New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-10-06


ereign, Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovitch'
recently appointed President of the ST. Peters
burg Academy of Science is considered the
sayant Of the family and literary light OF no
mean magnitude, having already published a good
number Of poems under a nom de plume In Rus
sian magazines With the exception of his morl-
bund father, this young man is the only male
member of the Imperial family that is spoken of
as having any intellectual procliyities.
Upon the whole, the Teculiarities and little
| foibleS of the numerous members of the Romanof
family give plenty of food for gossip, and the
public delights in passing comments on them rather
| spicy than otherwise; the trade of morast is not
popular one in Russia, though and whatever is
| recounte1 of the escapadeS of the Grand Dukes
amuseS more than it shocks society. No man Is
| timid enough to be afraid TO risk hon mot con-
corning a Grand Duke. Born to their position,
| the members of the Russian Imperial family attach
very little importance TO their lofty standing, and
are even reported not to be Overproud Of their
mental attainments which certainly proves tn I'm
to be far more intelligent than they get credit
| for.
| As to the manner of the bringing up Of Russian
young wOmen-the other stumbling-block encoun-
tered by the foreigner in the big Eastern Enplre-
| it must be said that for the last quarter of
century entirely new methods have prevailed.
Previous to the series of liberal reforms introduced
| by Alexander ii, in the SIXTIES Russian girls of
! good family were mostly educated in boarding
schools and institutions supported by the Crown,
and were allowed TO 60 out, except In closed
carriages for drive, during the whole eight or ten
wears their education lasted. Since the female
gymnasia have been instituted, however, the great
majority of Russian girls of the intelllgencla'
are receiving in them the same education as Is
| 0iyp N the hOVS in the male gVmndSld. DrcDdrd-
tory to their entering of the great lVerslJes
| Mindful OF the drift OF the times, even such eA-
| cluslyely arlstOcratic educational ESTABLISHMENTS
! as the Convent of SmOlny, the crown Institutes
! and the highest-priced boarding schools have
greatly dcviated from the strict rules OF the former
method of clustered education Tor young glrls
In fact former methods can no longer be enforced
for out of hygienlc considerations, little girls are
ON all sides encouraged to rOmp about IKE thelr
brothers do. No girl Is ever chlded for beng
tom-boy, and they grow to dread inc appeiia tlon
of Bssey maya laryshnia' -" ribbon-and-la"n
young lady'-mOchingy applied to all nanny
pamby, eminently proper young persons.
Being brought up under very similar condtlohs
the young women and the young men OF Russia
develop great similarity OF tastes ana IDEAS me
young girls enjoy nearly, II not qulle, as mucH
freedom in Russia in England and America, ana
are generally considered equal to the young men
in their intellectual resources strength OF Will ana
determination.
When such young people marry there is of course
complete equality between husband and VIE ;
this equality is enhanced by the laws OF the I'm
pre, which make any woman OF twenty-one inc
com plete mistress of her fortune, her income ana
her personal earnings though she is not allowed
| to live anywhere apart from her husband-unleSs
he voluntarily provides her with a separate pass
port empowering her to do so. In that last re-
spect, however, few men are obdurate enough 10
resist the strength of public Opnon-scarce any
man Of the educated class would brave pupllc cen
sure and expose himself to ndlcule by keeping
: his wife by force, were she determined 10 IlNe
| apart from him: nowhere, outside oil france, uoTo
public rdicule kill or cure person so speedily
| IS in Russia. OF course the perfect equalty, on
: which the majority Of the Russian young women
insist, has brought some drawbacks; they nave
heavier burdens to carry; they often have 10 lace
the brunt of liies battle ScolnlLg 10 plont by any
chivalric offer of and from the men. 80 much IN
principle but in fact there are many and frequent
deviations from the theory OF womans PerIIe ef
| independence. Still, matter how strongly nd
era minded girls adhere 70 the principle of per
sonal liberty they easily relax from their cast
: iron principles when happily married; ana thousn
moved by sense of honesty, many young women
assert that they cannot cOns stenty vow that they
will always love the man they wed. still, separa-
tions are very few indeed and nowhere are chill
dren more thought of and cared for than in the
families of educated Russians who have grown to
be men and women since the sixties -,
In fact. life in Russia Is moving onward with
such rapid strides that people who lived in that
country before the emancipation of the
serfs, in 1861, and through the sub
sequent rather Short-lived but very far
reaching emancipation of thought, would
not be able 10 recognize Russian society as IT
is at the present time The mothers and aunts
i
still there to tell them of the good old time
when the young folks were brought up to cultivate
great external display Of reverence TO their
elders: when children dared not approach their
| PARENTS on terms Of equality and would never
| think of kissing them save on the hand. Those
times are long since past nor do parents nowadays
seem to be sorry that the artificial restraint
has gone, which in good many cas's led 10
| sense Of eStran cement between lalher ana SON.
| mother and daughter
The changes worked by time are apparent even
| in the most trifiing details. Only a generation
| or two ago il was considered improper for girls
of well-tO-do families 10 take step IN tn street
| without the escort of a gOycrncsS or some tgus'-
worthy attendant; on every Si-e ones eye was
met by III, ludicrou> sight OF sN-foot servant
! in a cockaded hit and livery bringing ~ tlc rear
! of 2 cOune Of ladies out for their walk on the
street or the boulevard. That would be considered
"a most unique sight nowadays The most care
fully brought up girls of the oldest noble families
are free 10 20 ont Lone Oh foot in their own
carriage: they even would feel hnrt-and Justly,
too | think--at the distrust Of them, were rhcY
nut urdcr the Obligation TO account for every
step they take and forbidden to 20 out in the
daytime except und.r escort. The Young girls
and women strongly insist on beng trusted ana
the liberty thus obtained makes them self-relant
and is seldom put to unworthy uses.
OF course even now, in remote provincial towns
or in old-fashiOned Moscow. there are some mario"
! minded m1mmas-fcmale Rip Van WinllleS-who
mindful Of tier own youthful eScapadeS, insist
on keeping their daughters under the same old
regime: hut then, the young women not beng
put on their honor. so to speak, indulge IN many
risky .pranks on the sly. Such girls, however,
| as WILLINGLY submit 10 INC DOln'f OF al tNcOIb
in the shape Of a lveried funlley are generally
plain girls who love TO imagine that they stand
in danger Of importunatc attentions from mon
in the streets, or else they may turn out to he
some squcamish Anticipated maiden ladies who
prefer TO imply that they are still so young and
unSOphiStcated rs 10 be entirely at the mercy
Of any bad. bold man in this wide, wicked world
were they not blessed with the means of having
safe escort in the person of buttons" foreign
governess, some dilapdated lady companion
with c0rlIscrcw ringlets framing her withered,
! wistful face.
Still, il must be added that with all their
professions 20 independence none among the
; Russian girls would go TO ball without a
chaperonc, or even think of going to the theatre
alone with any man not a near relative ana IT. IS
positively an unheard-of thing in Russia for a
] ! rpcpiVo from male