Pursuing our inquiries among the northern races, to the very extreme of Polar cold, we discover many interesting peculiarities. Perhaps, however, the most important result of our research is the establishment of the fact, that the popular idea is in great measure erroneous, of hot countries having the most licentious population. Climate, indeed, may by fine degrees influence the temperament of men; but the conspicuous truth evolved from all our investigations has been that the manners of nations are regulated by their moral education, and not by the thermometer.
In Egypt, India, Persia, and the other hot regions of the African and Asiatic continents, there prevails a voluptuous spirit; but in Russia, in Siberia, among the Greenlanders, and the tribes of the snowy deserts in the utmost north, equal sensuality is to be discovered. In the warm and happy plains of Arabia, in the sultry champagnes of various parts of the East, we find shepherd communities with manners most pure and simple, and we find the same among many roving nations in the cold of Tartary and Siberia. The languor and indolence engendered by a fervent climate may, indeed, induce a thirst for exciting pleasure; but the rigour and inclemency of the north appear equally to dispose men to take refuge in sensual gratification. Ispahan was never more licentious than St. Petersburgh 50 years ago; nor are the debauchees in the burning atmosphere of Africa more gross and indiscriminate in their pursuit of animal delights than many tribes of Esquimaux, buried though they be among the frosts of an eternal winter.
Thus climate appears to exert, at least, far less influence than is popularly imagined. The horrible orgies of the Areois, in the voluptuous islands of the Pacific, were rivalled and surpassed by the Physical Societies of Moscow; nor are the revels of Southern India more profligate than those enacted among the snowy solitudes of Siberia. Indeed, among the Hindus, we have never found perpetrated, even by the lowest class, depravities more vile than those we have discovered among tribes in Kamschatka and other parts of the Arctic regions.
One circumstance, however, appears to be undeniable. The temperament of Asiatics is more easily inflamed than that of northern races. Their mind is more active, their fancy more busy, their imagination more creative. They give even to their vices a picturesque colour, quality, and configuration, whereas the voluptuaries of cold countries are dull and drowsy sensualists, without a tinge of poetry in their composition. For this reason the ardent passions of the East have been celebrated in romance and history, while the slothful sensuality of the North has been neglected and forgotten. The world consequently has heard much of the one, and little or nothing of the other; and in course of time, by a very natural process, has imagined that the burning climates of Asia represent the passions of its inhabitants, while the snows of the opposite regions of Polar cold are characteristic of their purity and freedom from the dross of vice.
This idea, which we confess we once shared with the rest of the public, has been dissipated in our minds by the inquiries we have made. The sensuality of the East is more striking, more conspicuous, more celebrated, because it has been dressed by history and fable in more attractive forms, while that of the North is forgotten, because it has presented no theme for declamation or romance. But the people of the one resemble very much the people of the other; and even in the South, among the old and decaying nations of Europe, the same truth is discovered. Spain and Italy are supposed to be the cradles of voluptuous sentiment; but history shows how they have, in the manners of their people, passed from gradation to gradation, from variety to variety, while their climate has remained perpetually the same. Nature alters in nothing, but civilization is in continual change; and Rome, which was the sanctuary of female virtue in the heroic times of the Republic, is now, like Babylon, a city where adultery is licensed, and profligacy has the encouragement of the law.
Manners in Russia appear also to have passed through a considerable change since the days of the Empress Catherine. When it becomes civilized, it will, probably, improve still further. Its manners are now gross and profligate in the extreme, which in servile populations is invariably the case; but they have undergone considerable ameliorations since the close of the last century. In the neighbouring and kindred regions of Siberia, alterations appear only in those parts where a congregation of tribes has taken place, and the ruder are giving way to the more refined forms of society. Throughout the North, indeed, as much variety appears as in the East, and communities dwelling under the same temperature, present a perfect contrast in their morals and customs.
In Finland a very extraordinary state of manners still prevails. A recent traveller affords a curious illustration of this, showing how the ideas of decency in various countries are modified by habit. He went to a bath, and when conducted into a private chamber, found to his astonishment a tall handsome girl ready to attend him. She exhibited the utmost coolness and indifference, stripped off all his clothes, and rubbed him with herbs from head to foot as though he had been a mere log of wood, bathed him, laid him on his face, scourged him with a bundle of twigs, until he broke out into copious perspiration, dried him with towels, and all the while appeared utterly unconscious that her task was inconsistent with modesty or decent manners. In many parts of the North it is customary, as in some places in the East, and in the heroic ages in Greece, for the maidens of the house to attend a guest to his bedchamber, and assist in disposing him in comfort for the night. These practices do not in all countries, and at all times, illustrate the same national characteristics. They belong on the contrary to two extremes of social development. They indicate either a perfect simplicity or a total corruption of manners. It was genuine purity of mind and unsuspecting innocence of character that is represented in the virgin who attended Ulysses to the bath; but it was the vilest sensuality and brutality of manners that allowed the Roman Emperor of later days to be bathed and dressed by women.
Consequently in passing from the semi-civilized nations, through the races of the North, to the educated communities of Christendom, we proceed without the theory of measuring a country’s manners by its geographical position. If it be civilized, it will be moral; but civilization is a false name when it is applied to a corrupt and enervated society. Art and luxury are not its highest evidences; but virtue and obedience to the exalted maxims of ethical philosophy.
Russia, included by courtesy among civilized states, retains strong traces of its original barbarism. Resembling China in its system of government, it resembles it also in manners. What is admirable in its social characteristics arises from the natural good qualities of the people, who, notwithstanding a despotism which has wanted no feature to degrade them, please the traveller by a display of many signs of good disposition.
Russia resembles Asia in the indolence and apathy of its population. In the one region nations appear to have been enervated by heat, in the other benumbed by cold into a torpid submission to power. This is evident from the state of public manners. In Russia the inquiry is not what is essentially wrong, but what is wrong according to the police; and nothing else is condemned. Abject towards their rulers, they assume towards others the arrogance of slaves, so that a succession of tyrants may be said to exist from the emperor who tramples down sixty millions, to the peasant who oppresses his serving-boy.
No more striking proof could be mentioned of the fact that the condition and character of women form an infallible measure of civilization, than the state of the sex in Russia. It is true that our knowledge is very incomplete. Most travellers who have written on that country complain how difficult it is to describe it well, and they have generally verified their remark; still we learn enough from various authorities to enable us to judge in a general way of its characteristics.
Among the higher classes women affect and study a polish and refinement of manners, but this relates chiefly to the formalities of life. They dare not, under their own social code, make an inelegant salutation, transgress a point of etiquette, ride in an unfashionable equipage, or converse in a vulgar tone; but they may break the most sacred moral laws, may speak openly of indecent subjects, and may act and talk in a way which a modest English lady would blush to think of. The position they hold in society is in accordance with this view. Formerly marriage was little more than a bond between master and slave; but the relation has been, in that respect, improved. Women are to a certain degree independent, but it is the independence of neglect. They lead, in a word, a life very nearly resembling that of fashionable persons in our own metropolis, but their morals are not to be compared.
