Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-10-10
Courtship In Southern Ifaiy.
London SATURDAY Review }


manage to get married, or even to fall
in love? Among the lover classes,
where every member of the household
is obliged to DO something towards
earning livelihood, the girls must Of
course be allowed to so abroad at times,
and the rich have their balls and the
opera, where the young OF both sexes
may meet. But the seclu.ion in which
the young ladies Ofihe middle class ere
kept is almost complete. They are al.
lowed to sit on tbo balcony, and to
20 10 church in the company of d4ea-
ma three or four times year they are
taken out for a drive, and this is almost
the only contact with the outside world
that is permitted them. Nor is it easy
for them to attain by stealth the forbid
den freedom. When the parents 60 out
they either set an old woman to look
after them or secrele their hats and
boots and then lock them safely in.
jealous husbands treat their wives in
the same way, though this is considered
reprehensible after the first few years
Of wedlock. In word, everything is
done to exclude both temptation and
romance.
IN tho larger towns the influence Of
foreign manners and the presence OF
northern visitors are beginning to make
themselves felt. In Florence the young
ladies enjoy liberty which would have
seemed outrageous license to their
grandmothers, aud even in Naples pa
rental rigor is slowly relaxing. Ii is
in Sicily and The loss-irequented parts
Of southern Italy that tho old system
Is still in fall force, though, strangely
enough, even there there are single
towns and districts in which, from time
immemorial, the customs have been far
freer. To these We do not refer, nor to
such marriages as are simply arranged
BY the parents Of the young people for
worldly reasons. TIE number Of the
latter is smaller 10 Italy than is usually
supposed.
Under the most difficult; circum-
stances love, as the old song says, will
find out way, ard here, too, he steals
into the maiden's chamber, no matter
how safely it may be guarded. One
tight she possesses which is sometimes
denied to young wives the perfect
freedom Of the balcony. There she
may sit whenever a shadow falls upon
il, or the GOODNESS Of the evening has
come, and the youths who pass along
the street cast eager glances upward to
catch a glimpse Of the pretty faces
above. Then, as we have seen, she
may 60 to church under proper guard
isnShip, aad it is extraordinary what q
love for religious exercises some young
women will display at this period Of
life. This is all or nearly all she can
do. but it is enough.
Ii seems that most Italians Of this
class fall in love at first sight, or at
least by sight alone. Sudden passions
like that of Romeo and Juliet are the
rule rather than the exception il the
south, though they rarely have so
trasical an ending. \ young man
catches a glimpse of girl, and at once
resolves to make her his wife if il is at
church he follows her home If on
balcony, he notes the house and begins
to haunt the street. Ifhe is acceptable,
perhaps one day flower will fall at
his feet, though the girl knows
that such encouragement is unmaiden-
ly. A lover with good voice
and ear has an immense adj
vantage. lie sings snstches Of love
songs as he walks below, and if a voice
above takes up tho last note and gradu-
ally passes to another song, he may
take heart. Whatever difficulties he
may have to encounter, al aversion on
the part OF the object Of his affections
will not be one of them. Very pretty
llirtsiions are carried on in this way,
the young lady at times mocking and
teasing her admirer with fragments of
satiricsl verse, and at times falling into
something very like sentiment, but they
are more frequent after than before the
betrothal.
Even the most favored lover has, in
the mean time, been seeking for some
means Of establishing more direct in
tercourse with the object of his choice.
lie has made inquiry of the neighbors
as to the character OF the family aud its
intimates, and endeayors to obtain On
introduction to one Of the elderly ladies'
who frequent the house. To her he ex-
plains his wishes and his position in
life, and be then begs her to plead his
cause. If he is an eligible suitor she
is almost certain to consent, as the
mission is an interesting one, AMI the
position is considered highly hOnora-
bic. She knows nothing Of any little
signs OF favor the lover may have re-
ceiyeJ, SO her first visit is to the young
lady, who ieigDs shypess and reluc-
lance which II sometimes takes weeks ]