Wichita eagle., 1889-08-25
9ai1g eagle
WOMAN AND HOME.
HOW THE SPANISH WOMEN OF THE
PAST LIVED AND KEPT HOUSE.

another Appeal for Fresh Air-The Age Mt
Which Women Should Marry-somethins
About Female Suicides-Interesting Sc
lections About the Fair Sex.
The Spanish woman Of the Eighteenth CEN
fury forms marked contrast 20 her French
sister at the dawn Of the Revolution Where
as the French woman Of the past century is
perhaps the most witty, skeptical and free Of
those who have place in history, the Span
lard Is the most 'i6evote," docile and igno-
fant-notice that have said devote" not
pious, for piety, in my@pinion, existed in a
better and more solid form among the IA
nous women Of the Sixteenth and Seventeen tn
centuries, chief among whom shines the
great queen Isabel, the Catholic. At the
time OF the Renaissance Spanish women,
whose learning equaled their piety, far from
contenting themselves with no education, or
with only a superficial one, held professor
Ships Of rhetoric and Latin, like Isabel Calm
do, OF widened the domain Of philosophic
speculation, like Olivia Sabuco In the
Eighteenth century these traditions were 50
utterly lost that IL was considered dangerous
x II
that If they were able to read and write they
might correspond with their sweethearts.
have heard ittold Of a great-grardmother
Of mine, Of noble family lgrandees in fact,
that she was obliged to learn to write alone,
copying the letters from printed book, with
q pointed stick for pen and mulberry juice
for ink. A salutary ignorance, absolute sub
mission to patcrnal and oonjugal authority,
religious practices and complete self efface-
ment formed the regime under which the
Spanish woman of the last century lived.
These abuses were dashed by the satiric
scourge CT our famous Moratin IN ''El 81 de
las Ninas," ''El viejo y la Nina" and ala
Mojigate." The result Of the teaching OF
these comedies amounted to q complete trans
formation Of the female character. The
Spanish woman Of the time anterior to the
COrtes of Cadiz has becoms the classic type,
as classic as the 'garbanzO" and the 'bolero. u
The woman Of this pure and simple national
type never went cut except to mass, and that
very early, for, as the proverb has it, GOOD
women don't walk"
Her dress consisted Of tho tight petticoat of
fine cloth or serge, white kerchief fastened
with a gold pin and velvet bodice and lace
mantilla, Her only luxury when dressed in
her best for she never walAsd) was the open
work silk stocking and the satin slipper. She
employed her time in manual labor, ironing,
knitting, elrbroidering Ola a frame, or max
ing preserves or syyzetlneats. Patchwork
was fashionable in spibe Of its danger to TIE
eyes As lately as my girlhood my mother
used to show rpe, as work deserving Of adj
ntration, cushions worked by my great
grandmother in patchwork SO fine that the
work almost formed new texture. Even if
she knew how to read this woman was ac-
quainted with no other book than the brevi-
airy, the Christian Year and the catechisn,
which she used TO teach her children by force
of blowE--for to chastise children was of that
time Kind Of rite, which 81 would have been
incorrect TO curtail She led the prayer Of
the rosary surrounded by her servants and
family; at night she gave her blessing to her
Sons, who kissed her hand, even though they
already wore boards and were married; she
consulted with some frigr or other on the af-
fairs OF heT household and had home made
remedies for all known iuflr-mities So
thorough going female figure was bound
TO disappear at tho advent of society as at
present constituted. -Fortnightiy Review.