The history of the condition of women, in various ages and nations (vol. 2 of 2)

by Lydia Maria Child

MIDDLE AGES.

As the passion for conquest extended, warlike and predatory bands spread over Europe, seizing whatever they could take by force of arms. No other right but that of the strongest was acknowledged. Hence castles and fortifications became necessary; and the weak were glad to submit to any service to obtain the protection of the powerful. These circumstances were the origin of the feudal system. For a long time, women were not allowed to inherit lands, because the warlike barons required a military tenant, from whom they could claim assistance in time of need; but afterward women were allowed to succeed in default of male heirs, provided they paid a required contribution in money, instead of forces. If they married without the consent of their feudal lord, they forfeited their inheritance; and if he chose a husband for them, they were compelled to accept him. The law required that every heiress under sixty years of age should marry, and that her husband should perform feudal duties. If a baron did not provide when a girl was twelve years old, she might in open court require him to present three men for her selection; and if he did not comply, he had no right to control her choice afterward. She might likewise at that age claim from her guardian the uncontrolled management of her estates. The mother was guardian of an infant, and in case of her death, the next heir supplied her place. The widow’s dowry was half of her husband’s estate for life, and half of his chattels. If there was not sufficient to pay debts, the widow and creditors divided equally. In some places, the feudal lord claimed and enforced certain privileges with regard to the daughters of his tenants, which are too gross to be described. It is true there were beautiful instances of a patriarchal relation, where the noble-hearted baron received cheerful and affectionate service, and gave ample protection and munificent kindness in return; but these were exceptions. There was a vast amount of ignorance, degradation, corruption, and tyranny, as there ever must be where one portion of the human family are allowed unrestrained power over the other.

For several centuries after the fall of Rome, the state of society was exceedingly unsettled and turbulent. The priests and the powerful barons were continually at variance with the kings, neither of them being willing to consent to a division of power; and the settlement of the Saracens, or Moors, in Spain, produced a spirit of ferocious discord in religion. The daughters of princes and nobles lived in perpetual danger; for bold, ambitious men, who coveted their kingdoms, or their fortunes, often stormed their castles, carried them off, and compelled them to marry, without pretending to consult their inclinations. Thus the Saxon heiresses were divided among the retainers of William the Conqueror. The annals of Scotland furnish a curious instance of these warlike marriages. Sir William Scott made an incursion upon the territories of Murray of Elibank, and was taken prisoner. Murray, in accordance with the barbarous spirit of the times, sentenced his enemy to immediate death; but his wife said, “Hout, na, mon! Would ye hang the winsome young laird of Harden, when ye have three ill-favored daughters to marry?” “Right,” answered the baron of Elibank; “he shall either marry our mickle-mouthed Meg, or strap for it.” The prisoner at first resisted the proposal; but he finally preferred “mickle-mouthed Meg” to the halter; and the union thus inauspiciously formed proved exceedingly happy.

The father or guardian of the bride generally gave her to the bridegroom with these words: “I give thee ——, my daughter, or my ward, to have the keeping of the keys of thy house, and one third of the money thou art possessed of, or shall possess hereafter, and to enjoy all the other rights appointed to wives by law.” The bridegroom generally bestowed handsome presents on the bride, and she received a dowry proportioned to her father’s wealth.

The young couple were usually escorted to church by a troop of friends. The priest crowned them with flowers and pronounced a blessing. Maidens were married beneath a canopy; but this custom was not observed by widows.

Among the Franks, marriages were not legal unless solemnized in a full court, where a buckler had three times been lifted up, and three causes openly tried. Soter, the fifth bishop of Rome, is said to have been the first who declared marriages illegal unless solemnized by a priest. A magnificent feast was given in honor of noble marriages, where immense quantities of wine were drank, and music, dancing, and minstrel songs enlivened the scene. All the retainers, or vassals, of the feudal lord, partook of the banquet, which of course was spread in a spacious hall. The guests sat at table according to their rank; and a huge salt-cellar marked the dividing line between the noble and the ignoble. Below the salt-cellar, the food was coarser, and the liquors of a cheap kind.

The unsettled state of society made it exceedingly difficult to have any places of safe deposit for articles of merchandise, resembling the convenient stores and shops of modern times. For this reason, fairs were held; and gradually various shows, antic tricks, and minstrel songs, were added to the other allurements of the scene. Women visited these places, escorted by fathers or husbands, with a strong band of warlike retainers. In the absence of their natural protectors, ladies could not venture beyond the walls of their castle, even to visit a dying friend, without being liable to insult and violence. But in a short time every gallant warrior publicly declared himself the champion of some fair dame, and proclaimed that any offence given to her, either in his presence or absence, would meet with ample revenge at his hand. This was the beginning of the remarkable institution of chivalry, which has been compared to a golden thread running through the dark history of the middle ages. Women, who before this period had been subject to every species of rudeness and neglect, were soon worshipped as deities. Those of great beauty, wealth, or rank, of course had the greatest number of champions; but chivalry extended itself by degrees, until it embraced for its universal object the protection of the weak against the strong; and women of all ages and ranks were treated with deference, because their cause was known to be the cause of chivalry. No man was admitted into the order without the fullest proof of his bravery, integrity, and virtue. The least disparaging word against the female sex disqualified a knight for the duties and privileges of his profession. A lady having any cause of complaint against a knight touched his helmet, or shield, as a sign that she impeached him of crime, and applied to the judges for redress. If found guilty of any misdemeanor, the culprit was excluded from the order, and could never be restored, except by the intercession of the offended fair one, and the most solemn promises of amendment.

