ACCOUNT OF BOOKS. 



955 



right of selling the services of his 

 son to another for any length of 

 time, or even for life." 



" Daughters may be said to be in- 

 variably sold. The bridegroom 

 must always make his bargain with 

 the parents of his intended bride. 

 The latter has no choice. She is a 

 lot in the market to be disposed of 

 to the highest bidder. The man, 

 .indeed, in this respect, has no great 

 advantage on his side; as he is not 

 allowed to see his intended wife un- 

 til she arrive in formal procession 

 at his gate. If, however, on open- 

 ing the door of the chair, in which 

 the lady is shut up, and of which 

 the key has been sent before, he 

 should dislike his bargain, he can 

 return her to her parents ; in which 

 case the articles are forfeited that 

 constituted her price; and a sum of 

 money, in addition to them, may be 

 demanded, not exceeding, however, 

 the value of these articles. These 

 matrimonial processions, attended 

 with pomp and music, are not unlike 

 those used by the Greeks, when the 

 bride was conducted to her hus- 

 band's house in a splendid car ; only, 

 in the former instance, the lady is 

 completely invisible to every one. 



" To what a degraded condition is 

 a female reduced by this absurd cus- 

 tom! How little inducement, it 

 ■would be supposed, she could have 

 to appear amiable or elegant, or to 

 study her dress, or cramp her feet, 

 or paint her face, knowing she will 

 be coifsigned into the hands of the 

 first man who will give the price 

 that licr parents have fi\ed upon her 

 charms. No previous convt^rsation 

 is allowed to take place, no ex- 

 change of opinions or comparison of 

 sentiments with regard to inclina- 

 tiona or dislikes ; all the little silent 

 acts of attentioa and kindness, 



which so eloquently speak to the 

 heart, and demonstrate the sincerity 

 of the attachment, are utterly un- 

 felt. In a Avord, that state of the 

 human heart, occasioned by the mu- 

 tual afi'eftion between the sexes, and 

 from whence proceed the happiest, 

 the most interesting, and sometimes, 

 also, the most distressing moments 

 of life, has no existence in China. 

 The man takes a wife because the 

 laws of the country direct him to 

 do so, and custom has made it in- 

 dispensable ; and the woman, after 

 marriage, continues to be the sama 

 piece of inanimate furniture she al- 

 ways was in her father's house. She 

 suiters no indignity, nor does she 

 feel any jealousy or disturbance (at 

 least it is prudent not to shew it) 

 when her husband brings into the 

 same house a second, or a third wo* 

 man. The first is contented with 

 the honour of presiding over, and 

 directing the concerns of the fa- 

 mily within doors, and in hearing 

 the children of the others calling her 

 mother. 



" It might be urged, perhaps, on 

 the part of the husband, that it 

 would be highly unreasonable for 

 the woman to complain. The map 

 who purchased her ought to have aa 

 equal right in the sanae manner to 

 purchase others. The case is ma- 

 terially diiferent where parties are 

 united by sentiments of love and 

 esteem, or bound by promises or 

 engagements; under such circum- 

 stances the in(rodu6tion of a second 

 wife, under the same roof, could not 

 fail to disturb the harmony of the 

 family, and occasion the most poig- 

 nant foolings of distress to the first. 

 But a Chinese wife has no such feel- 

 ings, nor does the husband make any 

 such engagements, 



'* Although polygamy be allowed 



by 