Little need be said of the marriage contract in Russia, since it is under the laws of the Christian church. It is, however, necessary to mention that few engagements occur between persons mutually united by affection. Interest is the usual tie; and frequently a girl is taken to the altar, where her appointed husband stands before her, all but an utter stranger. The ceremony is so theatrical that it wears no solemnity whatever. It is a drawing-room scene, directed by priests; so that the very seal of matrimony is of such a kind as to impress the woman with no idea of a holy union. The wives of the Russian nobles have accordingly little reputation for fidelity to their husbands; a characteristic observed by Clarke, long ago, as he travelled, and confirmed by Mr. Thompson, who wrote a year or two since, as well as by many other writers. Immorality and intrigue are of universal prevalence, from the palace to the private house. In a social sense they are scarcely looked upon as offences. The husband and wife, united by a bond, not of affection but of policy, look on each other from the first with coldness and indifference. Gradually each withdraws in a separate circle of life, and at length one looks without much care upon the guilt of the other. Before marriage the sexes are divided by etiquette, after marriage by mutual repulsion. The women, inferior in personal attractions, but superior in manner and acquirements to the men, receive from them little respect; and thus society, poisoned in its very springs, becomes yearly more dissolute and melancholy.
None will require to be reminded that numerous exceptions occur; that pure and strong family attachments exist in Russia; that young persons marry sometimes influenced by reciprocal feelings of affection; but from the accounts of all the writers we know who have described Russia, no other picture of its society could fairly be drawn. There is in that state licence for every crime which does not offend the government; and the more the nation is absorbed in its sensual enjoyments, the less will it be disposed to weary of servitude.
Among the peasantry sensuality is equally prevalent. They generally marry very young, but it is by no means essential that the bride should be a virgin. On the contrary, numbers of women never marry until they have had an intrigue with some other lover.
St. Petersburgh, it is said, is a city of men, there being, in a population of about 500,000, 100,000 more males than females. The native Russians are less handsome and sooner faded than the women of Germany, Finland, Livonia, Esthonia, and Courland—countries which supply the state with prostitutes. Such are the manners of the city that no woman may walk out unless accompanied by a man, not even on the great promenades, in the broad light of day.
In ten years, from 1821 to 1831, the deaths in St. Petersburgh were 61,616, being 24,229 more than the births; and during the same period there were 11,429 marriages. The native Russian women are remarkable for the ease with which they bring forth children, while the foreigners in that country are precisely the reverse. Of the former, 15 in 1000; and of the latter, 25 is the average of those who die in childbed. The average of 20 years gives 6 still-born infants out of every 1000.
The foundling hospitals of Russia, magnificent as they are, cannot but be regarded as a premium upon immorality. Those of St. Petersburgh alone cost from 600,000,000 to 700,000,000 of rubles annually; supporting from 25,000 to 30,000 children, who are received at the rate of 7000 or 8000 a year. They are called “houses of education,” because a prejudice attaches to their proper name. They are not, however, intended for infants who are picked up in the streets. There is never a case of such exposure. Women who have children of which they desire to be rid, bring them usually in the twilight, and they are taken in without any questions being asked. No one can tell whether they are legitimate or illegitimate—whether the offspring of poverty, adultery, or prostitution. In cases where fear or shame might in other countries induce a woman to murder or abandon her child, the mothers bring them to the hospital, and impenetrable obscurity remains over the previous part of the transaction. It is questionable whether the crimes thus prevented would make up an amount of evil equal to that caused by the profligacy to which the licence of impunity and encouragement is thus afforded.
Violence committed on a woman, married or single, is, in Russia, punishable by the knout; but this is almost the only check which the law, written or social, imposes on immorality. It is said that judges sometimes compound with a female criminal who happens to possess beauty, and pardon her at the price of her virtue.
When a French writer, many years ago, astonished the civilized countries of Europe by the description of a private institution in Russia known as the Physical Club, his report was rejected by the majority of persons as one of those travellers’ tales which had their origin in a man’s impudence or credulity. Lyall, however, made extensive inquiries upon the subject, and found that there did actually exist at Moscow a society called the Physical Club, the object of which exhibited, perhaps, more depravity of manners than could be found in any other part of the world, except among the Areois of the Pacific.
This club was originated by eight men and women of high rank, who agreed to hold common intercourse with each other, and for that purpose established a society. Its members all belonged to the nobility, and they sought to exclude all but beautiful women with the bloom of youth still upon them. Admittance was very difficult to be procured. A person before being initiated was sworn to secrecy, so that the names of the members remained unknown.
At stated intervals the members of the club assembled at a large house, where, in a magnificent saloon, brilliantly lighted up, they indulged in every kind of licentious amusements, inflaming themselves with strong potations, and preparing for the hideous orgies which were to follow. Suddenly all the candles were put out, each man chose a companion, and a scene of indescribable debauch ensued. On other occasions tickets were drawn by lot, and the company paired off to bedchambers prepared for this libidinous festival. This horrible institution, transferring its pestilential influence through every circle of society in Moscow, was abolished by Catherine the Second, who hated to see the reflection of her own vices—for it is matter of history that she was a vulgar prostitute herself.
Of the prostitute system in Russia our accounts are the most scanty possible. They exist in large numbers in every city and almost in every village; and a traveller remarks that they have the character of demanding to be paid beforehand, and refusing afterwards to remain with their companion. They do not form so distinct and conspicuous a class as in some countries, for the virtue of married women and young girls in the various ranks of life is not so inaccessible as to distinguish the professional prostitute so broadly from the other classes, as in a society whose manners are less corrupt. They are, in the cities, under the perpetual surveillance of the police. In the rural districts numbers of young women, belonging to the village populations, addict themselves to prostitution for gain—some permanently, others only until they have a chance of marriage.
There is apparently no check upon this calling, unless the women become afflicted by disease. When this is discovered the prostitute is forced to discontinue for awhile her dissolute course of life, and remain in a hospital until cured. When, as very frequently happens, the wife of a soldier takes to this occupation, and becomes tainted, she is delivered to her husband, who is obliged to sign a bond, engaging for the future to restrain her from profligacy. The wives of serfs are also delivered up to their husbands, who must pay the expenses of their cure at the hospitals. If they refuse to do this, and to answer for the future conduct of their partners, the women are sent, without further ceremony, to Siberia.
Another peculiarity in the civilization of Russia is exhibited in the market of wives, which is annually held in St. Petersburgh. It is one of those things which many persons exercise their philosophy by refusing to believe; but its existence is undoubted. It is still practised, even among the upper orders, while among the humbler classes it is extremely popular. Every year, on the twenty-sixth day of May, numbers of young women assemble in a particular part of the City Summer Garden, where they are exhibited in a formal “bride-show.” Decked with an Oriental profusion of ornaments, all the marriageable girls are arranged in lines along the shady alleys, while some friends and professional match-makers stand in attendance on each group. The men who are inclined to matrimony visit the garden, pass along the rows of maidens, inspect them leisurely, enter into conversation, and, if pleased, enter into a preliminary, but conditional, contract. Numerous matches are thus formed; but very frequently the engagement here concluded, has long, between the youthful couple, been a matter of contemplation. Those who do not possess sufficient beauty or fascination are sometimes loaded with the signs of property to induce men to take them. A mother once, desiring to match her daughter to a man of substance, hung about her neck a massive chain of gold, to which was attached six dozen silver-gilt tea-spoons, and three dozen table-spoons, besides two heavy punch-ladles of the same metal, which soon attracted the attention of the young men. In the towns, indeed, we are told that marriages among all classes are generally settled by interest. In the rural parts this is also the case, but in a less degree. There it is the custom—among the peasantry—for the bride and bridegroom to enter the church door side by side, which they take care to do with the utmost regularity, since the superstitious idea prevails, that the one who plants a foot first inside the threshold of the edifice, will be supreme over the other, and become a tyrant in the family. The serfs cannot marry without the consent of their masters. In all parts of Russia the marriage of a felon is dissolved by the sentence which condemns him; but if he be pardoned before his wife has married again, he can recover her.