None but women of stainless reputation were included within the pale of chivalry; the principles of the order did not require that the sword should be drawn in defence of one who had forfeited her claim to respect. The cavaliers, as they travelled, often wrote sentences of infamy on the door of a castle where a woman of tarnished character resided; but where a lady of unsullied honor dwelt, they paused and saluted her most courteously. At public ceremonies, a distinction was made in favor of the virtuous. If a woman of impure character took precedence of one distinguished for modesty, a cavalier boldly advanced and reversed the order, saying: “Be not offended that this lady precedes you, for although she is not so rich or well allied as you are, yet her fame has never been impeached.”

The sons of gentlemen were generally placed with some friend, or superior nobleman, to acquire the education of a knight, which began as early as seven or eight years of age. The boy was required to attend upon his lord or lady in the hall, to convey their messages, and follow them in all their exercises of war or pastime. From the men he learned to leap trenches, cast spears, sustain the shield, and walk like a soldier. The ladies of the court gave him his moral and intellectual education; or, in other words, they instructed him in his prayers, and the maxims of chivalric love. He was taught to regard some one lady as his peculiar idol, to whom he was to be obedient, courteous, and constant. “While the young Jean de Saintré was a page of honor at the court of the French king, the dame des Belles Cousines inquired of him the name of the mistress of his heart’s affections. The simple youth replied that he loved his lady mother, and next to her his sister Jacqueline was dear to him. ‘Young man,’ rejoined the lady, ‘I am not speaking of the affection due to your mother and sister; I wish to know the name of the lady to whom you are attached par amour.’ The poor boy was confused, and could only reply that he loved no one par amour. The dame des Belles Cousines charged him with being a traitor to the laws of chivalry, and declared that his craven spirit was evinced by such an avowal. ‘Whence sprang the valiancy and knightly feats of Launcelot, Tristram, Giron the courteous, and other ornaments of the round table?’ said she: ‘whence the grandeur of many I have known rise to renown, except from the noble desire of maintaining themselves in the grace and esteem of the ladies? Without this spirit-stirring sentiment, they must have ever remained in the shades of obscurity. And do you, coward valet, presume to declare that you possess no sovereign lady, and desire to have none?’

“Jean underwent a long scene of persecution, but was at last restored to favor by the intercession of the ladies of the court. He then named as his mistress Matheline de Courcy, a child only ten years old. ‘Matheline is indeed a pretty girl,’ replied the dame des Belles Cousines; ‘but what profit, what honor, what comfort, what aid, what counsel for advancing you in chivalrous fame, can you derive from such a choice? You should elect a lady of noble blood, who has the ability to advise, and the power to assist you; and you should serve her so truly, and love her so loyally, as to compel her to acknowledge the honorable affection you entertain for her. Be assured there is no lady, however cruel and haughty she may be, but through long service will be induced to acknowledge and reward loyal affection with some portion of mercy. By such a course, you will gain the praise of worthy knighthood; till then, I would not give an apple for you or your achievements. He who loyally serves his lady, will not only be blessed at the height of man’s felicity in this life, but will never fall into those sins that prevent happiness hereafter. Pride will be entirely effaced from the heart of him, who endeavors by humility and courtesy to win the grace of a lady. The true faith of a lover will defend him from the sins of anger, envy, sloth, and gluttony; and his devotion to his mistress renders the thought impossible of his conduct ever being stained with the vice of profligacy.’”

The service which a lady required of her true knight may be inferred from the following lines of the old English poet, Gower, who wrote in the days of Edward the Third:

“What thing she bid me do, I do,

And where she bid me go, I go.

And when she likes to call, I come,

I serve, I bow, I look, I lowte,

My eye followeth her about.

What so she will, so will I,

When she would sit, I kneel by.

And when she stands, then I will stand,

And when she taketh her work in hand,

Of wevying or of embroidrie,

Then can I not but muse and prie,

Upon her fingers long and small.

And if she list to riden out,

On pilgrimage, or other stead,

I come, though I be not bid,

And take her in my arms aloft,

And set her in her saddle soft,

And so forth lead her by the bridle,

For that I would not be idle.

And if she list to ride in chare,

And that I may thereof beware,

Anon I shape me to ride,

Right even by the chare’s side,

And as I may, I speak among,

And other while I sing a song.”

These gentle services were the least arduous that a knight was pledged to perform. The most desperate battles were fought to restore a lady’s rights, to avenge a lady’s wrongs, or even to gain a lady’s smile. It was a common maxim of that period that he who knew how to break a lance, and did not understand how to win a lady, was but half a man. A knight without a lady-love was compared to a ship without a rudder, or a horse without a bridle. “Oh that my lady saw me!” was the eager exclamation of a gallant knight, as he mounted the wall of a besieged city, in the pride of successful courage.

A cavalier, called the Knight of the Swan, reinstated a lady in the possessions of which the duke of Saxony had deprived her. During the reign of Charles the Sixth of France, the gentlewomen of the country laid before the monarch grievous complaints of their sufferings and losses from the aggressions of powerful lords; and lamented that chivalry had so much degenerated that no knights and squires had armed in their defence. This appeal roused the valiant Boucicaut, who gathered a band of chevaliers around him, and formed a fraternity for the protection of all dames and damsels of noble lineage. The device on their shields was a lady in a green field, and their motto promised redress to all gentlewomen injured in honor or fortune. The gallant Boucicaut carried the principle of veneration a little farther than was, perhaps, pleasing to the sovereign ladies of that romantic period; for he would not permit one of the knights of his banner to look a second time at a window where a handsome woman was seated.

In the Spanish order of the Scarf, duties to women were more insisted on than in any other order. If one of those knights instituted an action against the daughter of a brother-knight, no woman would consent to be his lady-love, or wife. If he happened to meet a lady when riding, it was his duty to alight from his horse, and tender his service, upon pain of losing a month’s wages, and the favor of all dames and damsels; and he who hesitated to perform any behest from a woman was branded with the title of The Discourteous Knight.

