jealousy of
savages is generally so terrible that among them a woman who commits
adultery is usually put to death along with her seducer. Sometimes
they are content with cutting off her nose or inflicting other
chastisement. It is from jealousy that results the obligation of
chastity in the woman.

Religious ideas on the future of man after death are often combined
with these ideas; this is why chastity, death, or even all kinds of
torture are, in certain countries, imposed on the woman after death of
the husband.

It must not be forgotten that among most savages the wife is regarded
as the property of her husband. If the latter lends his wife to a
guest, he offers her as part of a feast. This is not, however,
promiscuity, and we must understand that these people have quite
different sentiments to ours. In clans or tribes the most powerful men
have always had the youngest and most beautiful wives.

To sum up, there is not the shadow of proof in support of the doctrine
of primitive promiscuity, a doctrine which is based on purely
hypothetical grounds.

MARRIAGE AND CELIBACY

Among animals the voluntary celibate exists only among the females of
certain birds which have become widowed, and even then the case is
rare. In savage man, nearly every individual marries, and the women
look upon celibacy or widowhood almost in the same way as death. The
savage despises celibates as thieves or sorcerers. In his opinion a
man without a wife is not a man. He therefore marries at a much
earlier age than civilized man, sometimes even (in Greenland) before
fecundation is possible. Among certain Indians men sometimes marry at
the age of nine or ten years, generally between fourteen and eighteen;
the girls between nine and twelve. In some comparatively civilized
nations the celibate is so much despised that they go as far as
marrying the spirits of departed children! Among the Greeks, celibates
were punished, and among the Romans they were taxed heavily. Celibacy
becomes more rare the further we go back in the history of the human
race; celibacy increases with the corruption of morals. It is
civilization which does most harm to marriage, especially in the large
towns, and the age at which people marry becomes more and more
advanced, although in Europe there are more women than men. Want of
money and insufficient salaries diminish more and more the number of
marriages in the large centers, while among savages, and also among
our