rried life is
considered by them as vulgar. The Abyssinians, negroes, etc., marry on
trial or for limited periods. Among the Greeks, Romans and ancient
Germans, divorce was very frequent.

In nearly all savage tribes, and in a number of civilized people the
man possesses an unlimited right of rejection. The Hovas compare
marriage to a loosely tied knot. Among the ancient Jews, Romans,
Greeks and Germans, discontent of the husband was a sufficient reason
for rejection. On the contrary, among a number of savage races
(Westermark mentions about twenty-five) rejection and divorce are
extremely rare and marriage lasts for life.

It is especially where there are children that divorce is rare. With
most races, sterility of the wife and adultery constitute the
principal causes of legal divorce.

Among civilized races marriage for life is much more common than with
savages. This was the case with the Aztecs, etc. Among the Chinese
there exist seven reasons for divorce: sterility, unchastity,
negligence toward parents-in-law, talkativeness, desertion, ill-temper
and chronic disease. In Japan the laws are similar, but in spite of
this divorce is rare in China and Japan.

In Christian countries divorce was formerly permitted and was only
prohibited by the Council of Trent. The modern Catholic says: "Man
must not separate what God has united." Among many savages, on the
contrary, divorce is left to the free will of the married couple.
Elsewhere it is sometimes the man, sometimes both husband and wife who
have the right to exact divorce for divers reasons, such as
drunkenness, adultery, prodigality, etc. In Europe, as elsewhere, it
is the desire for change which is the most common cause of divorce.

Children constitute the surest cement against conjugal separations.
With most savages the rejected wife regains not only her _dot_, but
also part of the common property, or even the whole of it. On the
contrary, the purchase value of the wife is only as a rule returned to
the husband when sterility, adultery or other grave reasons are the
causes of divorce. It results from this that divorce is always very
rare among peoples where the women are very dear.

The right of the children after divorce varies a good deal in
different races; sometimes they are adjudged to the husband, sometimes
to the wife. Divorced women often become prostitutes, for example,
among the Chinese and Arabs. As a rule, marriages for love are more
lasting than