28 Timehri. 



one lord and master for another with the greatest ease. It is shortsighted- 

 ness on the part of our Government not to import more women. There 

 is a great deal of crime and murder here. Import more women and the 

 evil will disappear. Why not import the child-widow of India ? 



Marriage. 

 It has already been stated that it is the duty of every man who 

 profess the Hindu Religion to be married ; it is equally an object of re- 

 proach for any woman to remain unmarried. A party of old maids to 

 escape from this reproachful condition, have been known to unite them- 

 selves in marriage with old men as their friends were carrying them to 

 die on the banks of the Ganges ! It is therefore an anxious thought of 

 every parent to marry his offspring, and this is the reason which causes 

 the betrothal at an early age — frequently during infancy. Such 

 betrothals are considered binding on the part of the young people. It is 

 binding on the part of the parents to procure husbands for their 

 daughters who very frequently are married to men three or four times 

 older than themselves. 



In British Guiana also marriages are contracted very early. It is 

 said in their books ;< The giver (the father) of a Gauri (a girl eight 

 years of age) obtains the heaven of the celestial dieties ; the giver of a 

 Rohini (of nine years) the heaven of Vishnu ; the giver of a Kanya (of 

 ten years) the heaven of Brahma : and the giver of a Rajaswali (above 

 ten years of age) * * * * sinks into hell " ! ! ! (3) This passage explains 

 fully why the people are married so early and then one ought to bear in 

 mind that Indian girls arrive at the age of puberty at an earlier age than 

 their European sisters. An English girl, for instance, at twenty-five or 

 thirty is in her prime — whilst an Indian woman of that same age is 

 wrinkled, emaciated and looks an old woman. 



The laws of Manu enumerate eight kinds of marriage, but as 

 some of these are prohibited and two only are practically in use, we 

 will not make mention of the other six. The two in use are the 

 Gandharva and the Rakshasa rites. The former is a simple mutual 

 consent from the affection without any mutual rite, made in the 

 presence of the parents and relations ; the latter is the marrying 

 of a girl forcibly, just as if she were a prize carried off in war. " Though 

 polygamy is permitted by every Hindu Code and in every age to all 

 classes, yet the practice of it among the Hindus is not generjl ; in fact it 

 seldom happens even among the wealthy When more wives were taken 

 during the lifetime of the first, she is always considered as the mistress of 

 the family : all religious ceremonies are conducted by her and under her 

 exclusive management. The other wives who are denominated secondary, 

 or auxiliary wives, are considered as her younger sisters, from wdiom, as 

 to their senior and superior, all deference and respect, and even service, if 

 required is due. 



The marriage festivities last for several days. The marriage pro- 

 cessions have often been described as gaudy in the extreme. No 