Combats often took place for no other purpose but to do credit to the chosen object of a knight’s affections. This sentiment was frequently a cause of national rivalry. During a cessation of hostilities, a cavalier would sally forth, and demand whether any knight in the opposite host were disposed to do a deed of arms for the sake of his lady bright. “Now let us see if there be any amorous among you,” was the usual conclusion of such a challenge, as the cavalier curbed his impetuous steed, and laid his lance in rest. Such an invitation was seldom refused; but if it chanced to be so, the bold knight was suffered to return in safety; for it was deemed unchivalric to capture or molest an enemy, who thus voluntarily placed himself in the power of his opponents. When two parties of French and English met accidentally near Cherbourg, Sir Launcelot of Lorrys demanded a course of jousting with the English knights for his lady’s sake. The offer was eagerly accepted, and at the very first onset Sir John Copeland wounded the French cavalier to death. The chronicler says: “Every one lamented his fate, for he was a hardy knight, young, jolly, and right amorous.”

James the Fourth, of Scotland, was celebrated for his romantic chivalry, and graceful bearing at jousts and tournaments; and Louis the Twelfth, of France, made use of these traits in his character to effect his own political purposes. Being deserted by most of his allies, he was anxious to renew the old bond of friendship between France and Scotland; but this was rendered difficult by the fact that England and Scotland were at peace, and by the marriage of James with the sister of Henry the Eighth. This being the posture of political affairs, Louis induced his beautiful wife, Anne of Bretagne, to choose the king of Scotland for her knight and champion. An ambassador was sent to Edinburgh, to present letters from the French queen, wherein she assumed the style of a high-born damsel in distress, assured James that she had suffered much blame in defence of his honor, called him her chosen knight, and besought him for her sake to advance but three steps into the territory of England, with his warlike banners floating on the breeze. A present of fourteen thousand crowns, with a glove and a turquois ring from her own hand, accompanied the message. The chivalric feelings of James would not permit him to refuse a lady’s request, especially when that lady was a beauty and a queen. The order was obeyed; and the hostilities thus commenced terminated in the defeat at Flodden field, so disastrous to Scotland.

But the good produced by chivalry, in softening the character of those rude ages, was no doubt greater than the evils arising from its occasional excesses. A knight was bound to grant safe conduct through his territories to those that requested it, even when they came to deprive him of his possessions. When Matilda landed near Arundel, to contend for the throne of England, Stephen gave her honorable escort to the castle of his brother, the earl of Gloucester. It was not considered honorable and courteous to take ladies in war. When a town was captured, the heralds were wont to proclaim that it was the conqueror’s will no violence, or disrespect, should be offered to any gentlewoman. When Caen fell into the hands of the English, in the reign of Edward the Third, Sir Thomas Holland protected many ladies, damsels, and nuns from outrage; and when the castle of Poys was taken, the English knights escorted the daughters of lord Poys to the presence of Edward, who gave them a cordial welcome, and ordered them to be safely conducted to a town friendly to their family.

In the wars of the Guelphs and the Ghibbelines, the emperor Conrad refused all terms of capitulation to the garrison of Winnisberg; but, like a true knight, he granted the request of the women to pass out in safety, with such of their most precious effects as they could themselves carry. When the gates were opened, a long procession of matrons and maidens appeared, each bearing a husband, son, father, or brother, on her shoulders. As they passed through the enemy’s lines, all respectfully made way for them, while the whole camp rang with shouts of applause.

The sentiment of courtesy was carried so far, that when the Normans and English took the castle of Du Gueslin, they were indignantly reproved, because they had transgressed the license of war, by disturbing the ladies of the castle while they were asleep.

In those turbulent times, no wonder that courage was the quality most dear to a woman’s heart, and chivalry the idol of her imagination. Ladies endeavored to stifle the first emotions of love, and proudly answered their humble suitors, that they must expect no favor until they had gained sufficient renown by their military exploits. “I should have loved him better dead than alive,” exclaimed a noble damsel, when she heard that her chosen knight had survived his honor; and another, being reproached for loving an ugly man, replied, “He is so valiant I have never observed his face.”

In some cases, these romantic feelings overcame even the stern distinctions of feudal pride. A squire of low degree often aspired to the hand of a princess, and not unfrequently gained it, by the ardor of his passion and the desperate valor of his achievements. A young candidate for chivalry said to a high-born beauty, “How can I hope to find a damsel of noble birth, who will return the affection of a knight ungraced by rank, with only his good sword to rely upon?” “And why should you not find her?” replied the lady. “Are you not gently born? Are you not a handsome youth? Have you not eyes to gaze on her, ears to hear her, feet to move at her will, body and heart to accomplish loyally all her commands? Possessing these qualities, you cannot doubt to adventure yourself in the service of a lady, however exalted her rank.”

