The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-08-24
W0MANEIND IN SPAIN.
N4RROW MEN USED TO KEEP HER
IN FORCED IGNORANCE.

-
Downing a Hotel ~Book-0ueer coilec-
ton of Garters-Ducking - Governor
The Duchess of Flies Travelling
satchel-Japanese in the Bath.
The Spanish woman of the eight
zenith century forms a marked con
trast to her French sister at the dawn
of the Revolution. Whereas the
French woman of the past century is
perhaps the most witty, skeptical and
free of those who have a place in his
tory, the Spaniard is the most de
vote" docile and ignorant-notice
that ! have said devote, not pious,
for piety in my opinion, existed in a
better and more solid form among the
famous women of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, chief among
whom shines the great Queen Isabel,
the Catholic. At the time of the Renais-
sance, Spanish women, whose learning
equalled their piety, far from content
ing themselves with no education, or
with only a superficial one, held pro
fessorships of rhetoric and Latin, like
Isabel Galindo, or widened the domain
of philosophic speculation, like Olivia
Sabuco. In the eighteenth century
these traditions were so utterly lost
that it was considered dangerous to
teach girls the alphabet on the ground
that if they were able to read and
write they might correspond with
their sweethearts.
| have heard it told of great-grand-
-,>4l,x- ~ - L-~F x.AhlA TnfnIlxy
(grandees in fact, that she was obliged
to learn to write alone, copying the
letters from q printed book, with a.
pointed stick for pen and mulberry
Juice for ink. A salutary ignorance,
absolute submission to paternal and
conjugal authority, religious practices
and complete self placement formed
the regime under which the Spanish
woman of the last century lived.
These abuses were dashed by the sa-
tiric scourge OF our famous Moratln IN
''EH 81 de las Ninas,h "El viejo y la
Nina" and La M~ojigata." The result
of the teaching of these comedies
amounted to a complete transforma-
ton of the female character. The
the .Cortes of Cadiz has become the
ClclSSlC lNDe. Co Cl1oHiO do IlOF S0A
banzo'' and the "bolero.n The woman
of this pure and simple national type
never went out except to mass, and
that very early, for, as the proverb
has it. "Good women don't walk
Her dress consisted of the tight
petticoat of fine cloth or serge, white
kerchief fastened with a gold pin and
velvet bodice and lace mantilla. Her
aD1rr 11v,1rxy yu1oan dracca6 in hnY hast
for she never walked) was the open
work silk stocking and the satin
slipper. She employed her time in
manual labor, ironing, knitting, en-
broidering on a frame, or making
preserves OF sweetmeats. Patchwork
was fashionable in spite of its danger
to the eyes. As lately as my girlhood
my mother used to show me, as a work
deserving of admiration, cushions
worked by my great grandmother in
patchwork so fine that the work
almost formed a, new texture. Even
if she knew how to read, this woman
was acquainted with no other book
than the breviary, the Christian Year
and the catechism, which she used to
teach her children by force of blows
for to chastise children was at that
time a kind of rite, which it would
have been incorrect to curtail. She
led the prayer of the rosary sur
rounded by her servants and family;
at night she gave her blessing to her
sons, who Kissed her hand, wen
though they already wore boards and
were married; she consulted with
some friar or other on the affairs of
her household and had home made
remedies for all known infirmities.
So thorough going a female figure
was bound to disappear at the advent
of society as at present constituted
Fortfsdghty Reoiee0.