The Chemawa American, March 01, 1915, Page 4, Image 6

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THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
ding ceremony. Before the minister pronounces the benediction,
whereby a Jewish couple become husband and wife, he reads a legal
document, styled in Hebrew and properly signed and witnessed, which
states that the bridegroom pays such and such a sum to the father of
the girl. Of course, this amount is never paid, but it clearly symbo
lizes the ancient custom of marriage by purchase. Other advanced
nations, like the Chinese and Japanese buy their wives by giving "vol
untary" presents. It is true that no educated Chinaman will admit
that these presents represent the actual purchase amount, but I have
as yet to meet a citizen of the "Land of the Sun" who could show me
a single instance where a marriage could take place, if thi bridegroom
failed to give the usual presents. In our own communities the custom
of marriage by purchase was gradually abandoned as infamous, owing
to the developement of more elevated ideas regarding women. But it
has survived among us in .two totally different forms. The German
"morning gift" and the "dotal portion" of the French and other Eu
ropean nations are, stange as it may seem, transformed symbols of the
primitive "purchase sum." This remarkable metamorphosis stands by
no means alone in the history of mankind. A comparative study of
primitive manners reveals the fact that certain customs remain with us
for centuries, lose their original meaning, and assume directly opposite
interpretations.
In the very beginning of human history, when capture was the only
form of contracting marriage, there were no distinct wedding formalities.
This is the case even today among the Eskimos. But as man advanced
and marriage became recognized as a matter of some importance, the
entering into it, like so many other significant events in human life,
came to be celebrated with certain ceremonies. The most primitive
form, which these ceremonies assumed, was the wedding-feast, express
ing pleasure and joy at the event that took place. These feasts became
common to all nations, savage and civilized, ancient and modern.
After the custom of the nuptial feast had become an essential part of a
wedding, some more advanced ceremonies were instituted by our ances
tors. These ceremonies, as a rule, indicate two things: First, the new
relation into which the bride and the bridegroom are about to enter and,
second, the subjection of the wife to her husband. All marriage rites
of the different nations are expressive of these two ideas. In Brazil and
Japan the bride and the bridegroom have to undergo the ceremony of
eating and drinking together, a formality which symbolizes the living
together of the married couple, while among the Asiatics and Europeans
the same idea is expressed by the joining of hands. In Ceylon the bride
ties a thin cord of her own twisting around the groom's waist which is
looked upon as a symbol of the marriage tie. The Hindoo bride and