Page:Haiti- Her History and Her Detractors.djvu/319

 Rh them that they outrage the honor and the dignity of a whole nation!

However, imputation of cannibalism and Vaudou will be looked into later on; for the time being it is the characteristics and customs of the Haitians which are in question. These customs are not quite the same in the towns as in the country. In the towns life assumes a more complex aspect; here the wants being more numerous and pressing, there is a greater tendency to selfishness. However, the middle classes still retain their simple manners and mode of living.

One of their greatest aims is to give their children as thorough an education as possible; these children are sent at the cost of great sacrifice on the part of their parents to France and to Germany in order to complete their education, to study a profession or a trade. The Haitians are fond of traveling; almost all of their statesmen have either made their studies in Europe or have lived there long enough to be thoroughly conversant with its customs and its political organization.

Haitians, as a rule, do not marry late in life; men marry at about the age of twenty-five and women about nineteen. Divorce is comparatively rare and is granted for adultery, for outrage, and grave public abuses; it can also be granted when one of the parties is sentenced to "peines afflictives et infamantes." A woman whose marriage has been dissolved either by divorce or by the husband's death cannot marry again before the expiration of one year; and a divorced woman is not allowed to remarry her former husband; inversely a divorced man may not remarry his former wife.

The formalities required for the validity of a marriage are very strict, thereby affording a good protection against bigamy. Before a marriage can be contracted, both parties must have obtained the formal consent of their parents, besides having their banns published at their respective places of permanent