Page:The evolution of marriage and of the family ... (IA evolutionofmarri00letorich).pdf/155

 at need the place of the elder when the latter are worn out or broken down.

Polygamy begins with equality—that is to say, that the man subjects his little feminine flock to an equal servitude, against which the wives do not think of rebelling, as they find it quite natural, for they are not of a more refined nature than their proprietor. By degrees, however, a certain hierarchy is established among the wives of the same man. This comes to pass when the social structure is already more complex, when there are chiefs, nobles, and priests. Polygamy, in this case, is restrained. Though it continues to be the taste of nearly all men, it becomes the privilege of the rich and powerful. The latter sometimes even indulge in an excessive polygamy, and it becomes difficult for them to maintain order and servile submission among their feminine flock. From this time they have one or more titular wives, who rule over their companions, and are sometimes exempt from hard labour. These chief wives are often daughters, sisters, or relatives of noted warriors, or of important men, with whom the husband is allied, and whose prestige somewhat protects the wives that they have given, or more often sold. In consequence of this, a certain tendency to become a distinct personality awakens in the wives themselves; they insist on having their separate hearth, and even their distinct apartment; life in the flock weighs on them.

Polygamy then puts on monogamic tendencies. The greater number of superior races have adopted this hierarchical polygamy before reaching the legal monogamy, in a mitigated form, of which I shall treat later. It is important now to describe with some details this polygamy of superior races.