It will, from this account, be seen that the manners and morals of the Russians are dissolute in an extraordinary degree. There is, perhaps, no part of Europe where the people, as a race, are so profligate. This does not imply that the society of St. Petersburgh or Moscow is not distinguished by many virtuous families; but, on the whole, all travellers concur in showing the facts upon which we have based our estimate of the national character with respect to morality[84].
From Russia the transition is natural to the contiguous and kindred region of Siberia. Thence we may, without any apology, extend our inquiries to the remotest north—for the Arctic countries do not present themselves with sufficient prominence to occupy a separate account, and to none could they be added as a supplement more fitly than to the snowy wilderness which spreads on one side to the shores of the Frozen Sea, and on the other to the frontiers of the Chinese Empire. It may appear anomalous to include any of these tracts under the head of civilized countries; but we place them as an appendage of Russia, to which, indeed, they form an appropriate companion.
The state of manners at which the population of these snowy tracts have arrived is extremely low. Nature has taught them many rude arts; but their civilization has not advanced far beyond its crudest elements. The severe rigours to which they are exposed have produced pressing wants, which they have ingenuity enough to satisfy, and further than this their education does not appear to go. They are rude, ignorant, and gross. Some remain with none but the faintest idea of a Deity; others preserve the ancient heathen belief of the Shamans; others have accepted a form of Christianity; but in few of them has a variation in their religious ideas resulted in a change of manners. In fact, the form, and not the spirit of our creed has been introduced among them.
Throughout the immense tracts of Siberia we find numerous tribes, and even nations, classed under various denominations; but all, in their general manners, very much resembling each other. The condition and character of the female sex among them is low; but it is not treated with that harshness or contumely which it experiences in some savage races. Although the rude Ostyak, for instance, considers his wife as no more than a domestic drudge, seldom thinks of giving her a cordial word, and loads her with tasks, he does not use her with positive severity. Among the Samoyedes, women are much less happy and more harshly treated. In the perpetual migrations of the tribes they are charged with the principal burdens, and drag after the men like a train of slaves. The wife is viewed as a necessary but almost disgusting appendage to a man’s household. She is regarded as unclean under many circumstances—especially childbirth, after which her husband will not approach her for two months. When about to be delivered she experiences, instead of the kind, considerate usage which some, even of the wildest savages pay to their women in such situations, a scorn and indignity to which, by long custom, she has thoroughly learned to bend.
In many parts of Siberia, however, a better prospect is presented, and the sexes appear more on an equality. Towards the centre, away from the sea on one hand, and Russia on the other, the tribes enjoy a very independent existence, being, indeed, the most free among the subjects of the Czar. In the winter time, when the rivers are completely frozen, the young girls assemble on their snowy borders, taking care to deck themselves out with every sort of finery they can procure. Their friends also congregate, forming groups, gossip, and enjoy themselves, while the youths mix with the maidens—each selecting the partner he likes the best. It is at this time of the year that the principal matches are arranged. In all parts it is customary to pay a certain amount to the girl’s parents to buy the privilege of marrying her. Should a man not be rich enough to offer the sum required, he hires himself to her father, who tasks him sometimes very heavily, and continues in servitude for three, five, seven, or ten years, according to the agreement made beforehand. At the end of that period he takes his bride, is redeemed from his servile condition, and enters the family with all the dignities and rights of a son-in-law.
Among the Ostyaks it is regarded as very disgraceful to marry a brother’s widow, a mother-in-law, or, indeed, any person connected in an ascending or descending line with the wife; but it is reckoned honourable to marry several sisters. The sister of a deceased wife is considered a particular acquisition, and, indeed, is attended with a solid advantage, for a man taking the second daughter of a house pays to her father a sum only equal to half of that which he paid for the first. No one can marry a person of the same family name; but this seems to apply to men alone, for a woman under this description who enters another household, and bears a daughter, may bestow her upon her brother. In a word, every union is lawful provided the father of the bridegroom and the father of the bride are of different families—though custom makes other distinctions, which are generally observed with as much strictness as those marked by the traditionary law.
When an Ostyak desires to marry he selects from among his companions or relatives a mediator. He then goes with a train of friends, as numerous as his influence enables him to collect, and stands before the door of the house in which the girl whom he has fixed upon resides. Her father easily guesses, on the arrival of such a cavalcade, what the object of it is, and consequently asks no questions, but invites the company in and welcomes them with a feast. Then, retiring with the mediator into another hut, he enters into a negotiation about the amount which he is to receive for his daughter. These things are quietly arranged, though the spirit of bargaining is generally active on both sides. It is not necessary to pay down the whole amount at once, but this must be done before the nuptials can take place. Sometimes, however, a man snatches away his bride before he has fully discharged his debt. In that case her father waits for an opportunity to seize her, carries her home, and keeps her in pledge until the amount be faithfully paid.
Similar customs prevail among the Samoyedes, who are polygamists, though they prefer the changing one wife for another, according to the changes in their inclination, to having two or three at once. The Tungueses, however, often keep as many as five, but even among them the majority of men marry no more than one at a time. They enter into matrimony at a very early age. It is common to see a husband fifteen years old, and a wife, or even a widow, of twelve. There is with them no feast or ceremony of any kind. The bargain is made and ratified, and the young couple proceed forthwith to their nuptial couch.
The Bulwattes, who are also polygamists, treat their women well. Among them one curious observance is,—that the consummation of every marriage must take place in a newly-built hut, where, as they say, no impure things can have been. This is, at any rate, a poetical and a somewhat refined idea. Certain feasts are essential before the union is contracted.
The Tchoutkas, beyond Nigri Kolinsk, have been baptized in large numbers. Their Christianity, however, does not incline them to remove polygamy, for they have in most cases a plurality of wives, whom they marry for a certain period—long or short, as circumstances may determine. It sometimes happens in one of these households that the wife obtains sufficient ascendancy over her husband to bind him to her, and a convention, intended from the first to be only temporary, becomes permanent. The woman who accomplishes this achievement is honoured by the rest of her sex, and is thenceforward supreme in the family. Generally speaking the women of this tribe are more happy and free than in any other part of Siberia.
