Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/115

 LAWS. 101 father-in-law, who may dispose of him as he pleases, — even sell him as a slave. The third kind of marriage is the most univer- sal, and supposes, although a pecuniary considera- tion be still paid, a greater degree of equality be- tween man and wife. This is the kind of marriage which commonly prevails among the Malays, the Javanese, and civilized nations of Celebes. Marriages may, in general, be dissolved without much difficulty. If the husband sues for the di- vorce, he forfeits all claim to the Patukon, or con- sideration paid to his wife's relations for her per- son. If the woman sues for the divorce, she re- pays the purchase-money, and, by some laws, two- fold. " If a woman," say the laws of Bali, *' feel a dislike to her husband, she shall be made to re- store the original purchase-money, tulcon^ two-fold, and receive a divorce. This is called Mcidal San- gama. Among the Javanese, divorces are obtain- ed with great facility. They are, in point of law, sufficiently easy everywhere, but the manners of the people are an obstacle to their frequency ; and, among the Malays, the people of Bali, Sumbawa, and Celebes, they are rarely heard of. Where the laws appear the most strict, there we shall dis- cover the greatest dissolution of morals in this re- spect ; for the laws of barbarians must be consider- ed as no more than so many occasional expedients for the correction of acknowledged evils. When