The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-03-18
double fruit OF paternal dcspotism and .fe-

uOuDle iTulJ Vi paUernal ucSpOJlSm dnusio-
male slavery.
The mere physical conditions Of life in the
Russian village communities, for example,
the mode Of Judgment, contribute to the
| corruption OF morals, and therefore to the
degradation of women. We need not call to
mind what consequences flow in the large
cities OF western Europe and America from
tho ovcrcrowdng OF tcncments. In Russia
| tho Inconvenience arc assurcdly not less,
| whore tho same narrow cabin, or isbd,
shelters several generations and half a
| dozen married couples where parents and
children, brothers and brothers wives, sleep
pell nell close to the big stove. Add
to this unwholesome species OF pro-
mlscuity the caprices Of domestic tyranny,
which are standing menace to the
integrity and decency OF families. 1t is n
fact that cmulatlng the authority which
the mobiles until lately exercised over their
female serfs, the head OF the household
sometimes arrogates kind OF drou de seig-
new over the women subject to his control.
Indeed, misconduct OF this sort Is the FREE
quent theme Of village jests. my late
father" said Moscow hack driver, piously
making the sign Of tho cross, "my late
father was devout and upright man. He
had but one fault. He respected his daugh-
ter-in-law too little"
The contempt for the female sex, and the
debased condition OF tho wife, subjected TO
ignominious ceremonies at tho time OF her
marriage, and to ignoble treatment on the
part of her husband are the features OF In
digenous Russian life which have most
shocked foreign travellers from tho six
teenth century up to our own day. 1t Is to
HERBHRsrEIS, who revealed TO Europe the in
terror OF Muscovy, that we owe the familiar
story OF the Russian woman married to n
German who complained Of her husbands
frigdity because he had not once beaten
her. There IL n national prOvorb to the
same effect, "Love your vito IA your own
soul, and beat her like your fur jacket"
"a husbands cuffs leave no mark" Ia
another adage put in a wlfes mouth.
Where such manners are consccrated by
tradition, it IL not to he expected that public
opinion should recognize in blows and NAL
treatment an adequate ground Of divorce.
The mo'Vk cannot be made to understand
how his right to chast5e his helpmate can
he questioned; and when he Is summoned
for this offence before the magistrate, he
serencly explains that the victim was his
wife. his property. Here and there the
popular songs bear traces OF the griefs
which, In the burrows Of daily life, the Rus
sian woman finds 1t prudent to conceal.
ages have rolled away" says the poet
| NEKRAsoF, the whole face OF tho earth has
frightened, but the sombre lot of the motVik's
wife GoD forgcts TO change" And the same
poet makes one Of his village hcroines say,
apropos of the acknowledgements of the serfs
"Gop has forgotten the nook whore he hid
the keys of woman's emancipation" Tho
truth il, that the wife OF tho Muscovite
peasant was, until recently, the slave OF u
slave, and bore on her head the whole weight
OF II double cdiice OF servitudc Even now
the yoke is 50 heavy that to escape marital
brutality not few women have recourse to
the murder of their domestic tyrant.
We suspect, however, that the Russian
woman has not dcgencratcd SO far from
1.-THE strong and fair Slav type IA some
malcontent poets have averrcd To rehabili-
tate her. perhaps "A little liberty and comfort
would suffice. No doubt the freedom OF the
serf will in the end be complcmented by the
elevation Of his companion. Already in some
communcs there are CLEANS Of a new order (;
the mother Of adult children, for instance.
enjoying a certain consideration, and the
management Of the household being occa-
sionally intrusted to the widow OF the head.
The progress of individualsm and of the
sentiment Of personal dignity must inurc to
the profit Of the female SEX hut thus far
progress. II must be owned, is rather hope
than a fact. At present IL Is plain that the
status of women in Russia Is worse than Is
popularity supposed, whereas it would be
easy TO show that in Turkey and Mussullnan
countries generally it is somewhat better.