Among the Tschuwasses it is customary on the occasion of a betrothal to offer a sacrifice of bread and honey to the sun, that he may look down with favour on the union. On the appointed day, while the guests are assembling, the bride hides herself behind a screen. Then she walks round the room three times, followed by a train of virgins bearing honey and bread. The bridegroom entering, snatches over her veil, kisses her, and exchanges rings. She then distributes refreshments to her friends, who salute her as “the betrothed girl,” after which she is led behind the screen to put on a matron’s cap. One of the concluding rites performed is that of the bride pulling off her new husband’s boots—a ceremony to symbolise her promise of obedience to him. When, however, he on his part takes the cap from her head, she is divorced, and goes home to her parents.
Still more degrading is the custom of the Tchemerisses. A man, representing the girl’s father, presents to her husband a whip, which he is allowed freely to use. There is only one occasion during the year when men permit their wives to eat with them. The Morduans betroth their children while very young; but the youth does not know his bride until he marries her. She is then brought to him, placed on a mat, and consigned to his charge with these words, “Here, wolf, take thy lamb.” Still more singular is the custom of the Wotyahe tribes. With them it is usual for the young wife, a few days after the wedding, to go back to her father’s house, resume her virgin costume, and remain sometimes during a whole year. At the end of that period the husband goes to fetch her, when she feigns reluctance, and exhibits every sign of bashfulness and modesty. The women of this community are habitually chaste and decorous in their behaviour.
The usual occupations of the men in Siberia are hunting, fishing, smoking, drinking, and bartering with the Russian traders. Those of the women are far more numerous and wearisome. They build the huts, they tend the cattle, they prepare the sledges, they harness the reindeer when their husbands are away, and drive them also occasionally; they weave mats, baskets, and cloth; they dye worsted for embroidery; they tan hides, make garments, cook the food, and, in some tribes, assist in catching fish. While they perform these varied and harassing offices without a murmur, as they usually do, their life is one of peace; but if they repine they are sure to be harshly reproved, if not severely punished. In some communities the husband is permitted the free use of his whip; but in others, as that of the Ostyaks, a husband dare not flog his wife without the consent of her father, and on account of some grievous fault. If he does she has the privilege of flying home, when her dowry must be restored, and she has her liberty complete.
Jealousy is a sentiment little known among the Ostyaks, or, indeed, any of the Siberian races. Sometimes the women wear veils, but not with that strictness observable with some nations, and more to save their eyes from the effect of the snow glare than from any other motive. Modesty, indeed, is by no means one of their characteristics. Nor is chastity very highly prized. When a Samoyede woman is about to be delivered, she is obliged to confess, in presence of her husband and a midwife, whether she has engaged in any criminal intrigue. If she tell an untruth, the national superstition is that death will assail her amid the pangs of childbirth. Should she declare herself guilty, the husband contents himself with going to the person whom her confession has accused, and exacting from him a small fine by way of compensation—for having, “without permission,” carried on intercourse with a stranger’s wife.
The barbarous manners of Siberia do not allow us, indeed, to expect any refined modesty among its women. Wrangell was introduced into the family of a rich and influential man—the head of a tribe. Within a low-roofed but spacious habitation he found five or six women—wives and daughters, of various ages, all completely naked. They roared with laughter when their visitor entered, and appeared excessively amused at being discovered in that condition. The dancing women of these tribes wear clothing while they display their skill, but otherwise they are as indecent as possible. Obscene and degrading postures, indeed, make up the chief merit of their performances. A late traveller, hearing of these dancers, desired some women to perform, but they appeared so modest, bashful, and diffident, that he feared to urge them. However, after considerable solicitation they consented, when he was disgusted at seeing them fling themselves with marvellous rapidity into a hundred disgraceful attitudes.
Infanticide is not practised in Siberia, except on those children who are born with deformities. These are, it is said, invariably destroyed. There is, in fact, little inducement to the crime, for the whole region is but scantily peopled, and marriages are not at all prolific.
The morals of the Siberian races are universally low. A licentious intercourse is carried on between the sexes long before marriage, early as this takes place. In the great city of Yehaterinbourgh, where religious dissensions are extremely bitter, profligacy is still more powerful; and women, from sheer lust, prostitute themselves to men of all sects, with whom, however, they would rigidly refuse to eat or drink. In all the towns numbers of prostitutes reside. They are scarcely, if at all, reprobated by the other classes of the population, and the young men who do not wish to marry, or cannot afford to procure a wife, as well as widowers, resort to them continually. The process, in fact, which educates a Siberian prostitute to her calling, appears to be this. A young girl, in a community where general licentiousness of manners prevails, is brought up from her mother’s breast with the most loose ideas. She is not taught to prize her chastity, though told that marriage is the destiny to which she must look, and warned that her husband will require her to be faithful to him. Meanwhile, however, there is little in her own mind, or in the care of her friends, to protect her virtue. She forms acquaintances, and is seduced, first by one, and then by another, until her profligacy becomes so flagrant and so public that no one will purchase her as a wife. Accordingly she follows as a means of livelihood that which she has hitherto resorted to only as a means of indulging her vicious appetite. Thousands of prostitutes are thus made, especially amid the crowded communities. In some of the small wandering tribes, the women are comparatively chaste; but on the whole the refined sentiments of virtue are unknown, and prostitution extremely prevalent. This appears strange to those who are accustomed to believe that a warm climate is essential to form a sensual race. It seems, on the contrary, that one extreme of temperature is accompanied with influences as demoralising as another, for it is certain that nations dwelling in the temperate zone are more moderate in their passions, and more abstemious in the gratification of them.
For the races inhabiting the Arctic regions, the Esquimaux may be taken as a proper type. As a race, they are dirty, poor, and immoral, but not so grovelling as the tribes of Western Africa. Though their ideas of beauty and grace are totally at variance with ours, it is wrong to suppose that they have none, for the Esquimaux woman, who tattooes her skin to charm a lover, exhibits undeniably one of those characteristics in human nature which allow opportunities to civilize individuals and nations. They are an ingenious industrious people, understanding well how to make use of those conveniences and appliances of life which have been placed by nature at their disposal; and they who make themselves comfortable and happy in the coldest and most desolate parts of the earth, must possess a certain amount of that genius which, properly developed, flourishes in civilization.
The estimation in which women are held among the Esquimaux is somewhat greater than is usual among savages. They are by no means abject drudges, those cares only being assigned to them which are purely domestic, and which are apportioned to the females among the humbler classes in all European countries. The wife makes and tends the fire, cooks the food, watches the children, is sempstress to the whole family, and orders all the household arrangements, while her husband is labouring abroad for her subsistence. When a journey is to be performed, they, it is true, bear a considerable share of the burdens, but not more than among many of the poor fishing populations of civilized countries in Europe, in some of which the man’s occupation ceases when his boat touches the shore. It is a division of labour, not so much imposed as shared, and the toil is not by any means hateful to them. During the stationary residence in the winter, the life led by the women is in fact one of ease, indolence, and pleasure, for they sit at home, cross-legged on their couches, almost all the day, enjoying themselves as they please, with a fire to warm the habitation, which it is a pleasant task to attend.
The Esquimaux women are not very prolific, few bearing more than three or four children. They generally suckle them themselves, but it is not uncommon for one woman to nurse at her breast the infant of another who may be closely occupied at the time. They are more desirous of bearing male than female offspring, for parents look to their sons in old age as a means of support.