The martial spirit of women was fostered by the honorary titles bestowed on them, and the part they were expected to take in the splendid pageants of the day. The wife of a knight was often called equitissa, or militissa, or chevalière; and a high-spirited maiden was called le bel cavalier. In France, women who ruled over fiefs could confer knighthood, and had a right to make war, decide judicial questions, and coin money. At the solemn and imposing ceremony of a knight’s inauguration, fair ladies attended upon him, and delivered him the various pieces of his armor. His coat of mail was usually crossed by a scarf, which his lady-love had embroidered in the seclusion of her own apartment. The crest of the helmet was often adorned with ringlets of fair hair, a garland of flowers, or a lady’s glove, which was sometimes set in pearls. But the great scene of beauty’s triumph was in the gorgeous pageant of the tournament. On these occasions women had sovereign power. If any complaint was made against a knight, they adjudged his cause without appeal. They generally deputed their power to some cavalier, who was called the Knight of Honor. He bore at the end of his lance a ribbon, a glove, or some other token of woman’s favor, and the fiercest warriors obeyed the orders sanctioned by these simple emblems. The dames and damsels sometimes offered a diamond, a ruby, a sapphire, a silver helmet, or richly embossed shield, as the reward of him who should prove himself the bravest in this mimic war. The laws of chivalry required that a polite preference should always be given to foreigners; hence when a martial game was held at Smithfield, during the reign of Richard the Second, the queen proposed a golden crown to the best jouster, if he were a stranger, but if an English knight, a rich bracelet was to be his reward. “On the morning of the day appointed for this merry tournament, there issued out of the Tower of London, first threescore coursers apparelled for the lists, and on every one a squire of honor, riding a soft pace. Then appeared threescore ladies of honor, mounted on fair palfreys, each lady leading by a chain of silver a knight sheathed in jousting harness. The fair and gallant troop, with the sound of clarions, trumpets, and other minstrelsy, rode along the streets of London, the fronts of the housing shining with martial glory in the rich banners and tapestries, which hung from the windows.”

The ladies who attended these splendid festivals often wore girdles ornamented with gold and silver, in imitation of military belts, and playfully wielded short light swords, embossed with emblems of love and war. The ladies and high-born spectators were arranged round the lists in galleries highly adorned. The knights were known by the heraldic emblems on their shields and banners, and their names were publicly announced by the heralds. No one was allowed to tourney, who had blasphemed God, offended the ladies, or assailed his adversary without warning. Each knight was accompanied by squires, to furnish him with arms, adjust his armor, and bring encouraging messages from his lady-love. If the shock of spears tore from a warrior’s helmet the emblem of affection which the hand of some fair damsel had placed there, she often took a ribbon from her own person, and sent it to him with a courteous message. As the combat proceeded, the air was rent with the names of ladies; for each knight invoked his mistress to assist him, as if she were endowed with supernatural power to guide and strengthen him.

The older warriors, who stood gazing on the exciting scene, called out, “On, valiant knights! Beautiful eyes behold your deeds!” And when the minstrels greeted some bold achievement with loud strains of music, the spectators shouted, “Loyauté aux dames!”

When the combats were ended, the heralds presented to the ladies those knights who had borne themselves most bravely. One, who was elected by her companions, was called the Queen of Beauty and Love. Before her the warriors knelt down, and received the prizes awarded to their valor. Sometimes the victorious knights were allowed to choose the fair hand from which they received their reward. The Queen of Beauty and Love presented the prize, thanked him for the skill in arms which he had that day displayed, and wished him success in love; the gallant knight bowed low and replied, “My victory was entirely owing to the favor of my mistress, which I wore in my helmet.”

When the heavy armor was laid aside, the cavaliers entered the banqueting hall, and, amid the flourish of trumpets, seated themselves under silken banners, with their favorite falcons perched above their heads. The guests were placed two by two, every knight with a lady by his side. To eat from the same trencher, or plate, was considered a strong proof of affection. In the Romance of Perceforest it is said, “there were eight hundred knights all seated at table, and yet there was not one who had not a dame or damsel at his plate.” An invitation to a feast, from a lady to her chosen knight, is thus described:

“——the attendant dwarf she sends;

Before the knight the dwarf respectful bends;

Kind greeting bears as to his lady’s guest,

And prays his presence to adorn her feast,

The knight delays not; on a couch designed

With gay magnificence the fair reclined;

High o’er her head, on silver columns raised,

With broidering gems her proud pavilion blazed.

Herself a paragon in every part,

Seemed sovereign beauty decked with comeliest art.

With a sweet smile of condescending pride,

She seats the courteous Gawaine by her side,

Scans with assiduous glance each rising wish,

Feeds from her food the partner of her dish.”

The minstrels tuned their harps to the praise of beauty and valor, and after the tables were removed, each knight chose his partner for the dance by kissing her hand. This custom was introduced into England from Italy, or Spain, and still retaining the language of the country whence it came, was called basciomani.

The peacock was much honored in the days of chivalry. The knights associated them with all their ideas of renown, and swore by the peacocks, as well as by the ladies, to perform their boldest enterprises. The vow of the peacock was sometimes made at a festival prepared for the occasion. Between the courses of the repast, a troop of ladies brought in the splendid bird, on a golden or silver dish, roasted, but covered with its feathers. In order to do this, it was skinned very carefully previous to being cooked, and was then served up in its plumage, with the brilliant tail feathers spread out; but some preferred to have it covered with leaf gold. Just before it was brought into the banqueting hall, they crammed the beak with wool, which being dipped in inflammable matter and set on fire, made the peacock appear to breathe forth flames.

The hall was adorned with mimic forests, and with images of men, animals, &c., expressive of the object for which the vow was to be taken. If it had relation to wars in defence of religion, a matron, in mourning garments, entered the room, and repeated a long complaint in verse, concerning the wrongs she suffered under the infidel yoke, and the tardiness of European knights in coming to her rescue. Some knights then advanced with measured tread, to the sound of minstrelsy, and presented to the lord of the castle the two ladies bearing the noble bird in a glittering dish. The ladies besought his protection, and he swore by God, the virgin Mary, the ladies, and the peacock, that he would make war upon the infidels. Every knight in the hall drew his sword and repeated the vow. The dish was then placed on the table, and the peacock carved in such a manner that every guest might taste a morsel. A lady, dressed in white, came in to thank the assembly, presenting twelve maidens, wearing emblematical dresses to represent Faith, Charity, Justice, Reason, Prudence, Temperance, Strength, Generosity, Mercy, Diligence, Hope and Courage. These damsels trooped round the hall amid the cheers of the company, and so the repast concluded.

