That the woman may not suppose herself free from the considerations of
fortitude and fighting, or exempt from the casualties of war, the very
first solemnities of her wedding serve to warn her, that she comes to her
husband as a partner in his hazards and fatigues, that she is to suffer
alike with him, to adventure alike, during peace or during war. This the
oxen joined in the same yoke plainly indicate, this the horse ready
equipped, this the present of arms. 'Tis thus she must be content to live,
thus to resign life. The arms which she then receives she must preserve
inviolate, and to her sons restore the same, as presents worthy of them,
such as their wives may again receive, and still resign to her
grandchildren.
They therefore live in a state of chastity well secured; corrupted by no
seducing shows and public diversions, by no irritations from banqueting.
Of learning and of any secret intercourse by letters, they are all equally
ignorant, men and women. Amongst a people so numerous, adultery is
exceeding rare; a crime instantly punished, and the punishment left to be
inflicted by the husband.
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