treatment of women. They are looked upon rather as babies and toys. It is not unusual also in China, as well as in Japan, in Korea, and even in India, for women to win their way in some instances to a position of dignity, influence, and power, which secures the respect and admiration of all; yet these cases are confessedly exceptional, and they are especially creditable and honorable to woman herself in that she rises above her limitations and discouragements, and exhibits such characteristic cheerfulness, contentment, and patient docility in such untoward surroundings. The credit of this is due to her, and not to her environments, and shows her to be a tactful and resourceful conqueror of circumstances. Mere happiness, moreover, is not a sign that all is well. Slaves may be happy in their slavery, the ignorant may be contented in their degradation, the oppressed may have such a hopeless and narrow view of life that they make the best of their condition, and move blindly and carelessly on in the path of destiny; but this does not make their degradation the less real; it only reveals the capacity of endurance, of cheerful submission, and patient contentment, which abides in humanity.

the Christian code of marriage.

2. POLYGAMY AND CONCUBINAGE.-Incidental mention has already been made of these subjects, but they can hardly be passed over without some more explicit and detailed reference to the facts concerning them. The unique teachings of The unique teachings of The moral dignity of Christianity concerning marriage form one of the most unmistakable evidences of the hallowed origin of the Christian code. It is in conflict with the immemorial customs of human history, stamping with instant and uncompromising disapproval the ordinary ways of men as revealed in the conventional non-Christian attitude of society through all time. The wisdom of Christ seems to have led Him to depart from His usual custom, and to legislate in detail as to the invariable Christian rule of morality in the case of marriage.1 He realized that in this matter not only principle but precept must be explicit and final if the world was to be guided aright.

The necessity for definite directions on the part of the Founder of Christianity becomes all the more manifest when we note the devices that have been popular both in ancient and modern society, except where the divine code has ruled, to give a large scope to sensual instincts, while at the same time avoiding the recognized scandal of

1 Brace, "Gesta Christi," p. 30.

universal lewdness. The different forms of marriage recognized by Roman law, especially that of usus, gave wide vent to laxity, while even to these was added, in the Augustan age, the omnium gatherum of concubinage.1 In the non-Christian world of to-day polygamy and concubinage, in connection with easy divorce, are still the recognized expedients for giving an official sanction to the wanton range of passion without the sacrifice of social caste. The convenient fiction of legality and the powerful password of custom lift the disgrace and save the pride of the Eastern world. In the East, as in the West, there is a ready condemnation and denunciation, in theory at least, if not always in practice, of the vice of prostitution. Nowhere will we find it more vigorously and scornfully berated than among Moslems, Hindus, and other Eastern nationalities. A Moslem will defend his piety and moral standing as passionately as he guards the honor of his hidden retinue of the harem, and will repudiate with indignation any hint of irregularity or license in his habits of life. He insists, of course, that he is not holden to Christian standards and cannot be judged by them, his own moral code being the only one that he acknowledges. Thus we will find that the entire non-Christian world is prepared to defend stoutly the traditional moral environment of marriage, including polygamy, concubinage, and divorce at will, as wisely and happily ordered so as to combine a maximum of privilege with a minimum of scandal. This elastic legalization of compromising relations gives, in the eyes of the Oriental, a sufficient respectability to what would otherwise be pronounced illicit and scandalous.

Licensed polygamy a characteristic of ethnic

systems.

Strictly speaking, therefore, according to the recognized social code, there is no polygamy in Japan, Korea, or China, and comparatively little even in India. The rule is that there is only one bona fide legal wife of the first rank, and she rides but once in her lifetime in the bridal chair.2 To be sure, there are secondary wives and concubines, but this does not interfere with the monogamous supremacy and dignity of the first or chief wife, to whom the others often bear the relation of servants and underlings. In the imperial palaces, however, there are ranks upon ranks,3 and among the mandarins and the more wealthy classes of Japan, Korea, and China there is an indulgence in this domestic luxury proportionate to position and ability. While this is all true, it must be said, however, that, except among the higher

1 Schmidt, "The Social Results of Early Christianity," p. 42. 2 Ball, "

Things Chinese,” p. 289.

3 Douglas, "Society in China," p. 15.

classes in these countries, the polygamous household is the exception. The middle and lower classes, presumably rather under the stress of circumstances, usually observe the rule of monogamy.1 In Siam and Laos, also, polygamy is confined to a few,2 while in Burma it prevails to a very moderate extent.

In India the rule among the Hindus in all ordinary castes is one wife, with the usual margin for concubines.3 In case, however, the first wife after seven years fails to bear a son, another wife is sure to be taken. There is one conspicuous exception to this general observation of monogamy, and this is among the Kulin Brahmans, whose bewildering code of polygamy without bounds or restraints is too complicated to deal with here. These much-married Brahmans, now found mostly in Bengal, seem to be able in view of their caste distinction to sell themselves as husbands to innumerable wives, whose friends will gladly pay a good round sum for the privilege of having daughters married in such an exalted connection. In India, as elsewhere, rajahs and princes are, as usual, unrestrained polygamists, while the lower classes are, as a rule, monogamists. The singular custom of polyandry is rarely met with. It exists, however, among the peasantry of Tibet, among some of the Nilgiri Hill tribes of South India, and somewhat also in Ceylon.

The well-known rule of the Koran limits the Mohammedan to four legitimate wives at any one time, with a large license as to concubines and slaves. The facility of divorce, however, is always a ready expedient to make a convenient vacancy, so that the limit need not be exceeded, and the letter of the law observed.5 The Turkish harem and the Persian andarun are one and the same, and exhibit substantially the same phases of life. In Persia, moreover, an audaciously flagrant device of a temporary marriage seems to be in use to give a fictitious standing to a laxity wholly vicious and deplorable. This so-called marriage may be for a day or for years. At certain seasons of the year, when cultivators of the soil require special help, in accordance with this custom they adopt the expedient of marrying with a temporary contract as many women as they require. In the spring of the year the rice-planters of Ghilan and Mazanderan will thus secure a full con1 Holcombe, "The Real Chinaman," p. 77; Fielde, "A Corner of Cathay," P. 28.

2 The Missionary Review of the World, January, 1895, p. 9.

3 Thoburn, "India and Malaysia," p. 368.

4 Wilkins, "Modern Hinduism," pp. 179-190.

5 Thoburn, "India and Malaysia," p. 368.

• Bishop, "Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan," vol. ii., p. 109.

7 Benjamin, "Persia and the Persians," pp. 451-453.