“When they had dined, as I you say,

Lords and ladies went to play;

Some to tables, and some to chess,

With other games more and less.”

The passion for chess was universal at that period, when the favorite forms of recreation were a pantomime of war. The songs of the minstrels, or troubadours, were another source of delightful amusement; and deeds of valor, with maxims how to win a lady’s favor, were the perpetual theme. To play upon the harp, and be able to sing his love in verse, were considered as necessary qualifications to the knight of chivalry, as the knowledge of wielding his sword, or managing his good steed. Kings, princes, and knights, renowned for their military exploits, became professors of the “gaye science,” as it was called, and sung to the harp their own verses in praise of the beauty they adored. William, count of Poitou, the count de Foix, the dauphin of Auvergne, a prince of Orange, Thibault, count of Provence and king of Navarre, a king of Sicily, two kings of Arragon, and Richard the First of England, prided themselves upon their skill in minstrelsy. The younger sons and brothers of noble families very generally devoted themselves to this honorable profession, from which they derived both pleasure and profit. They wandered about from court to court, and from castle to castle, singing the praises of knights and ladies, who rewarded them with smiles, and thanks, rich dresses, horses, armor, and gold.

Bertrand de Born, a celebrated troubadour in the time of Henry the Second, says: “The first laws of honor are to make war; to tilt at Advent and Easter; and to enrich women with the spoils of the conquered.” Such sentiments were not remarkable at a period when he was considered the most honorable man, who had burned the greatest number of castles, and pillaged his neighbor’s estates most successfully. Bertrand being out of favor with his beautiful mistress, the wife of Talleyrand de Perigord, in consequence of slanderous stories she had heard of him, defends himself in a song very characteristic of the state of society. He wishes “that he may lose his favorite hawk in her first flight; that a falcon may bear her off as she sits upon his wrist, and tear her in his sight, if the sound of his lady’s voice be not dearer to him than all the gifts of love from another. That he may stumble with his shield about his neck; that his helmet may gall his brow; that his bridle may be too long, his stirrups too short; that he may be forced to ride a hard trotting horse, and find his groom drunk when he arrives at the gate; that the dice may never more be favorable to him at the gaming table; and that he may look on like a coward and see his lady wooed and won by another, if there be a word of truth in the accusations of his enemies.”

Some idea of the general ignorance of the times may be inferred from the remark of the minstrel, Bernard de Ventadour, who, when he sang the praises of the princess Eleanor, afterward mother of Richard the First, adds, “She approves my writings, and she can read them too.”

The story of Geoffroi Rudel is a remarkable illustration of the fervid and imaginative tone of sentiment that prevailed in those romantic days. He was the favorite minstrel of prince Geoffroi Plantagenet, the elder brother of Cœur de Lion. While he lived at the court of England, admired and beloved by noble knights and lovely ladies, he listened with delight to descriptions of a certain countess of Tripoli, whose beauty, kindness, and virtue, were perpetually praised by the crusaders that returned from Holy Land. Rudel fell deeply and passionately in love with her fame. In one of his songs he says: “I adore an object I have never seen. Yet I am convinced that among all the Saracen, Jewish, and Christian beauties, none can be compared with her. Every night she appears before me in enchanting dreams. The beauty I adore shall behold me, for her sake, clad in a woollen garment, and with a pilgrim’s staff.” The ardent troubadour actually sailed for Palestine. But he became grievously ill during the voyage, and was nearly senseless when the vessel reached the shores of Tripoli. The countess, being informed of the circumstances of his arrival, hastened to meet him, and offer all the consolation in her power. He fixed his eyes upon her with a joyful expression, and expired. The countess caused him to be magnificently buried among the Knights Templars, and erected a monument of porphyry, with an Arabic inscription, commemorating his genius and his love. She then retired to a cloister, and took the monastic vow. The last song Rudel had addressed to her was transcribed in letters of gold, and she wore it continually near her heart.

Richard de Barbesieu, having broken his vow of fidelity to a certain princess, built a cabin of boughs in the depth of the forest, and swore never to leave his solitude till the offended lady again took him into favor. Being a favorite minstrel in hall and bower, the knights and ladies sent him many entreaties to return; and finding their solicitations were all in vain, they tried their utmost to appease the anger of his lady-love. She at length relented so far as to promise him pardon, whenever a hundred brave knights, and a hundred beautiful dames, who had sworn eternal love to each other, should kneel before her, and with clasped hands supplicate mercy for their minstrel. A hundred brace of lovers performed the required ceremony, and the troubadour was pardoned.

Still more extravagant was the conduct of Pierre Vidal, a half-crazed poet, who followed Cœur de Lion to the crusade. Having been banished from the presence of one lady for his presumptuous boldness, he chose for the next object of his amorous effusions a lady by the name of Louve de Penautier. In her honor he assumed the name of Loup, and actually disguised himself as a wolf, in order to be hunted by a pack of hounds. He was brought back shockingly mangled; and the lady and her husband took care of his wounds, though they laughed at his folly.

The entire absence of jealousy in the husbands of that period is by no means the least remarkable feature of the times. They seem to have been proud of the protestations of love offered to their wives, and liberally rewarded the favored troubadour with jewels and gold. Agnes, countess of Foix, was beloved by a French minstrel, who became jealous of her. She sent her own confessor to him to complain of the injustice of his suspicions, and to swear that she was still faithful to him. She required him to write and publish the history of their loves in verse. Yet this princess was considered virtuous, both by her husband and the world. One of the troubadours beseeches a priest to grant him dispensation from vows of love to a lady whom he loved no longer; but he does not seem to have considered absolution necessary during the continuance of his attachment, although the object of it was the wife of another. Those who know human nature will probably think it requires a good deal of faith to believe that immaculate purity was universal.

