seems to have been entirely confined to the lower classes of society, and where we have reason to think it still prevails to some extent to this day.[12]

The same author whom we last quoted also speaks of a "courtship similar to bundling, carried on in the islands of Vlie and Wieringen,

IN HOLLAND,

Under the name of queesting.[15] At night the lover has access to his mistress after she is in bed; and, upon an application to be admitted upon the bed, which of course is granted, he raises the quilt, or rug, and in this state queests, or enjoys a harmless chit-chat with her, and then retires. This custom meets with the perfect sanction of the most circumspect parents, and the freedom is seldom abused. The author traces its origin to the parsimony of the people, whose economy considers fire and candles as superfluous luxuries in the long winter evenings."

The Hon. Henry C. Murphy of Brooklyn, N. Y., late United States minister at the Hague, has furnished us with the following note in relation to this Nederduitsche custom: "As to its being a Dutch custom, it was so to a limited extent in Holland in former times, and may yet be, though I did not hear of it when I was there. Sewell gives the word queesten, or kweesten, in his dictionary, printed over a century ago. The word is defined in the dictionary of Wieland, the principal lexicographer in that country, as follows: 'Kweesten. Upon the islands of Texel and Vlieland[16] they use this word for a singular custom of wooing, by which the doors and windows are left open, and the lover, lying or sitting outside the covering, woos the girl who is underneath.' Sewell confines the custom to certain islands or lands near the sea."

LOVE AND COURTSHIP IN THE 14TH CENTURY.

In feudal times, in the last part of the fourteenth century, it became the practice for the vassals, or feudatories, to send their sons to be educated in the family of the suzerain, while the daughters were similarly placed with the lady of the castle. These formed a very important part of the household, and were of gentle blood, claiming the honorary title of chambriéres or chamber-maidens. The demoiselles of this period were very susceptible to the passion of love, which was the ruling spirit of the inmates of the castle. Feudal society was, in comparison to the previous times, polished and even brilliant, but it was not, under the surface, pure. Many good maxims were taught, but they were not all practiced. "There was an extreme intimacy between the two sexes, who commonly visited each other in their chambers or bedrooms. Thus in the poem of Guatier d'Aupias, the hero is represented as visiting in her chamber the demoiselle of whom he is enamored. Numerous similar examples might be quoted. At times, one of the parties is described as being actually in bed, as is the case in the romance of Blonde of Oxford, where Blonde visits Jehan in his chamber when he is in bed, and stays all night with him, in perfect innocence as we are told in the romance. We must remember that it was the custom in those times for both sexes to go to bed perfectly naked."[17]

IN SWITZERLAND,

According to an English observer,[18] analogous modes of courtship still exist. In speaking of the canton Unterwald he says: "In the story of the destruction of the castles, we read that the surprise was effected by a young girl admitting her lover to her room by a ladder, and an English guide-book remarks, that this is still the fashion of receiving lovers in Switzerland. Reference is had to the manner of wooing, which in some cantons is called lichtgetren, in others dorfen and stubetegetren, and answers to the old-fashioned going-a-courting in England. The customs connected with it vary in different cantons, but exist in some form in all except two or three.

In the canon Lucerne, the kiltgang is the universal mode of wooing; the lover visiting his betrothed in the evening, to be pelted on the way by all mischievous urchins; or if he is seated quietly with her by the winter fire, they are sure to be serenaded by all manner of cat voices under the window, which are continued till he issues forth, perhaps at dawn in the morning; and however long may be a courtship, these cater-waulings are the invariable attendants, and not the most lamentable consequences of these nightly visits, recognized, however, as entirely respectable and conventional in every canton."

And again in the canton Vaud, he says, "the kiltgang, or nightly wooings, are the universal custom with the universal consequences, but in general the wife is treated with marked respect, is made keeper of the treasury, and consulted as the oracle of the family."

Among the amatory customs of various

SAVAGE NATIONS

and tribes, there are certain which somewhat resemble bundling, except in the greater degree of freedom allowed—a freedom which, in the eyes of civilized nations, is absolute immorality. Of this description is the manner of wooing described by La Hontan as prevalent among the Indians of North America.[19]

Yet, in many of these instances, if we were to carefully examine the social system and customs of our savage friends, and were willing to judge them rather by the results of our own observation, than by our preconceived opinions, we should probably find that the absolute practical morality of these untutored natives, was quite equal, if not superior, to that of the educated and civilized whites.[20]

Among these customs de amour, however, to which we have alluded as existing among different savage tribes, there are none which bear so perfect a resemblance to bundling, as that described by Masson in his Journeys in Central Asia, Belochistan, Afghanistan, etc. (III, 287.) He says:

"Many of the Afghan tribes have a custom of wooing similar to what in Wales is known as bundling-up, and which they term namzat bezé. The lover presents himself at the house of his betrothed with a suitable gift, and in return is allowed to pass the night with her, on the understanding that innocent endearments are not to be exceeded."

Spencer St. John tells us, in speaking of the piratical and ferocious Sea Dayaks of Borneo, that "besides the ordinary attention which a young man is able to pay to the girl he desires to make his wife—as helping her in her