The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-10-02

have been almost as free as they are with
us. The Russian lady of to-day has her
friends among the young meh OF her az
Quaintance, and though she rarely goes
about without chaperone she receives her
callers in her own home and her ideal mar
rage is one of love.
or late years the laws of marriage have
been radically changed, and now females
are forbidden to wed save between the ages
OF 10 and 90. Men cannot marry until they
are over IS nor after they are SO. and d.
vorces arc less common In Russia than they
are with us. The church Of Russia objects
to more than one marriage 1t has It's pen
ances for second and third marriages, and
a man who marres fourth time is ex-
cluded from the holy communion. Few
marriages are made IN the upper classes
without the consent OF the parents, and in
most cases the woman Is expected Ia bring
a very respectable dot with her. / know
OF an American girl who recently married
a Russian noble. The noble came TO
America and the wedding was celebrated in
one of our large cities. Before it took place.
however. the groom called upon thN brides
father aud asked about the settlement
.'What settlement" said the old man, who
had considerable wealth, but who had not
hitherto had daughter marry European
baron.
1.-The settlement upon my wife," was the
reply. Don't you intend to give her some
thing at the time she Is married ?"
Il had not thought of il, replied the old
man. And how much do you think she
ought to have?"
"Well." said the Russian noble, with
hem and haw, lit seems to me that she
ought To have at least $4,000. 1t would
not be bad idea if the sum was 100000"
| don't know whether the old man oh
iected or not. hut as the story Is told here
he raised the $50, 900 and put the securities
for it in the bank to his daughters order
befOr the marriage took place.
The Russian woman now has more rights
after marriage than size ever had before
Two hundred years ago she was little more
than a slave, and the husbands h0rsew hip
always hung over the bed OF the married
pair and it was used freely. Women were
then seldom seen upon the streets, and
Peter the Great had a way OF kicking them
when he met them here or in st. Petersburg
and telling them that their place was ZONE
and that they ought to be in it. The wife
beating Of to-day Is almost altogether
confined to the peasants, and the Countess
TOlsto told ME that even tho peasants
were improving in the treatment of their
women. The peasant women have In fact
many rights OF which the women Of the
other parts of the world know nothing.
In the communal systems by which the
villages of Russia are governed the women
stand on an equal footing with the men as
regards TIE distribution of proparty, and
they have their share OF the property OF the
village according TO their share in the work.
According TO Russian laws the Legitimate
wives and daughters OF the man get only
One-fourteen,h of the family inheritance,
but by the law OF the peasants the right oil
Inheritance comes from work alone. and
there is no distinction between wives and
eoncubines. The husband inherits the
wife's property only when they have lived
together more than ten years, and other
wise ii goes back to her parents. The peas.
ant women take part in the village assem-
bliss and widows who are the heads Of FAM