The curious mixture of religion with love is another singular characteristic of the middle ages. The knight wrote poems in honor of the virgin Mary, which cannot easily be distinguished from those addressed to the lady of his affections. The troubadours burned tapers, and caused masses to be said for the success of their love; and one of them assures us that he devoutly crossed himself with joy and gratitude, every time he beheld his mistress. Peyre de Ruer devoted himself to a noble Italian lady, who was extremely fond of magnificent entertainments; and in order to find favor in her eyes he exhausted all his resources in banquets and joustes in her honor. The lady, however, could not be persuaded to exercise her sovereign attribute of mercy; and Ruer wandered about the country in the disguise of a pilgrim. He arrived at a certain church during the holy week, and asked permission to preach to the audience. This being granted, he gracefully and earnestly recited one of his own love-songs; for, says the chronicle, “he knew nothing better.” The congregation, supposing it to be a pious invocation to the virgin Mary, or the saints, were much affected; and when he held out his hat for the customary alms, it was heaped with silver. The minstrel cast aside his pilgrim weeds and in a splendid dress presented himself before his lady-love, with a new song in her praise; and she, overcome with such a proof of constancy, bestowed many caresses on the wandering troubadour.

In Spain, a certain company, called Disciplinarians, went through the streets every Good Friday, with sugar-loaf caps, white gloves and shoes, and sleeves tied with ribbons of such a color as their ladies particularly admired. They carried whips of small cords, with bits of glass fastened on the ends, and when they met a handsome woman, they began to whip themselves with all violence, insomuch that the blood spirted on her robes; for which honor she courteously thanked them. When a lover arrived opposite the balcony of his mistress, he scourged himself with redoubled fury, while she looked on with proud complacency, and perhaps rewarded his sufferings with a gracious smile.

Ladies of rank entered the lists of poetry in competition with troubadours of the other sex. Among these were the countess of Champagne, countess of Provence, dame Castelossa, the comtesse de Die, &c. The last-mentioned was beloved by the chevalier d’Adhèmar, whose courage and magnanimity she celebrated in verses, which the favored knight always carried in his bosom; and not unfrequently he entertained a company by singing his lady’s songs in praise of himself. He died of grief, in consequence of a false report of her inconstancy. The young comtesse took the veil immediately, and died the same year in the convent of St. Honoré. Her mother buried her with her lover, and erected a superb monument to the memory of both. The countess of Champagne was much celebrated for the manner in which she presided at one of the Courts of Love. These courts were composed of ladies summoned to meet together, for the purpose of discussing, in the most formal and serious manner, “beautiful and subtle questions of love.” They decided the precise amount of inconstancy which a lady might forgive, without lowering her own dignity, provided her lover made certain supplications, and performed certain penances; they took it into solemn consideration whether a lover was justified, under any circumstances, in expressing the slightest doubt of his lady’s fidelity; they laid down definite rules, and ceremonials of behavior, to be observed by those who wished to be beloved; and gravely discussed the question whether sentiment, or sight, the heart, or the eyes, contributed most powerfully to inspire affection.

A young maiden in those days was educated, like her brother, in the castle of some knight or baron, her father’s friend; and her duties, like his, were mostly those of personal attendance. She assisted in dressing her lady, and sought by music and conversation to beguile her lonely hours. Their learning, in general, was confined to recipes for cooking, simple medicines, needle-work, the ceremonials of chivalry, and the prayers of the church. Reading and writing were rare attainments, both with men and women.

The rules for behavior were exceedingly precise and ceremonious. Maidens were taught that it was unseemly to turn their heads round after the manner of a crane, and were exhorted rather to imitate the beautiful and timid hare, which looks straight forward. If necessary to look aside, they were told to move the head and body together, that their deportment might appear dignified. Simplicity of dress was likewise inculcated, except on festival occasions; and that respect might be shown to religion as well as chivalry, they were commanded to wear their richest apparel to church. Modesty was strongly urged. Every bard had a story of the daughter of some knight, who displayed her person so freely that her intended husband preferred her more modest, though less beautiful, sister. The ferocious pride of feudal power was softened by maxims of courtesy toward those of inferior rank. A noble lady once took off her hood and made respectful obeisance to a mechanic. One of her friends exclaimed, “Why, noble dame, you have taken off your hood to a tailor!” “Yes,” she replied; “and I would rather have doffed it to him, than a gentleman;” and those who heard her answer, thought she had done right well.

All the domestic economy of the castle was arranged by the maiden attendants, and they were early instructed in the mysteries of the healing art. The wounds of husbands and lovers were in those days cured by the fair hand of woman. Spenser says:

“Into the woods thenceforth in haste she went,

To seek for herbs that mote him remedy;

For she of herbs had great intendiment,

Taught of the nymph from whom her infancy

Her nourced had in true nobility.”

A knowledge of surgery was likewise a necessary feminine accomplishment.

“So prospered the sweet lass, her strength alone

Thrust deftly back the dislocated bone.”

Even as late as the days of queen Elizabeth, some of the ladies of her court are praised for their skill in surgery.

