BETROTHMENT, or. BETROTHAL, a mutual promise or compact between two par ties, by which they bind themselves to marry. The word imports giving one's troth, that is, true faith or promise. Formal ceremonies of betrothment are not the custom in the United States and Great Britain, as on the Continent, where the betrothment is either solemn (made in the face of the church) or private (made before witnesses out of the church). As be trothments are contracts, they are subject to the same rules as other contracts; for instance, that they are valid only between persons whose capacity is recognized by law; and the use of fraud, violence or intimidation vitiates the contract. The consent of both parties, of course, is required. This may be expressed either verbally, or by writing, or by action. In Germany the consent of the parents is al ways if the parties are under age, not yet sui furls. But if the parents withhold their consent unreasonably, the permission of a judge is allowed to sanction the contract. If the opinions of the parents are diverse, the law gives effect to that of the father. Betroth ments contracted thus, according to law, are called sponsalia publica; others are called spon salia clandestina. The latter are, in some places, utterly invalid; in others, only punish able. By the common German law, however, they are valid in every case in which consum mation or consecration by the priest has tdken place. The parents, in these cases, are not allowed to apply for a dissolution of the con tract, nor can they refuse their consent, except for highly important reasons. Public betroth ment Induces the obligation to marry. In case of refusal to complete the contract by mar ria:ge, the injured party is allowed an action at law to compel its performance; but, since unhappy marriages are among the greatest misfortunes, the means of compulsion applied by the law are never great, amounting only to a small fine or a short imprisonment. If cir cumstances take place which, if happening be fore the betrothment, would have necessarily prevented it, the party affected by them is al lowed to recede from the engagement, and modem laws allow only an action for damages. In Germany betrothment generally takes place in a small company of relations and friends. In Russia it was once binding and indissoluble, Eke marriage, but is now a mere forrn accom panying the marriage ceremony. The contract is called by the Jews thenaim rischonim. In the laws of Moses there are certain provisions respecting the state of the virgin who is be trothed. Selden's elixor Hebralca) gives the
schedule of Hebrew contracts of betrothment With the Jews, a young woman is rarely al lowed it) enter into an engagement without the cognizance of her relatives, who, in fadt in most cases, arrange matters for her and generally avail themselves of the services of marriage brokers, who receive a percentage upon the amount of the dowry, beside a gra tuity. In continental cities these Jew marriage brokers have matches always on hand, with dowries varying from $5,000 to $200,000, and as soon as the betrothment has taken place they look upon the bargain as concluded; but cases frequently occur in which on the day of the wedding the bridegroom breaks the match because the Austrian metalliques or Spanish Ardoins, tendered in payment for the dowry, have fallen in value and reduced the dowry perhaps to the extent of 20 or 25 per cent Among the ancient Greeks, the father made a selection for his daughter. The young couple kissed each other for the first time in the presence of their friends, and it was cus tomary for the bridegroom to bring flowers daily, until the wedding day, to the house of his bride. The Arab sends a relative to nego tiate about his intended bride and the price at which she is to be had. The bridegroom of Kamchatka has to serve in the house of his prospective father-in-law before an engage ment is allowed to take place. With the Letts and Esthonians no engagement is considered valid until the parent and relatives of the bride have tasted of the brandy which the bridegroom presents. Among the Hottentots, the would-be• bridegroom is not allowed to propose without being accompanied by his father. Father and son walk arm in arm, with pipes in their mouths, to the house of the bride, where the engagement takes place. Among some of the indigenous tribes of America it was customary to keep the be trothed lady in durance for 40 days, as the superstiticm prevailed that she would exert an occult influehce upon anything she touched or anybody with whom she came into contact. During these 40 days the lady was kept on starvation fare, so that when the day of the wedding came she looked more like a skeleton than a bride. Consult Pollock and Maitland, 'History of English Law' (2d ed., 1899); Hut chinson, H. N., (Marriage Customs in Many Lands' (1897); and Miln, L. J., (Wooings and Weddings in Many Lands' (1903).