During slavery, concubinage was general; and although many masters offered rewards to such as lived faithfully with one partner, the vice was all but universal, and a permanent engagement between a man and woman was seldom formed. Two females frequently lived with one man, one being considered his wife, and the other his mistress. When the negroes were emancipated in 1834, many were anxious to be legally married, and others put away the partners of their compulsory servitude and took new companions. Bigamy was not uncommon then, nor is it rare now, many devices being adopted to elude the stringent laws on this matter. Concubinage is less general than formerly, but the marriage covenant is by no means respected, nor is chastity much esteemed.
In St. Lucia sexual intercourse was unrestrained and almost promiscuous, and the negroes of the island are, even to this day, averse to matrimony and inclined to concubinage. In either relation they are equally faithless, the only redeeming feature being love of their children.
The same low state of morals is observable in Santa Cruz, but in Jamaica the negroes are mostly married and faithful to their engagements. Formerly the intercourse of the sexes was loose, profligate, and lewd. When the missionaries attempted to reform this, any who submitted to their teachings were ridiculed by the demoralized of their comrades. It must be admitted that Europeans have not shown any good example to the negroes, but, on the contrary, have encouraged their vices.
JAVA.
A curious system of manners now prevails in Java. Hindoos have been succeeded by Mohammedans, and they, in turn, have given place to Dutch, each having impressed some characteristic on the people. As elsewhere, the condition of the female sex will indicate the general character. The institution of marriage is universally known, if not practiced or respected, and the lot of women may be considered fortunate. They are not ill-used in any manner, and the seclusion imposed upon the more opulent is rather a withdrawal from the indiscriminate gaze of the people than that lonely secrecy exacted by jealousy in some parts of the East. The condition of the sex in Java is an exception to the habits of Asiatics. They associate with the men in all the pleasures and offices of life, eat with them, and live on terms of mutual equality. They are sometimes permitted to ascend the throne, and, in short, nowhere throughout the island are they treated with coarseness, violence, or neglect. They are willing and industrious, and are admitted to many honorable employments. Men sometimes act tyrannically in their households, but this only shows the fault of an individual, not of a class.
Polygamy and concubinage are practiced by the nobility without reference to public opinion, but are not generally adopted, being regarded as vicious luxuries. The first wife is always mistress of the household; the others are her servants, who may minister to her husband’s pleasures, but do not share his rank or wealth. No man will give his daughter as second or third wife, unless to some one far superior in rank to himself; and a woman considers it dishonorable, not, in the abstract, to prostitute herself, but to form a connection with any man of humbler birth than herself.
But, though polygamy and concubinage are seldom known in Java, their absence must not be considered as implying superior morality. On the contrary, it is the most immoral country in Asia. A woman who would not condescend to be the second wife of a chief would not scruple to commit adultery with him. In general terms, both sexes are profligate and depraved, although the islanders boast the chastity of their women as a distinguishing ornament, because a married woman would shriek if a stranger attempted to kiss her before her attendants.
Divorce can be procured in Java with the utmost freedom, and is a privilege in which the women indulge themselves to a wanton degree. If a wife pays her husband a sum of money, he must leave her. He is not legally bound to accept her offer, but public opinion considers it disreputable to live with a woman who has thus signified her wishes for a separation, and he yields to general sentiment what is not exacted by law. The husband is often changed three or four times before the woman is thirty years old, and some boast the exercise of this privilege twelve times. As the means of subsistence abound, and are procured as easily by women as by men, the former are independent of the latter, and find no difficulty in living without husbands. Unfortunately for the theories of some female reformers of the present day, who imagine that such independence foreshadows the millennium of woman’s rights, it must be admitted that, where the experiment has been tried, the sex are proverbially dissolute.
Among the wealthier classes the utmost immorality prevails, and in the great towns the population is debauched to the last degree. Intrigues with married women continually occur, and are prosecuted almost before the face of the husbands, who are often so tame and servile that they dare not assert their conjugal rights. Travelers have noticed flagrant instances of the looseness of Japanese manners, but one case will suffice. One of the princes, who had seduced a married woman, and was in the habit of visiting her at times when her husband, an officer in the public guard, was on duty, was surprised in her company on one occasion, the chief having returned home earlier than was expected. He knew the rank of his visitor, and discreetly coughed, so that the prince had time to escape. He then went to the chamber and flogged his wife. She complained to the prince, who was particularly desirous, at that time, to conciliate his subjects. He sent for the husband, made him many rich presents, and allowed him to select the handsomest woman in the royal household in place of the frail one who had betrayed him. The husband accepted the peace-offerings, allowed his wife to return home with him, and all the parties were satisfied.
In Java women are usually married very young, as their chastity is in danger as soon as they reach maturity. At eighteen or twenty a girl is considered to be getting old, and scarcely any are unmarried after twenty-two. Yet age does not exclude a woman from the probabilities of matrimony, for widows often procure husbands at fifty. The preliminary arrangements are made by the parents, as scandal would not allow the young people to take any part in a transaction in which they are looked upon, as the natives express it, as mere puppets. The father of the youth, having made a suitable choice, proposes to the parents of the girl. If they are willing, the betrothal is ratified by some trifling present, and visits are made, that the intended nuptials may be publicly known. Subsequently the price of the lady is arranged, varying according to the rank and circumstances of the family. Sometimes this is plainly called the “purchase-money,” and sometimes by a more delicate term, the “deposit.” It is considered as a settlement for the bride. The only religious feature in the marriage ceremony is an exchange of vows in the mosque. This is followed by many observances of etiquette and parade. Finally, the married couple eat from the same vessel, to testify their common fortune, or the bride washes her husband’s feet in token of subjection.