WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY
always accompanied monogamy. Dr. Johnson admitted the variety impulse, and condoned it in his own sex, stating that a wise wife would not pry into the amours of her husband. Under recognition by the law the concubine in mediæval Europe was often raised to the dignity of the wife, and she might even be indicted with infidelity. I have referred to the "legitimate concubine" in Thirteenth Century England. Other facts proving an English sanction for the maintenance of second wives or mistresses may be found in Smith and Cheetham's "Dictionary of Christian Antiquites," and in Lea's "History of Sacerdotal Celibacy."
The legal recognition of plural sex unions was gradually relaxed and finally withdrawn, with the result that, as usual, the woman suffered. She was no longer protected by law or social opinion; she became a socially inferior citizen, usually regarded with extreme hostility by her own sex. And so has the mistress remained, possessing only a status among the unconventional members of society.
With the tightening of the bonds of permanent marriage came an increase of the pariah class of women, variously estimated in this country to number from a hundred to two hundred thousand. Is not this of itself sufficient evidence that the polygynous instinct is not readily eradicated?
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