Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-04-23
Women In Russia in the Seven.
teenth Century.

Of the cloister, faith, prayer, charity.
obedience, and industry, were the
highest virtues OF woman. The life
of the cloister was best suited to pre-
serve her purity. Socially, woman
was not an independent being; she
was an inferior creation, dependent on
her husband, for except AS wife her
existence was scarcely recognized. OF
this theoretical position of woman,
abundant proof is given in all the early
didactic literature of Russia, and es-
pecially IN the D0moStroi, that curious
manual of household economy written
in the time of Ivan the Terrible. The
wife should be blindly obedient in all
things, and for her faults should be Sc
verely whipped, though not in anger.
Her duty is to keep the house, look af
ter the food and clothing, and to see to
the comfort of her husband; to bear
children, but not to educate them.
Severity was inculcated, and to play
with ones children was esteemed sin,
"a snare of the devil. The wife was
bound to stay chic fly at home, and to
be acquainted with nothing but her
household work. TO all questions on
outside matters she was to answer that
she did not know. 1t WAS believed
that an element of evil lurked in the
female sex, and even the most innocent
sport between little boys aud girls. or
social Intercourse between young men
and women, was severely reDrehended.
The D,mostr0i, and even Peso hkOf, as
late rs the 18th century, recommended
Il father to take his cudgel and break
the ribs of his son, whom he found
TESTING with girl. Traces of this feel
ing with regard to women ale still
found in current proverbs. a wo-
mans hair is long, her understanding
is Short" runs one proverb: The wits
of woman are like the witness of
beasts" says another; while third
says: /" AS horse by the bit, so must u
woman be governed by threats" The
collections of popular stories and anec
dotes ale full IF instances of the innate
wickedness and devilishness of the fe
male sex, with references to all the
weak and wicked women of sacred and
profane history. In the "Great MIR
even find the obstinacy Of women ex-
emplitied by the well-known anecdote
of the drowning woman, still making
with her fingers the sign of " scissors. !"
Although this was the theoretical po-
sitIon of woman in Russian society,
practically in small households, where
women were important factors, there
were great divergences from the strict
rules of the DomosrOi. In the higher
ranks of life the women were more
carefully guarded and restrained, and
in the family of the Tsar the seclusion
in the 1erem, or womens' apartments,
was almost complete. This was in Part
due to u superstltious belief in witch
craft, the evil eye, and charms that
might affect the life, health, or fertility
of the royal race. Neither the rsaritsa
nor the princesses ever appeared open
ly in public; they never went ont ex-
cept in a closed litter or carriage; in
church they stood behind a veil
made, it is true, sometimes of gauZe--
and they usually timed their visitE to
the churches and inconsistencies for the
evening or the early morning, aud on
these occasions no one was admitted
except the immediate attendants Of the
court. Won Meyerberg, Austrian AM
bassador at Moscow in 1868, writes,
that out of q thousand courtIers, there
will hardly be found one who can
boast that he has seen the Tsaritsa, or
any of the sisters or daughters of the
Tsar. Even their physicians are not
allowed to see them. When it is nee
essary to call doctor for the Tsaritsa,
the windows are all darkened, and he
is obliged to feel her pulse through a
piece of gauze. so as not to touch her
bare hand! Even chance encounters
were severely punished. In 1914, two
chamberlains, Dashkof and Buturlin,
on suddenly turning corner in one of
the interior courts of the palace, met
the carriage of the Tsaritsa Natalia,
who was going to prayers at convent.
Their colleagues succeeded in getting
out of the way. Dashkof and Buturlin
were arrested, examined, aud deprived
of their offices, but as an encounter
WAS proved to be purely fortuitous and
unavoidable, they were in a few days
restored to their rank. And yet, this
was during the reign of Alexis, who
was far less strict than his predeces-
sors. -Scri6aer.
ACQUISITION OF Many
young men admit that they would &c,
on better in life if their early educa
ton had not been neglected. But they
do not, or will not, see that they are
daily wasting opportunities which, il
improved would in u few years give
them fairly good education. They
think themselves too old to learn, and
spend more time regretting their lack
of knowledge than would suffice to
give them the knowledge they need.
One OF the best-read men of the age
could not read or write when he was
twenty years old. Instead of wasting
his time in idle regrets for his deficie ut
schooling, he learned to read, and to
read to good purpose. In similar
way many of the bet, most successful
men our country has known, have be.
gun their acquaintance with letters af-
ter reaching manhood; and there is no
reason why the most illlterate mechan-
ic in our land, if possessed of natural
ability and sincere purpose, may not
increase his knowledge, and add to his
pleasure and usefulness in life.
A determined love of personal free.