How Marriages are Arranged in Russia.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 476, 31 May 1890, Page 3

How Marriages are Arranged in Russia.

Marriages solemnised in Russia are nob supposed, as with us, to be made in heaven. The manner in which they are frequently brought about is simplicity itself. Instead of the matrimonial agency, which has not yet acquired the right of citizenship in Russia, gossiping matchmakers perambulate the country, each keeping to his or her district, and, like Irish hedge schoolmasters, two generations ago, everywhere sure of a welcome. In Bakhmoofc, for instance, you have scarcely taken possession of your room in your hotel-when a welldressed man walks in, makes a profound bow, and asks you bluntly, ‘ Would your nobility thing of marrying ?’ If excusable curiosity, or a Jess excusable desire to exchange single for married misery prompts you to give him a civil answer, he lays album after album before you, with the photographs of eligible brides and bridegrooms, according to your sex, on which are inscribed marginal notes containing brief bub interesting details about the social position, fortune, expectations, and drawbacks of the original. He discusses the‘points’ of his clients with charming candour and objectivity—many of these matchmakers have been horsedealers before—and refers you to prosperous married couples who are as happy as the day is long since he brought them together. Heretofore the matchmaking profession was monopolised by women, as it still is in the Northern and Central Provinces. In the South, however, men are taking it up methodically, and completely cutting out their sisters.