When men rode forth to hunt or hawk, they were generally accompanied by ladies, for whom a gentler species of falcons, called sparrow-hawks, were trained. The birds were gallantly bedight with silver bells, and it was the duty of every gallant knight to attend on his lady, to let the falcon loose at the proper moment, to animate it by his cries, to take from its talons the prey it seized, and then replace it respectfully on her hand. John of Salisbury, who wrote in the thirteenth century, says that women even excelled men in the knowledge and practice of falconry. Julian Berners, prioress of a nunnery in Sopewell, published, in 1481, a curious book full of directions concerning heraldry and hawking; for which reason she was called by cotemporaries “a Minerva in her studies, and a Diana in her diversions.” Some old English engravings represent ladies followed by dogs, running on foot, with hawks on their fists; and upon old monuments it is common to see the image of a woman, with a hawk perched near her, and a greyhound at her feet. Queen Elizabeth was fond both of hunting and falconry, and had no objection to the unfeminine amusement of bear-baiting. Even when she was sixty years old, Sir Walter Raleigh, in allusion to her sylvan sports, compares her and her maids of honor, in their stiff ruffs and fardingales, to the goddess Diana and her graceful nymphs. Tournaments and masks continued to be favorite amusements during the reign of the maiden queen, though the last rays of chivalry’s declining sun were then sinking to rise no more. Elizabeth, who had all the petitesse of a vain woman united with the cold caution of an artful man, always delivered the prizes herself; for she could not endure that one younger and fairer should personate the Queen of Love and Beauty. The gallantry of knighthood still characterized her courtiers. When she dropped her glove at a tournament, the earl of Cumberland picked it up, and was graciously requested to retain it. With the true spirit of chivalry, he caused it to be set in diamonds, and on festival occasions always wore it in his high-crowned hat, which had at that period superseded the helmet.

One singular custom that prevailed in England in the old time deserves to be recorded for its oddity. Sir Philip Somerville, in the reign of Edward the Third, left the manor of Whichnour to the earl of Lancaster, on condition that he should at all seasons of the year, except during Lent, be ready to deliver a flitch of bacon to any man and woman, who swore they had been married a year and a day without once repenting it; and that if they were again single, they would choose each other again, in preference to all the universe. The oath, taken in presence of witnesses, was as follows: “I A wedded my wife B, and syth I had her in my keepying and at my wylle, by a yeare and a daye after our marriage, I would not have changed for none other, richer ne pourer, ne for none other descended of gretter lynage, sleeping ne waking, at noo tyme. And if the said B were sole and I sole, I would take her to be my wife before all the wymen of the worlde, of what condytions so-ever they may be, good or evyl, as help me God and his seyntys, and this flesh and all fleshes.”

It is remarkable that during the middle ages, when profound homage was paid to women, as to things divine, a life closely secluded from their society was deemed the surest road to heaven. The eucharist was considered too holy to be touched by female fingers, and they were required to put a white linen glove upon the hand when they received it. The emperor Honorius banished Jovinian because he maintained that a man who lived with a wife might be saved, provided he obeyed the laws of piety and virtue; and Edward the Confessor was sainted for dying unmarried. Celibacy was expressly enjoined upon the clergy, and both priests and deacons were degraded from office for disobedience to this edict. In France it was carried to such an extent, that the barons had power to make slaves of any children of the married clergy. St. Dunstan, so famous for his abhorrence of women, introduced celibacy of clergy into England, and, with the consent of king Edgar, exhorted the married priests to put away their wives, under the penalty of being degraded from office, and deprived of their livings. From the ungallant character of St. Dunstan arose a superstitious custom, of which some traces remain in Great Britain even to the present day. It was deemed that if a bridal couple drank from St. Dunstan’s well, on the day of their marriage, the first one who tasted the water would govern the other for life. A bridegroom, who was very desirous to have the authority in his own hands, repaired to the well as soon as his wedding day dawned; and after the marriage ceremony was over, he boasted to his bride that he had drank of the water sooner than she could possibly have done. “Ah, my friend,” replied she, laughing, “you have not circumvented a woman’s wit; for I brought some of the water from the well, in a vial, the night before.”

When knights formed themselves into religious orders, to fight in defence of the holy sepulchre, they were required to take a vow of perpetual chastity, poverty, and obedience. A Knight Templar was forbidden to kiss maid, wife, or widow, not even excepting his mother and his sisters; and was not permitted to adorn his helmet with tokens either of nobility or love. But the principles of these pious knights yielded to the slightest pressure of circumstances. Men of large fortune paid little attention to their vow of poverty; connubial fidelity was substituted for perpetual celibacy; and even in this improved form, the history of the crusades gives us small reason to suppose that the promise was considered binding.

Such a project as that of the crusades naturally took powerful hold of the imaginations of women educated amid the splendid pageants of war and religion, and accustomed to the continual combination of things in their nature so discordant. Many accompanied their lovers and husbands to the Holy Land, and, after performing the most romantic exploits, died beside them on the field of battle. Whole squadrons of women sometimes took arms in defence of the holy cross. Those that accompanied the emperor Conrad were remarkable for the splendor of their military dresses. Their leader was called “the golden-footed dame.”

The ardor with which chivalry was embraced by all the principal nations of Europe, and the powerful hold it still retains on the imagination, notwithstanding the detestable pride and tyranny of those gallant nobles, is to be attributed to the sacred principles on which the institution was originally founded; viz. the chaste union of the sexes, and the forgetfulness of self in the effort to do good to others. But chivalry gradually degenerated from its original purity, and became a ridiculous mania for renown. Knighthood was no longer the reward of high-minded virtue, but was bestowed on any man who had wealth or power to obtain it for his own selfish purposes. The profligacy of the troubadours was open and flagrant; the crusaders, who made a pilgrimage to the holy sepulchre in expiation of their sins, fearfully added to the list on their way; poor knights, who had no money to pay their retainers, made no scruple of obtaining it by robbery and violence, and wandered about in quest of adventures, letting out their swords to richer brethren; women departed from the modesty which had procured them homage, and bestowed their smiles so indiscriminately that they lost their value. Yet, as the affectation of any thing is always more excessive than the reality, the exploits of the knights during the rapid decline of chivalry were more outrageously fantastical than they had ever been. It was common for a cavalier to post himself in some very public place, and fight every gentleman who passed, unless he instantly acknowledged that the lady of his affections was the handsomest and most virtuous lady in the world; and if, as often happened, he was met by one as mad as himself, who insisted upon maintaining the superior charms of his dulcinea, a deadly combat ensued. At the beginning of the fourteenth century, a society of ladies and gentlemen was formed at Poictou, called the Penitents of Love. In order to show that love could effect the strangest metamorphoses, they covered themselves with furred mantles, and sat before large fires, in the heat of summer, while in winter they wore the slightest possible covering. Thus chivalry became an absurd and disgusting mockery, and was finally laughed out of the world by the witty Cervantes. But though the form became grotesque, and died in a state of frenzy, the important use performed by the spirit of true chivalry ought not to be forgotten. It stood in the place of laws, when laws could not have been enforced, and it raised woman to a moral rank in society, unknown to the most refined nations of antiquity—a rank she can never entirely lose, and from which her present comparative freedom is derived. It taught Francis the First, that most chivalrous of all monarchs, to lay the foundation of a beautiful social system by introducing the wives and daughters of his nobles at court, where none but bearded men had previously been seen. “A court without ladies,” said he, “is a year without a spring, or a spring without roses.”

