694 



MARQUETRY MARRIAGE. 



large, and active. Their teeth are very beautiful. 

 A plurality of wives is not admitted among them. 

 The only arms now generally used are muskets." 

 Population of the group, vaguely estimated at 

 60,000. Lon. 133 45' to 140 30' W. ; lat. 8 30' 

 to 10 30' S. 



MARQUETRY (French, margueterie, margtieter, 

 to inlay) ; inlaid cabinet work, in which thin slices 

 of different coloured wood, sometimes of ivory, pearl, 

 shell, or metal, are inlaid on a ground. Works in 

 which black and white only are employed, are called 

 Morescoes. Marquetry in glass, precious stones, or 

 marble, is more commonly called Mosaic. 



MARQUETTE, JOSEPH, a French Jesuit, and 

 missionary in North America, after having visited 

 the greater part of Canada, was sent, by the French 

 authorities, in company with Joliette, to examine 

 the situation and course of the Mississippi. Mar- 

 quette and his party (1673) ascended the Outagamis 

 from Jake Michigan, and descending the Wisconsin, 

 reached the Mississippi, and proceeded as far as the 

 mouth of the Arkansas. Their voyage left little 

 room to doubt that it emptied into the gulf of Mexi- 

 co, and, not thinking it prudent to continue their 

 course, they returned to lake Michigan, by the Illi- 

 nois. Marquette remained among the Miamis till 

 his death, in 1675. This event caused his discover- 

 ies to be lost sight of until they were again brought 

 into notice by La Salle. (q. v.) Marquette's relation 

 was published by The'venot (1681), in a supplement 

 to his Recueil de Voyages. 



MARQUIS, MARQUESS (in middle Latin, mar- 

 chio; Italian marchese ; French, marquis ; German, 

 markgraf); a title of honour, next in dignity to that 

 of duke, first given to those who commanded the 

 marches (q. v.). Marquises were not known in Eng- 

 land, till king Richard II., in the year 1337, created 

 his great favourite, Robert Vere, the earl of Oxford, 

 marquis of Dublin. The title given a marquis, in 

 the style of the heralds, is most noble and potent 

 prince. 



MARRIAGE.* No social relation is more uni- 

 versally established than matrimony, resting, as it 

 does, on the fundamental principles of our being, and 

 giving rise to the primary element of all social order 

 and civilization the domestic connexions. Mis- 

 guided philosophers and fanatic sects have, indeed, 

 at different times, preached against it, and even sus- 

 pended its exercise, in a limited circle, for a limited 

 time ; but such a violation of the order of nature 

 was necessarily brief. As marriage is a connexion 

 existing in all ages, and probably in all nations, 

 though with very different degrees of strictness, it 

 constitutes one of the most interesting phenomena 

 for the inquirer into the various manifestations and 

 different developments of the common principles of 

 our nature. In almost all nations, the day of mar- 

 riage is celebrated with religious ceremonies. No- 

 thing is more natural than to pray for the blessing of 

 Heaven on such a union, and the prayer of a priest 

 is generally esteemed, in the early ages of nations, 

 as most efficacious. With the most ancient inhabi- 

 tants of the East, the bride was obtained by presents 

 made, or services rendered, to her parents. (See 

 Jacob.) To this day the same practice prevails 

 among the Circassians, and the poorer Turks and 

 Chinese. Respecting the customs of the ancient 

 Persians, Babylonians, Indians, and other inhabitants 

 of Asia, the ancient writers have left us little or no 

 information. It is only known that polygamy was 

 customary with them. The women lived in harems, 

 yet they were probably not so restricted as at pre- 



* For tlio leiral relation between husband and wife, in mo- 

 dern civilised countries, sec the article Husband and Wife. 



sent ; at least, it was customary for every woman 

 in Babylon, once in her life, to give herself up to 

 any stranger, in the temple of the goddess of love. 

 In Syria and the other countries of Western Asia, 

 girls served, for several years, in the temple of the 

 Asiatic Aphrodite, and bestowed their favours on 

 the visitors of the temple. In India, and othei 

 countries of Upper Asia, the first enjoyment of a 

 woman, immediately after marriage, belonged to the 

 Bramins. This connexion with the priests was even 

 sought for with prayers and gifts. Whether the 

 Egyptians practised polygamy is uncertain. Dio- 

 dorus maintains that it existed among all the castes 

 except the priests ; Herodotus denies it. A curious 

 custom existed in Assyria (according to Mela, also in 

 Thrace) : the marriageable girls were sold by public 

 auction, and the money thus received furnished mar- 

 riage portions for those whose charms were not 

 sufficient to attract purchasers. 



With the ancient Hebrews, the wedding followed 

 ten or twelve months after the betrothment, and was 

 called mishteh (i. e. festival meal.) From the time 

 of Moses, polygamy was prohibited ; and, if Solomon 

 and others took several wives, they rendered them- 

 selves guilty of a violation of the laws, particularly 

 if these wives were foreigners. The Hebrews mar- 

 ried, as the Jews even now do, very young. On the 

 day of the wedding, the bridegroom proceeded, 

 anointed and ornamented, accompanied by a friend, 

 (paranympli) , and followed by several companions, 

 into the house of the bride, and conducted her, veiled, 

 and followed by her companions, with song and 

 music (at a later period also with torches), into his 

 or his father's house, where the wedding feast was 

 celebrated at his expense (generally for seven days ; 

 if a widow was married, only for three), at which the 

 bridegroom appeared with a crown ; the bride, like- 

 wise, wore a high golden crown, resembling the pin- 

 nacle of a wall (see Hirt, De Coronis ap. Heir. Nupt., 

 Jena, 1740, 4to), and the conversation was enlivened 

 by songs and enigmas. See Zorn, De Carm. vet. 

 Hebr. Nupt. (Hamburg, 1722, 4to.) The duty of 

 the paranymph was, to play the part of the host in 

 the room of the bridegroom, and to do as he ordered 

 him (John iii. 29 ; ii. 9 ; Judges xiv. 20). Men and 

 women took their meals separately, and had also 

 their separate entertainments. The nuptial for 

 mality seems to have consisted in pronouncing a 

 blessing over the couple. After the wedding meal, 

 the bridegroom and bride were led, yet still veiled, 

 into the bridal chamber, where the bridemaids ac- 

 companied them with torches and song ; hence the 

 parable of the ten virgins, who took their lamps in 

 order to meet the bridegroom. If the examination 

 made by the matrons the next day led to the conclu- 

 sion that the wife had not been previously chaste, 

 she was stoned. Compare Hirt, De Nuptiis Hebr. 

 (Jena, 1754, 4to.) 



The wedding ceremonies of the modern Jews 

 deviate considerably from those of their forefathers. 

 The rabbies, indeed, maintain that they follow 

 strictly the ceremonies observed at the wedding 

 of Tobias, though the Bible says nothing of the 

 greater part of them. The Jews marry very young, 

 and hold it a direct sin against the commandment 

 to " be fruitful and multiply," if they are riot mar- 

 ried in their eighteenth year. Marriage is per- 

 mitted to males at the age of thirteen years and one 

 day, if they appear to have reached the age of 

 puberty. Girls may marry at the age of twelve 

 years and one day, under the same condition. If the 

 signs of maturity are wanting, or evident impotence 

 exists, Jews are not permitted to marry until the 

 thirty-fifth year. Barrenness is esteemed a great 

 misfortune with them, as with the Arabians, and 