The Esquimaux are permitted by their social and hereditary law to have two wives, but the custom is by no means general. Parry describes a tribe of 219—69 being men, 77 women, and the rest children—among whom there were only twelve men who had two wives, while a few were doubly betrothed. Two instances occurred of a father and son being married to sisters. Children are usually plighted during infancy—that is, from three to seven years of age, and the boy sometimes plays with his future bride, calling her wife. When a man has two wives, there is usually a difference of six or seven years between their ages, and the senior being mistress, takes her station by the principal fire, which she entirely superintends. Her position is in every respect one of superiority; but this is seldom asserted, as the two generally live in the most perfect harmony. The marriage contract has nothing of a sacred character about it, being merely a social arrangement which may be with great facility dissolved. A man can without any ceremony repudiate his wife, to punish her for a real or supposed offence, but this is rarely done. The husband, who is usually older by many years than his partner, chastises her himself when she irritates him, though caring comparatively little for her fidelity. Absolute in his authority, according to the laws of the Esquimaux, he is sometimes, nevertheless, ruled by the women. Usually, however, he upholds his prerogative, and punishes any infringement of it in a very summary manner; but the utmost harshness commonly employed is to make the delinquent lead her master’s reindeer while he rides comfortably in his sledge. Women are very careful of their husbands, partly no doubt from natural sentiments of affection, but partly also, we may believe, from knowledge of the fact that widows are not half so happy as wives, being dirty and ragged, unless they have friends willing to support them, or sufficient attractions to enable them to gain a livelihood by regular prostitution.
Respecting the virtue of the Esquimaux women and the morality of the men, little of a favourable nature is to be said. Husbands have continually offered their wives to strangers for a knife or a jacket. Some of the young men told Parry, that when two of them were about to be absent for any length of time on whaling expeditions, they often exchanged wives as a matter of temporary convenience; instances of which have been noticed by the voyager—in some cases merely because one woman was pregnant and unable to bear the hardship of a journey. The same writer affirms that in no country is prostitution carried to a greater length. The behaviour of most of the women while the men are absent, causes a total disregard of connubial fidelity. Their departure, in fact, is usually a signal to cast aside all restraint, and, as the last excess of profligacy, children are sent out by their mothers to keep watch lest the husband should return while his habitation is occupied by a stranger[85].
Iceland and Greenland, differing in their people, their fortunes and their civilization, may, nevertheless, be classed together, for both belong geographically to the western world, while both present intimate relations with Europe. Iceland, a lonely, gloomy, and extensive country, is inhabited by a serious, humble, and quiet people, numbering about 55,000. Isolated from the rest of the world by dreary and tempestuous seas spreading far around it on every side, its inhabitants remain to this day almost in their primitive condition. Nine centuries have produced little change in their language, costume, or modes of life. Formerly, indeed, they were heathens, and have now been converted to Christianity. Modifications have also occurred in their manners. At one period, for instance, the law allowed the exposure of such children as their parents desired to be rid of, and the unnatural sacrifice was common. It originated with the men, and the women appear never to have become reconciled with the usage, which has now been entirely abolished, though infants perish in large numbers from insufficient and unskilful nursing. On the whole, however, the original manners of the Icelanders remain unchanged. We refer, of course, to a period since what has been termed the heroic age, when a system of society prevailed, which has been entirely swept away by a new and victorious civilization. In those ancient times, when Iceland was a republic, with institutions of a most remarkable nature, the treatment of the female sex there, and among the Scandinavian nations generally, was unequalled by any other heathen communities, except the polished state of Greece. Polygamy, though not forbidden by their religious code, was exceedingly rare. Their manners, indeed, are, in several other respects, superior to their enacted laws. Fathers, or other near male relatives, possessed unlimited power to dispose of the young girls as best suited their convenience or caprice, but seldom or ever exercised this invidious prerogative, leaving them rather to their own choice. With mild advice, indeed, they persuaded them to prudent unions, but with no harsh, inconsiderate authority. The daughter received, on her marriage, a dowry from her parents besides a present from her husband. These acquisitions formed a property which remained absolutely her own, and constituted her provision in the event of a divorce. This could take place whenever she chose to express before certain prescribed witnesses her desire for such separation. A harsh word, any ill-usage, or a hasty blow, might be pleaded as sufficient reason for her resolve; and by a liberal use of this prerogative the wives of Iceland obtained high authority over their husbands. They occasionally accompanied them to the public assemblies, which were convened in conformity with their popular institutions, and were always present at the great festivals. Sometimes they assembled in rooms assigned exclusively to them, and made merry among themselves; sometimes they mingled with the general company. With the exception of a few, whom the fearful superstition of that age condemned to death as witches, no women suffered very severe punishment. The warriors of the island delighted to celebrate their praises, and terms expressing the high qualities of the female sex were abundant in the Icelandic language, and profusely employed in its literature. At present the condition of the sexes is somewhat equal. The men of the humbler classes divide their labours with the women, but do not oppress them with any of the taskmaster’s tyranny. Both are alike filthy and coarse in their habits. Among the wealthy, as well as in the middle orders, it is customary for ladies to wait at table when strangers are present; but this is considered as an employment by no means menial. The hospitality of the Icelanders, indeed, assumes some very singular forms. Their women often salute the stranger with a cordial embrace, from which on account of their uncleanliness he is generally desirous to escape as quickly as possible. When Henderson, the missionary, resided there, he visited, during his travels, the house of a respectable man, where he was liberally treated. At night, when he retired to his bedroom, the eldest daughter of the family attended him, and assisted him to undress by pulling off his stockings and pantaloons. He was unwilling to accept such services, to which he was wholly unaccustomed; but she imputed his refusal to politeness, and insisted on performing the office, declaring it was the invariable custom of her country. It is the task of the women, almost always, to unloose the sandals or latchets of their husband’s shoes.
The intercourse of the sexes in Iceland is regulated by few absolute laws; but Christianity has abolished polygamy, while public opinion holds a strong check upon illicit communication. With the exception of those seaport populations, which have been corrupted by an influx of Danes and other foreigners, generally of disreputable character, they are, as a nation, moral. These exceptions contribute very considerably to the number of bastard children. In 1801, the population was 46,607—21,476 males and 25,131 females, or in the proportion of thirteen to fifteen of men to women. The average marriages during a period of ten years, were 250, or one out of 188 of the population; the births 1350, or one in 35, and the deaths 1250. One child out of nine was illegitimate. In 1821 one out of seven was illegitimate, and in 1833 the proportion remained the same. Men usually marry between the ages of 25 and 32, women between those of nineteen and 30.
