[161] Fleury, op. cit. p. 128 sq.
[162] Tertullian, De resurrectione carnis, 8 (Migne, op. cit. ii. 806).
[163] Vincentius Bellovacensis, Speculum naturale, xxx. 43. See also von Eicken, op. cit. p. 445.
[164] Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologica, ii.-ii. 184. 3.
CHAPTER XLII
FREE LOVE—ADULTERY
HARDLY less variable than the moral ideas relating to marriage are those concerning sexual relations of a non-matrimonial character.
Among many uncivilised peoples both sexes enjoy perfect freedom previous to marriage, and in some cases it is considered almost dishonourable for a girl to have no lover.
The East African Barea and Kunáma do not regard it as in the least disreputable for a girl to become pregnant, nor do they punish nor censure the seducer.[1] Among the Wanyoro “it constantly happens that young girls spend the night with their lovers, only returning to their father’s house in the morning, and this is not considered scandalous.”[2] The Wadigo regard it as disgraceful, or at least as ridiculous, for a girl to enter into marriage as a virgin.[3] Among the Bakongo, “womanly chastity is unknown, and a woman’s honour is measured by the price she costs.”[4] Over nearly the whole of British Central Africa, says Sir H. Johnston, “before a girl is become a woman (that is to say before she is able to conceive) it is a matter of absolute indifference what she does, and scarcely any girl remains a virgin after about five years of age.”[5] Among the Baronga “l’opinion publique se moque des gens continents plus qu’elle ne les admire.”[6] According to Mr. Warner, “seduction of virgins, and cohabiting with unmarried women and widows, are not punishable by Kafir law, neither does any disgrace attach to either sex by committing such acts.”[7] In Madagascar “continence is not supposed to exist in either sex before marriage, … and its absence is not regarded as a vice.”[8] Among the Maoris of New Zealand “girls were at perfect liberty to act as they pleased until married,” and chastity in single women was held of little account.[9] In the Tonga Islands unmarried women might bestow their favours upon whomsoever they pleased without any opprobrium, although it was thought shameful for a woman frequently to change her lover.[10] In the Solomon Islands “female chastity is a virtue that would sound strangely in the ear of the native”; and in St. Christoval and the adjacent islands, “for two or three years after a girl has become eligible for marriage she distributes her favours amongst all the young men of the village.”[11] In the Malay Archipelago intercourse between unmarried people is very commonly considered neither a crime nor a disgrace;[12] and the same is perhaps even more generally the case among the uncivilised races of India and Indo-China.[13] Among the Angami Nagas, for instance, “girls consider short hair, the symbol of virginity, a disgrace, and are anxious to become entitled to wear it long; men are desirous before marriage to have proof that their wives will not be barren…. Chastity begins with marriage.”[14] The Jakuts see nothing immoral in free love, provided only that nobody suffers material loss by it.[15] Among the Votyaks it is disgraceful for a girl to be little sought after by the young men, and it is honourable for her to have children; she then gets a wealthier husband, and a higher price is paid for her to her father.[16] The Kamchadales set no great value on the virginity of their brides.[17] Of the Point Barrow Eskimo Mr. Murdoch writes:—“As to the relations between the sexes there seems to be the most complete absence of what we consider moral feelings. Promiscuous sexual intercourse between married or unmarried people, or even among children, appears to be looked upon simply as a matter for amusement. As far as we could learn, unchastity in a girl was considered nothing against her. The immorality of these people among themselves, as we witnessed it, seems too purely animal and natural to be of recent growth or the result of foreign influence. Moreover, a similar state of affairs has been observed among Eskimo elsewhere.”[18]
[1] Munzinger, Ostafrikanische Studien, p. 524.