100 . LAWS. character of the marriage-contract, considered as an institution of law. The marriage-contract, among the whole of the tribes, is a purchase of the use of the woman's person by the man, for a pecuniary or other consideration. Besides the concubinage esta- blished among persons of rank, in which the con- cubine is a person of humble condition, the mere handmaid of the more legitimate wife, there are generally three kinds of marriage in use. The Jirst^ and most common, consists in paying the fa- ther or protector of the young woman a specific sum, varying in amount according to the different manners of the different tribes, and the different condition in life of the parties. When the whole of the sum agreed upon is paid, the woman, among many of the tribes, becomes literally the property, or, in other words, the slave, of the husband, who may sell, or otherwise dispose of her, as if she were actually a slave. Except, however, in the case of a violent quarrel between the families of the parties, a trifling instalment is always left unpaid ; and, as long as this continues to be the case, and the bar- gain is incomplete, the woman has a right to be considered as an equal, and may demand a divorce. The second description of marriage is also a pur- chase. It consists in a person of inferior rank sa- crificing his personal liberty to become the husband of the daughter of a man of superior condition. He is in this case adopted into the family of his
