s not altogether on the testimony
of the poets: Plutarch tells us, that Lucullus, a Roman General, lost
his senses by a love potion; and Caius Caligula, according to Suetonius,
was thrown into a fit of madness by one which was given him by his wife
Caesonia; Lucretius too, according to some authors, fell a sacrifice to
the same folly. The Romans, like the Greeks, made use of these methods
mostly in their affairs of gallantry and unlawful love; but in what
manner they addressed themselves to a lady they intended to marry, has
not been handed down to us, and the reason we suppose is, that little or
no courtship was practised among them; women had no disposing power of
themselves, to what purpose was it then to apply to them for their
consent? They were under perpetual guardianship, and the guardian having
sole power of disposing of them, it was only necessary to apply to him.
In the Roman authors, we frequently read of a father, a brother, or a
guardian, giving his daughter, his sister, or his ward, in marriage;
but we do not recollect one single instance of being told that the
intended bridegroom applied to the lady for her consent; a circumstance
the more extraordinary, as women in the decline of the Roman empire had
arisen to a dignity, and even to a freedom hardly equalled in modern
times.

EASTERN COURTSHIP.

It has long been a common observation among mankind, that love is the
most fruitful source of invention; and that in this case the imagination
of a woman is still more fruitful of invention and expedient than that
of a man; agreeably to this, we are told, that the women of the island
of Amboyna, being closely watched on all occasions, and destitute of the
art of writing, by which, in other places, the sentiments are conveyed
to any distance, have methods of making known their inclinations to
their lovers, and of fixing assignations with them, by means of
nosegays, and plates of fruit so disposed, as to convey their sentiments
in the most explicit manner: by these means their courtship is generally
carried on, and by altering the disposition of symbols made use of, they
contrive to signify their refusal, with the same explicitness as their
approbation. In some of the neighboring islands, when a young man has
fixed his affection, like the Italians, he goes from time to time to her
door, and plays upon some musical instrument; if she gives consent, she
comes out to him, and they settle the affair of matrimony be