a rope or a split bamboo, but on the back part of the body only, never on a noble part; he who strikes them otherwise will incur the same guilt as a thief.”[31] In Europe the idea expressed by the ancient Roman that “he who beats his wife or children lays hands on that which is most sacred and holy,”[32] was shared neither by the ancient Teutons[33] nor by mediæval legislators. According to the Jydske Lov, a husband was allowed to chastise his wife with a stick or rod, though not with a weapon; but he had to take care not to break any limb of her body.[34] In the Coutumes du Beauvoisis it is said that a man may beat his wife if she belies or curses him, or disobeys his “reasonable” commands, or for some other similar reason, though he must not kill or maim her.[35] Among Russian and South Slavonian[36] peasants public opinion still permits the husband to inflict corporal punishment on his wife. In Russia “the bridegroom, while he is leading his bride to her future home, gives her from time to time light blows from a whip, saying at each stroke: ‘Forget the manners of thine own family, and learn those of mine.’ As soon as they have entered their bedroom, the husband says to his wife, ‘Take off my boots.’ The wife immediately obeys her husband’s orders, and, taking them off, finds in one of them a whip, symbol of his authority over her person. This authority implies the right of the husband to control the behaviour of his wife, and to correct her every time he thinks fit, not only by words, but also by blows. The opinion which a Russian writer of the sixteenth century … expresses as to the propriety of personal chastisement, and even as to its beneficial effects on the health, is still shared by the country people…. The customary Court seems to admit the use of such disciplinary proceedings by not interfering in the personal relations of husband and wife. ‘Never judge the quarrel of husband and wife,’ is a common saying, scrupulously observed by the village tribunals, which refuse to hear any complaint on the part of the aggrieved woman, at least so long as the punishment has not been of such a nature as to endanger life or limb.”[37]
[21] Kubary, ‘Die Palau-Inseln,’ in Jour. des Museum Godeffroy, iv. 43.
[22] King, in Jour. Ethn. Soc. i. 147. Cf. Murdoch, loc. cit. p. 414.
[23] Boas, in Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn. vi. 579.
[24] Waitz, Anthropologie der Naturvölker, iii. 101. Cf. Powers, Tribes of California, p. 178 (Gallinomero).
[25] Liadov, in Jour. Anthr. Inst. i. 405.
[26] Ratzel, History of Mankind, iii. 40.
[27] Rautanen, in Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 329.