If, however, we give credit to a scandalous anecdote related by Lord Kames, in his “Sketches of Man,” we must impute to the Icelanders, of a century and a half ago, a very profligate disposition. In 1707, it is said, a contagious distemper having cut off nearly all the people, the King of Denmark fell on an ingenious device to repeople the country. He caused a law to be promulgated that every young woman in Iceland might bear as many as six illegitimate children without injuring her reputation; but, says the gossipping philosopher, the young women were so zealous to repeople the country, that after a few years it was found necessary to abrogate the law. Little dependance is to be placed on such stories, though the number of illegitimate children born does certainly contradict the panegyrics on the pure morality of the Icelanders, in which some writers are fond of indulging. About one person in seven is married; but it is the custom among the poor for persons of both sexes to sleep promiscuously in small close cabins, which cannot but corrupt their manners. In the fishing towns, especially, where numerous foreigners have congregated, there are many prostitutes, who usually gain only part of their livelihood by that profession. What their numbers are it is impossible to tell; but it seems that the crews of the fishing-vessels, as well as the traders who frequent the ports from time to time, generally resort to the company of prostitutes, who present themselves in any numbers that may be required.
Extending our observations to the remote and desolate coast of Greenland, we find a population partly composed of European colonists and partly of Esquimaux, who have, however, a system of manners not identical with that of the tribes we have already noticed. They are a vain and indolent, but not a very sensual, people. What virtue they possess consists rather in the negation of active vice, than in any positive good qualities. Their women occupy an inferior, yet not a degraded, position. They take charge, indeed, of all domestic concerns, make clothes, tools and tents, build huts and canoes, prepare leather, carry home the game, clean and dry the garments, and cook the food, while their husbands catch seals; but the men often assist their wives in these occupations. Marriage is essentially a contract for mutual convenience, to be dissolved when it ceases to be agreeable to both. The woman looks out for a skilful hunter, the man for an industrious housewife. She brings him little dowry, possessing usually no more than a kettle, a lamp, some needles, a knife, and a few clothes. Parents seldom interfere with the matches of their children. It is considered proper for a girl, when a man comes to request her in marriage, to fly away and hide among the hills, whence she is dragged, with a show of violence, by her suitor. He takes her home, and if her aversion be real, she runs away again and again, until he is weary of pursuit. Formerly, it was the custom to make incisions in the soles of a bride’s feet, as some tribes in Siberia and Borneo are accustomed to do to the captives, to prevent their escaping. When a woman is courted by a man whom she detests, she cuts off her hair, which is a sign of great horror and grief, and usually rids her of her suitor. Among the heathen tribes polygamy is allowed, though seldom practised. Divorces sometimes take place. All the man has to do is to assume a stern expression of countenance, and quit the home for a few days without saying when he intends to return. The woman takes the hint, packs up her few effects, and goes with her children to the house of her parents or some friend. Generally, however, they lead a reputable life, the women being docile, and the men indulgent.
Considering themselves, as they do, the only civilised people in the world, the Greenlanders feel a pride in observing the outward shows of decorum. They do not allow marriages within three degrees of affinity. It is not considered reputable for persons, though not related, who have been educated in the same house, to marry. Sometimes a man takes two sisters, or a mother and her daughter, but this is viewed with general reprobation. The marriage contract is, on the whole, very strictly observed, few divorces taking place, except between the young. “The most detestable crime of polygamy,” as a Danish writer terms it, produced, where it was practised, little of that jealousy which might be expected among the wives, until the arrival of the missionaries, who preached against it, and speedily won the female sex to support their doctrine.
There was formerly in Greenland a society resembling very closely the Physical Club of Moscow, but still more obscene in its practices. This, however, has disappeared. Prostitution, nevertheless, prevails to a considerable degree, widows and divorced women almost invariably adopting it, as the only means of life, indeed, to which they can resort. There are numerous habitations in the larger communities, which can only be described as brothels; but the profession entails the worst odium on those who follow it[86].
A notice of the Scandinavian populations would be incomplete, unless we touched particularly on the Laplanders; especially as they contrast very strongly with their neighbours the Swedes, notwithstanding that these are far more inflated with the pride of civilization. Forming a nomade race, known in their own region as Finns, they occupy a country little favoured by the prodigality of nature. Nevertheless, where they have settled into fixed communities, we find them adopting many forms of luxury, polishing their manners, and pursuing wealth with eagerness. But these scarcely belong to the body of the Laplanders, and it is only necessary to say of them that they are a happy, virtuous people, distinguished by the affection and harmony existing between men and women.
The genuine Laplander, among his free rocks and snows, lives partly in a tent, partly in a hut; but, whichever tenement he inhabits, he is content with the most simple economy. During the summer he wanders, and is equally industrious and frugal; during the winter he remains in one place, enjoying the fruits of his labour in ease and idleness. This is a peculiar mode of life, and has much influence on the manners of the people; for, during their leisure months, they invent many pleasures, few of which are indulged in by one sex apart from the other.
The Lapland families are generally small;—three or four children being the largest number habitually seen; but what they do bring forth, the women bring forth easily, scarcely ever requiring help, and speedily leaving their couch to fulfil their usual tasks.
The general character of the Lapland race is good. From whatever cause the circumstance proceeds, it is certain that their morals are strict and virtuous. Few strong passions of any kind prevail among them, and they are more especially distinguished by their continence.
The priest of a large parish assured one traveller that there had been but one instance of an illegitimate birth during twenty years, and that illicit intercourse between the sexes was almost unknown.
Old travellers have amused their readers with accounts of the conjugal infidelity common in Lapland, and asserted that the men are in the habit of offering their wives to strangers: this appears to be wholly untrue. So far from truth is it, indeed, that adultery is a crime almost unknown among them; they are, in fact, rather jealous than otherwise of their women. The intercourse of the sexes, nevertheless, is free and agreeable; their marriages are contracted, sometimes according to the choice of the young people, sometimes by that of their parents. Prostitution is unknown among them, except in the fishing towns, where a few wretched women have taken to that mode of life; but, on the whole, they are a chaste and virtuous race.
The great difference between the institutions of Norway and those of Sweden consist in this—that in the former, manners influence the law; while in the latter, law attempts to regulate every detail of public manners.
Men, says the public law of Sweden, attain their majority at the age of 21 years, but women remain in tutelage during the whole period of their lives, unless the king grants a privilege of exemption: widows, however, are excepted. Men cannot legally marry before the age of 21. Even to this rule there is an exception, for among the peasants of the north it is lawful for a youth of eighteen to take a wife—a device adopted to increase the population of those thinly-inhabited provinces. Women may marry immediately after their confirmation, which never takes place before fourteen. The nuptials are recognised by law, and are celebrated in the presence of a priest, by the gift of a ring. A man desiring to take his sister-in-law to wife, must have permission from the king. A few years ago an ordinance was abolished which required a similar formality to be gone through previous to the marriage of cousins. A man may marry without the consent of any one; but a woman must obtain the sanction of her parent or guardian. To render binding the contract, which stipulates for the rights of each with respect to property, it must be presented to the magistrates of the place, and signed by the priest, before the celebration of the wedding.
In default of such an agreement a division takes place, under rules which differ in the country and in the town. In the former, two-thirds of the property belong to the man, and one-third to the woman; in the latter, half is apportioned to each.
