Marriage

(marr ij.) [Fr. mariage.] (Law.) The union ofman and woman in the legal relation of husband and wife. With the most ancient inhabitants of the East the bride was obtained by presents made, or services rendered, to her parents; and to this day the same practice prevails among the Circa ians and the poorer Turks and Chinese. Both men and women, among the A then i ans, cut off their hair before M., and consecrated it to some god or godde , under whose protection they had more immediately placed themselves; and all virgins, before they could enter upon that state, were consecrated to Diana. Previous to the actual M. of the parties contracted, sacrifices were offered up, and the gall of the victim was always thrown behind the altar, intimating that anger and malice should have no admi ion. Among the Romans there was no particular age determined for M., but all espousals were to be consummated by the nuptials within two years. The man always, at the time of entering into contract, sent a plain iron ring to the woman as a pledge of affection. Now, among all civilized communities, M. is a civil contract between the parties themselves, constituted by their consent properly evidenced. The Church of Rome indeed regards it as a sacrament, and throughout Christen dom M. is usually attended by religious rites; but in the eye of the law, it is a simple civil contract, but a contract which can be entered into only in certain ways, this restriction being intended to enforce some. caution and deliberation in the parties, as well as to preserve evidence of the fact which may be easily acce ible afterwards. M. being merely a contract between two persons, it follows that an action will lie for breach of a promise to marry at the instance of either party,and damages may be recovered accordingly. A promise to marry maybe made either verbally or in writing; and in actions for breach of the promise it is for ajury to a e the damages which are appropriate to the relative situation and conduct of the parties, the usn al evidence of the promise being acts of courtship, love-letters, and the observation of friends and acquaintances. The contract of M. differs from other contracts in this, that it will not be set aside and treated as null merely because either party procured it by fraudulent representations. However much either party may have been deceived as to representations of the other's wealth, position, or prospects, the contract remains valid notwithstanding. Another particular in which the contract of M. differs from other contracts is, that it cannot be rescinded by either party or both at pleasure, though that effect is brought about in another way by certain kinds of misconduct, whether studied or not, of either party. See AGE, DIVORCE, . [s. 579]