Certain curious customs have been associated with the Ordinance of Marriage from a very early period, and among others may be mentioned the union of near relations in barbaric or semi-barbaric tribes; the providing of husbands and wives for a family according to seniority (so that the younger members had to possess their souls in patience till the elder ones were disposed of); the paying of an equivalent for the bride's services to her father in money or kind; and festivities often lasting over several days to celebrate the nuptials. The Rabbins acquaint us with the fact that seven days' feasting was an indispensable obligation on all married men, and that the bride was not consigned to her husband until after the days of feasting had expired. They were generally spent in the house of the woman's father, after which she was conducted in great state to her husband's home. When the bride was a widow, the festivities only lasted for three days. Customs in the East are perpetuated from one generation to another, and we now find among the inhabitants of the Orient the same mode of life as was adopted by the patriarchs of old. The description of the wooing of Isaac and Rebekah, for example, so graphically told in Genesis, differs in few respects from that of a young couple of the same rank in the present day. Handsome presents, consisting of jewels, apparel, &c., are presented to the woman and her family, and form part of her dower in case of divorce. Rich shawls, fine dresses, personal ornaments, money, and a complete outfit of domestic utensils are always included in such a gift. Among some of the Arab tribes the dower received on such occasions, and called the "five articles," consists of a carpet, a silver nose ring, a silver neck chain, silver bracelets, and a camel bag. Matrimonial overtures are generally made by the parents of the contracting parties in Persia, but after all has been concluded, the bride-elect has nominally the power, though it is seldom exercised, of expressing her dissent before the connection receives its final sanction. Among many Bedouin tribes the woman is not suffered to know until the betrothing ceremonies announce it to her who is to be her husband, and then it is too late to negative the contract, but she is permitted to withdraw from her husband's tent the day after her marriage, and to return to her father; in which case she is formally divorced, and is henceforward regarded as a widow. On the value of her ornaments the Eastern bride bases her claim to consideration; and though the Arab, as a rule, cares little for his own dress, he decks his wife as richly as possible, that honour may be reflected upon himself and his circumstances. The leg ornaments and bracelets are often enormously thick, and have no fastenings, but open and compress by their own elasticity. It is not unusual to wear several on the same arm, reaching to the elbow. They form a woman's sole wealth, and are not treasured up