. As
civilization advanced, the latter became unpopular, and "although
lawful, was uncommon," while polygamy was expressly forbidden. Solomon,
according to polygamous principles, with his thousand women, should have
enjoyed a most felicitous condition. Strange that he exclaimed "A woman
among all these have I not found." According to the distinguished Rabbi,
Maimonides, polygamy was a Jewish custom as late as the thirteenth
century. When Cecrops the Egyptian King, came to Athens (1550, B.C.) he
introduced a new system, which proved to be another step toward the
recognition of Monogamy. Under this code a man was permitted to have one
wife and a concubine. Here dawned the era of Grecian civilization, the
glory of which was reflected in the social and political principles of
Western Europe. During the fourth and fifth centuries B.C., concubinage
disappeared, but, under the new regime, the condition of the wife was
degraded. She was regarded as simply an instrument of procreation and a
mistress of the household, while a class of foreign women, who devoted
themselves to learning and the fine arts, were the admired, and often
the beloved companions of the husbands. These were the courtesans who
played the same role in Athenian history, as did the chaste matron, in
the annals of Rome. When Greece became subject to Rome and the national
characteristics of these nations were blended, marriage became a loose
form of monogamy. In Persia, during the reign of Cyrus, about 560 B.C.,
polygamy was sustained by custom, law, and religion. The Chinese
marriage system was, and is, practically polygamous, for, from their
earliest traditions, we learn that although a man could have but one
wife, he was permitted to have as many concubines as he desired.

In the Christian era the first religious system which incorporated
polygamy as a principle was Mohammedanism. This system, which is so
admirably adapted to the voluptuous character of the Orientals, has
penetrated Western Europe, Asia, and Africa. Hayward estimated the
number of its adherents to be one hundred and forty millions. The heaven
of the Mohammedan is replete with all the luxuries which appeal to the
animal propensities. Ravishing Houris attend the faithful, who recline
on downy couches, in pavilions of pearl. On the Western Continent a
system of promiscuity was practiced by the Mexicans, Peruvians,
Brazilians, and the barbarous tribes of North America.

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