All these I better in one general best,
Thy love is better than high birth to me,
Richer than wealth, prouder than garments’ cost,
Of more delight than hawks and horses be
And having thee, of all men’s pride I boast.
—­Sonnet XCI.

VARIETIES AND GERMS

While amorous pride has also an altruistic aspect in so far as the lover is proud not only of being chosen but also of another’s perfections, it nevertheless belongs, in the main, in the egoistic group, and there is therefore no reason why we should not look for it in the lower stages of erotic evolution.  Pride and vanity are feelings which characterize all grades of human beings from the highest to the lowest.  As regards amorous pride, however, it is obvious that the conditions for its existence are not favorable among such aboriginals, e.g., as the Australians.  What occasion is there for pride on the part of a man who exchanges his sister or daughter for another man’s sister or daughter, or on the part of the female who is thus exchanged?  An American Indian’s pride consists not in having won the favor of one particular girl, but in having been able to buy or steal as many women as possible, married or unmarried; and the bride’s pride is proportionate to her lover’s prowess in this direction.  I need not add that the pride at being a successful squaw-stealer differs not only in degree but in kind from the exultation of a white American lover at the thought that the most beautiful and perfect girl in the world has chosen him above all men as her sole and exclusive sweetheart.

Gibbs says (I., 197-200) of the Indians of Western Washington and Northwestern Oregon that they usually seek their wives among other tribes than their own.

“It seems to be a matter of pride, in fact, to unite the blood of several different ones in their own persons.  The expression, I am half Snokwalmu, half Klikatat, or some similar one, is of every-day occurrence.  With the chiefs, this is almost always the case.”

This feeling, however, is of a tribal kind, lacking the individuality of amorous pride.  It would approach the latter if a chief won another chiefs daughter in the face of rivalry and felt elated at this feat.  Such cases doubtless occur among the Indians.

Shooter gives an amusing account of how the African Kaffirs, when a girl is averse to a marriage, attempt to influence her feelings before resorting to compulsion.

“The first step is to speak well of the man in her presence; the Kraal conspire to praise him—­her mother praises him—­all the admirers of his cattle praise him—­he was never so praised before.”

If these praises make her feel proud at the thought of marrying such a man, all is well; if not, she has to suffer the consequences.  It is not likely that this praising practice would prevail were it not sometimes successful.