Marriage, when fully consummated, is not indissoluble. Divorce may be pronounced by the public tribunals of justice. First, for adultery on the part of the husband or of the wife; second, on the condemnation of one or the other, on account of a felonious crime, to loss of honour and liberty for ten years; thirdly, in cases of insanity; fourthly, for desertion, neglect, or the continued absence, without intelligence, of husband or wife. When a married person complains of having been abandoned, the magistrate fixes a certain interval during which the other may make answer; a notice is inserted in the gazette and the newspapers. If, at the expiration of this period, no reply is heard, the divorce is pronounced. The length of absence necessary to justify such a separation is left to the discretion of the judge. Fifthly, when one person is palmed off for another; sixthly, for ill-treatment; seventhly, for apostasy; eighthly, for incurable epilepsy. After the sentence of the civil tribunal, the divorce is held good in an ecclesiastical court.
A man is bound to support his natural children, and inquiries in cases of affiliation are frequent. When a girl accuses a man before a public tribunal, of being the father of her child, he may deny it upon oath, when her allegation is dismissed, unless she can prove by witnesses, or by any other evidence, that her claim is absolutely just. As such a proof is difficult to obtain, there are abundance of false oaths made at Stockholm. A girl sometimes accuses a peasant of being the parent of her child, demanding, perhaps, a sum of money equal to a sovereign of our coinage, by way of compensation. The man refuses to pay it, and offers to swear that he is not the child’s father. The magistrate then seeks by persuasion to induce him to confess the truth; but he persists in his refusal until the woman modifies her claim. He continues all the while to threaten her with the oath of repudiation, unless she is contented with his offer. If she accepts a miserable trifle, he acknowledges the debt; if not, he perjures himself, and the law allows him to escape, though morally convinced, beyond all question, of his profligacy and falsehood.
The illegitimate child has no claim on the property of its father, or even on that of its mother; but if the parents marry, however short a time before the child’s birth, it is saved from the stigma of bastardy. A legitimate child cannot be disinherited by its parents, unless for marrying against their consent, or being condemned for felony to a heavy and disgraceful punishment.
Death is the penalty attached to infanticide, but is almost invariably commuted to detention for a longer or shorter period, with hard labour in prison. In 1832 the House of Correction for females in Stockholm, which served for all Sweden, contained 290 women, of which 45 were condemned to hard labour for life; of these, 30 had murdered their children.
The punishments denounced against adultery endeavour to mark a distinction between particular degrees of the crime. Incest and bestiality are, however, punished only with a moderate fine. When a married man indulges in guilty intercourse with a married woman, they both suffer death by decapitation. When it is committed by a married man with a girl betrothed and pregnant by her lover, he receives 120 blows with a stick, and she 90 lashes with a whip. Punishments of this sort continually take place in a public square at Stockholm. At present, in whipping the girls on their naked persons, care is taken to protect their bosoms and their abdomens with plates of copper. Formerly, however, when this precaution was not adopted, the lash frequently lacerated the bosom and tore open the flesh, so as to expose the bowels. When adultery is committed by a married man with an affianced girl, or the reverse, a simple fine is exacted; in default of which, imprisonment on bread and water, or a public flogging, is inflicted. When one of the criminals only is married, and the other is entirely free, an inferior money penalty is adjudged.
An unmarried woman becoming a mother pays to the church penance money, to a certain amount. So also does every man: that is to say, the law enacts it; but it is, perhaps, needless to add that the priests get, in this respect, much less than is legally their due.
In 1836 prostitution was forbidden by law throughout Sweden. The public woman, being convicted, was imprisoned in a house of correction, until she had time to reclaim herself, and some one was willing to take her into service. The same, indeed, was done to any poor woman, whatever her character, who could not describe her occupation. Many little girls, some not more than eleven years old, were confined as a punishment for being without a regular avocation. Professional and open prostitution being thus severally prohibited by the law, there were, at that period, no regular brothels in Sweden; but the women of the lower orders were so corrupt, that prostitution was as common as possible. “Every servant girl,” says the advocate Angelot, who wrote in 1836, “may be considered as a public prostitute, and every house of public entertainment may be described as a brothel.”
So far the laws describe the manners of Sweden; that is, they indicate the profligacy they are unable to cure. The country is, perhaps, one of the most demoralized in Europe. During many years it continued to decline in population, prosperity, and character; and if during the last quarter of a century it has improved in these respects, it is because the old system of institutions is gradually wearing away.
Superficial travellers, who gather their ideas of other countries by no other light than that of the chandelier, and in no other society than that of fops and flirts, describe Sweden as a paradise of good breeding and elegance. Society is there often gay and lively, which satisfies the inquiries of such tourists. The ladies of that nation also possess many fascinations, with an apparent frankness and sincerity, which never fail to please. The women of the humbler orders wear, in the streets, the airs of modesty, and never shock the eye by exhibitions of wantonness or indecency. The intercourse of the sexes is extremely free; and therefore there are fewer signs of intrigue, because this is not necessary; but to infer from such circumstances that Sweden is a moral country, is to fall into a grievous error.
Sweden is immoral, and Stockholm is the most immoral place in Sweden. For many years it absolutely decayed under the moral disease which afflicted it. In 1830 it contained nearly 81,000 inhabitants; this number decreased in a year or two to 77,000, and the deaths during a period of ten years exceeded the births by an average of 895. Yet it is in a healthy situation; the people are well lodged; everything, indeed, is there to render it pure and salubrious; but the moral atmosphere is tainted by a continual epidemic of depravity.
The whole nation numbers about 3,000,000; but it is in the capital that the excess of profligacy is displayed. Three or four years ago the proportion of illegitimate children was as one to two and three-tenths, that is to say, one person out of every three was a bastard. Taking all Sweden, we find the proportion of the ten years, from 1800 to 1810, was one in sixteen; from 1810 to 1820, one in fourteen; from 1820 to 1830, one in fourteen and six-tenths. It was thus the town population which was to be charged with the immoral result of depravity. In Stockholm, however, statistics could not fully exhibit the general demoralization. Laing asserts his deliberate belief that the offspring of adultery and children saved from illegitimacy by the late marriage of their parents were there exceedingly numerous; and it is probable that the law forbidding young men to marry before they were 21 years of age had, in this respect, a very evil influence, as similar checks have undoubtedly had in Norway.
In 1837 the government of Sweden, finding that to prohibit prostitution was not to prevent it, and that the vice they sought to check increased in spite of their efforts, ran, at one impulse, to a contrary extreme. Formerly no public women were allowed, now they were created as a class; formerly no brothels were permitted to be kept by private individuals, now a huge brothel was instituted by the authorities. A large hotel was hired, was fitted up for the purpose, and opened to all the city. A number of unfortunate women were expected to inhabit this licensed resort of infamy, and it speedily overflowed. A code of regulations was framed for the government of the place; but the barbarity of this discipline prevented the scheme from succeeding. Prostitution, however, had been recognised by law. Therefore, though the government brothel was abandoned, others were multiplied in its place; and vice, which had rioted under a mask, appeared in her proper form, among the citizens of Stockholm. Nevertheless, numbers of the restaurants and houses of public entertainment still retain their original character as the secret resorts of prostitutes and their companions. One great cause of the immorality prevalent in Stockholm was, that no woman who could afford to do otherwise, or had any of the wretched pride of respectability, would suckle her own child. Wet nurses, therefore, were in great request. Unmarried girls were absolutely preferred, because the family was not troubled with their husbands. Their own offspring were meanwhile transferred to the foundling hospital, which remains another licence to immorality. There are in Stockholm two of these institutions, where the children are educated, on payment of a premium varying from five to ten pounds sterling of English coinage. In 1819 there were born in Sweden 14,000 illegitimate children, being nearly a seventh of the births. M. Alexandre Daumont says, that there was in Woesend, a canton of Finland, a special law which, granting to women equal rights of property with the men, improved the character of their morals. But no institutions will improve the manners of a country like Sweden, until the national sentiments are purified, for the example of the court and the nobility, says Mr. Laing, have instructed the people so far, that it is only a moral revolution which can reclaim them.
