The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1891-02-10
WOMEN IN MONTENEGRO.
Slaves of Their Husbands aud Old at
Thirty Years.

''The greater a country's civiliza-
ton, the greater the respect shown to
the women, y says an old proverb, to
the truth of which Montenegro at-
fords a striking example, in the opin-
ion of a correspondent at Cettinje,
whose letter is published in the
Galignani Messenger. He says that
woman is there, as everywhere in h
East, simply a slave OF her husband.
She must attend to all the work, both
inside and outside the house, as we'll
as look after the education of the chill
dren. while her lord and master either
hunts or sleeps. This hard work has,
of course, a very detrimental effect
upon her development. While the
men almost without exception are
tall, handsome and we'll made, the
women are small and Insignificant.
They are not attractive even as chill
dren and are already getting old at
the age of thirty. l don't think there
is one good looking PIN in the
whole of Montenegro-at any rate, l
have never seen one.
"And the women here are fully con-
scious of their subordinate position,
and, as it BELTS "A slave, she even re-
sp~ectfully kisses her husbands hand,
and even receives his guests with a
hand kiss. 1t is strange that even
Montenegrins who have been brought
up in other countries preserve this
custom. Once, while calling upon the
Minister for Foreign Affairs, his wife
happened TO come into the room He
blushed, and said apologetically,
You must please excuse; it is my
wife, In most cases the wife is not
even introduced. To go to church in
her company, or altogether to appear
in public with ones wife would be
considered quite as absurd Is il the
Marquis of Salisbury were to walk
down Piccadilly with his cook.
'"The wife must perforce remain at
home, and it is only on market days
and when she goes to church that one
has a chance Of beholding her in all
her glory. The married women gen
orally wear q white dress with large
| sleeves. Outside this they have a gar
ment trimmed with velvet, red for the
Younger and blue or violet for the
older women, and richly embroidered
with gold. a garment like this often
costs several hundred guilden. Round
the waist they have a silver belt
about three inches broad, which is
often ornamented with precious
stones, so that it is OF considerable
value. The head is generally covered
with a black cloth. The girls dress
consists of the garment just described,
the rest of the body being covered
with a kind of shirt, which, l am
bound to say, is not always as clean
as it might be. On the head they
veal "a cap very like those generally
worn by German students.
"In spite of all their ornaments. the
women are really terribly ugly, still
they find their admirers, which will
be seen from the fact that most oil
them marry at the age of thirteen oil
fourteen years.
ITO suppose that the women are al
together to the caprices of the mer
would, however, be a great mistake,
She is by no means a toy in the hand;
of her husband. To ill treat or even
to be rude 10 a woman is, by these
sons of the Black Mountains, consid-
cred the greatest shame. Her person
is holy and unassailable, and whether
she be married or single, she trusts
completely in the men, confident tina
her faith will be respected ever by
complete stranger. L once met
young girl in an inn some ten mile
from Cettinje; she was on her way t,
an aunt Of hers in the capital, but wa
tired and had gone into the inn Il
rest. As we We're going the sam
way asked her, half il
joke, whether we should bea
each other company through
the mountains. She accepted III,
offer without the slightest hesitation
and rode on my horse while | Wake,
by her side. The necessity of chape
rons and introductions has not we
dawned upon the young ladies il
Montenegro. Her confidence is hardl,
ever abused, and an insult to a woma.
here is looked upon as the basest O
crimes: and, as Il rule, punishabl
with death. In courage and patriotism
. the women OF Montenegro are thei
husbands equals, and the history @
the country contains more than on
example OF its having been saved b
its brave daughters.
schools and other education;