There is in Stockholm a separate hospital for the treatment of syphilis. It received in one year 701 patients, 148 being from the country and the rest from the city itself. In that year (1832) the number of unmarried persons, of both sexes, above the age of fifteen, was 33,581. Consequently, 1 person out of every 61 was afflicted by the venereal disease.
The condition of women in Sweden is low in comparison with the other countries of Europe, and offers a strong contrast with that which we discover in Norway. Tasks are assigned among the humble orders to the female sex against which true civilization would revolt. They carry sacks, row boats, sift lime, and bear other heavy labours. Among the middle classes they hold an inferior situation; but among the higher, though little respected, they are comparatively free[87].
Living under ancient laws and social arrangements distinct in their principles no less than in their forms from those which discipline society in the feudal countries of Europe, the people of Norway are among the most singular and interesting in the world. Their peculiar institutions, which never admitted of an hereditary nobility, have distributed property among all, so that nowhere is there less poverty, or more abundance of the necessaries of life. These circumstances have exerted a powerful influence on the moral character of the Norwegians. It is consequently important to inquire into their manners, since the solution of many social problems may, by such an investigation, be assisted.
There are in Norway two classes of checks upon the rapid increase of population—one arising from their public economy, the other artificial, and under the influence of law. In all countries where the poor possess the land, provident marriages prevent the growth of a pauper population, and this is the case in Norway. So far the results produced are wholly beneficial; but here other restraints are imposed, which, being somewhat extravagant, miss their object, and exert bad effects on the moral tone of the community.
A marriage in Norway is an occasion, not only of long and formal ceremonies, but of considerable expense. This circumstance has two opposite tendencies on the character of the people. It is not considered respectable to marry unless some grand display takes place, with a liberal festival, the distribution of presents, a long holiday, and other means of expenditure, which create a provident spirit and prudent habit, which stimulate industry, and contribute to the general happiness and prosperity. Spending on their wedding-day what would support them during twelve months, many young couples do, indeed, commit acts of injurious extravagance in emulation of their neighbours; but in accumulating what they thus lavish, they have acquired the custom of saving, the necessity for which puts off the period of marriage. The Lutheran church also holds another strong check upon improvident and ill-considered marriages. It compels all within its communion to observe two separate ceremonies—one the betrothal, the other the wedding. The first must precede the second by several months at least, and generally does by one, two, three, or even four or five years. This interposes a seasonable pause between the first engagement, which may have sprung out of a temporary passion, and its irrevocable ratification, which may be the prelude to a life of misery. It has been calculated that the practical result of this interval between the period when a girl becomes naturally, and that when she becomes legally marriageable, checks the growth of the population by four or five per cent. Maintained within just limits such social laws are found to act beneficially, and tend in every way to improve the condition, manners, habits, and morals of the people.
In Norway, however, they have been pushed beyond the frontiers of moderation, and in many cases cause more evils than they cure. For it is found impossible to put a bridle on human nature. Powerful impulses attract the sexes to intercourse, and it frequently occurs that the betrothed girl becomes a mother before she becomes a wife. Up among the high districts of the interior, it is said that the peasant girl rarely marries until she has borne a child. Throughout Norway, indeed, the proportion of illegitimate to legitimate children is about one to five, and in some parishes, where the restraint upon marriage is greatest, the average lies far more towards the side of immorality. In one of these districts, where there are no other obvious causes of profligacy, such as the resort of shipping, the cantonment of troops, the neighbourhood of a great manufactory, or any other of the usual demoralizing influences, the proportion of illegitimate children is nearly one to three.
This by no means implies, however, a profligate disposition in the Norwegians—male or female. The woman who bears offspring by a lover is almost invariably married to him afterwards; it is impatience of the restraint put upon them by the law which impels them to this illicit communication. The evils of illegitimacy are also, in a great measure, counteracted by liberal and wise regulations. Subsequent marriage of the parents removes the stigma of bastardy from their children. A man, even, who feels inclined to marry another woman, when his first friend has died or become indifferent to him, may legitimatize his former children, by a particular legal instrument. This, in such cases, which are rare, is commonly done, and all, consequently, share alike in their father’s inheritance. Some neglect to perform this act of justice, but instances seldom or never occur of a man leaving his offspring desolate when he has any means or opportunity of providing for them, which in Norway almost every person has. Women in Norway occupy a position of superior honour. They have, perhaps, more to do with the real business of life, and more share in those occupations which require the exertion of intellect and study, than in England. They enjoy less compliment, but more respect, which all the sensible members of their sex would infinitely prefer. She, indeed, who provides for a household, under the peculiar domestic arrangements of the country, and presides over its economy, is held in high estimation. Women, in fact, hold a very just position in the society of Norway, having that influence and participation in its affairs which develope their mental and cultivate their moral qualities. Yet it is far from true that they occupy themselves entirely with the sober business, paying no attention to the elegant arts of life. Many of them adorn themselves also in those lighter accomplishments which gracefully amuse a leisure hour; but they certainly do not exhaust on song or dance, or the embroidery frame, the most valuable powers they possess. The able and observant traveller, Laing, supplies a true picture of their character and position, observing that among the wealthier merchants the state of the female sex is less natural and less to be admired than among the humble classes, which compose the general mass of society. Generally speaking, therefore, women nowhere play a more important part in the affairs of social life than in that remote and romantic part of Europe. Among the poor the division of labour between the sexes is excellent: all the indoor work is assigned to the women, all the outdoor labour to the men.
Travellers, among whom Mary Wolstonecroft is one, have nevertheless complained direly of the situation women hold in Norway. One gentleman condemns the national character, because the ladies in respectable houses often wait at their own tables; but this is a national peculiarity, hereditary among the Norwegians. It is a voluntary office; no compulsion is used to impose this or any other task upon them. All that we can infer from such a custom is, the dissimilarity of ideas on points of propriety which prevail with different nations. The English pity the women of Norway, because they sometimes wait at their own tables; the Norwegians accuse the men in England of ill-breeding, because they do not take off their hats whenever a female appears in sight, and because they dismiss the ladies after dinner.
With respect to the actual morals of Norway, we may assign them the highest rank. The number of illegitimate births can scarcely be described, under the circumstances we have noticed, as indicating an immoral disposition in the people. Nowhere is adultery less frequent. The matrons are almost universally above suspicion, while street-walking and professional prostitution are almost unknown. The most profligate class of females appears to be the domestic servants[88].