The Mohammedan religion, which debases woman into a machine, and regards love as a merely sensual passion, was introduced into the East about the same time that chivalry arose in the West, to exalt women into deities, and chasten passion with the purity of sentiment.

The military spirit induced by chivalry continued in full force through the whole of its existence, and survived its origin. Philippa, wife of Edward the Third, was the principal cause of the victory gained over the Scots at Neville Cross. In the absence of her husband, she rode among the troops, and exhorted them in the name of God to be of good heart and courage, promising to reward them better than if her lord the king were himself in the field. At the surrender of Calais, she displayed a better quality than courage. Her incensed husband demanded that six of the principal inhabitants should be put to death; and six patriotic citizens voluntarily offered their lives to appease the conqueror. When these heroic men knelt at his feet, to deliver the keys of the city, the queen likewise knelt, and begged their lives as a boon to her. Her tears prevailed; and the grateful inhabitants of Calais exclaimed, “Edward conquers cities, but Philippa conquers hearts!”

Jane, countess of Mountfort, who lived at the same period, and was a lineal descendant of the German women described by Tacitus, possessed a large share of manly courage. While her husband was detained in prison, she defended his right to the duchy of Bretagne against Charles of Blois. She visited all the principal towns and fortresses, and exhorted the troops to courage, in the name of herself and her infant son. When besieged in the strong town of Hennebon, she herself rode through the streets clad in mail, and mounted on a goodly steed; and her cheering smiles stimulated valor, even when her voice was drowned in the din of battle. Perceiving that the enemy’s camp was deserted, she seized a spear, and, accompanied by three hundred of her best knights, rode into the midst of it, and set the tents on fire. Her return being cut off by the French troops, she took the road to Brest, and for five days the good soldiers of Hennebon were ignorant of her fate; but on the sixth, she returned, with her golden banners glittering in the sun, and surrounded by five hundred lances, which her beauty and bravery had drawn around her. Afterward, she went to England, to solicit succor from Edward the Third. Returning with a considerable fleet, she was met by an enemy; and it is recorded that “the countess on that day was worth the bravest knight; she had the heart of a lion, and, with a sharp glaive in her hand, she fought fiercely.”

In 1338, the countess of March, called Black Agnes, from the color of her eyes and hair, resisted with extraordinary bravery and success the earl of Salisbury, who besieged her in the castle of Dunbar, during the absence of her husband.

In Italy, the prince of Romagna intrusted the defence of Cesena to his wife, Marzia, while he himself maintained a more important post. The noble matron donned the casque and cuirass, which she never laid aside, night or day; and when, in a moment of extreme peril, her father entreated her to surrender, she replied, “My husband has given me a duty to perform, and I must obey his command.” Though unable to obtain the victory, her bravery and skill secured a very favorable treaty.

When Regner Lodbrog waged war against Fro, king of Sweden, a young Norwegian girl, named Lagertha, greatly assisted him in his victory. Regner became in love with her, and made her his wife; but he soon after deserted her for another. Lagertha lived in the utmost retirement, until she heard that her husband was deserted by his friends, and placed in danger by rebellious subjects; then the generous wife forgot her own injuries, hastened to his relief, and was again victorious.

Avilda, daughter of the king of Gothland, scoured the seas with a powerful fleet; and king Sigar, who found she was not to be won in the usual manner, gained her heart by fitting out a fleet, and engaging in a furious battle with her for two days without intermission.

Marguérite of France, wife of St. Louis, while besieged by the Turks in Damietta, during the captivity of the king her husband, gave birth to a son, whom she named Tristan, in commemoration of her misfortunes. In this helpless situation, hearing that the crusaders were about to capitulate with the enemy she summoned the knights to her apartment, and the words she uttered stirred their spirits like the tones of a trumpet. Her address has been immortalized in such beautiful verse, by Mrs. Hemans, that I cannot forbear quoting some of the stanzas:

“The honor of the lily

Is in your hands to keep,

And the Banner of the Cross, for Him

Who died on Calvary’s steep:

And the city which for Christian prayer

Hath heard the holy bell—

And is it these your hearts would yield

To the goodless Infidel?

“Then bring me here a breastplate,

And a helm, before ye fly,

And I will gird my woman’s form,

And on the ramparts die!

And the boy whom I have borne for woe,

But never for disgrace,

Shall go within mine arms to death

Meet for his royal race.

“Look on him as he slumbers

In the shadow of the Lance!

Then go, and with the Cross forsake

The princely Babe of France!

But tell your homes ye left one heart

To perish undefiled;

A woman and a queen, to guard

Her honor and her child!”

No wonder such an appeal met with a thrilling response:

“We are thy warriors, lady!

True to the Cross and thee!

The spirit of thy kindling words

On every sword shall be!

Rest, with thy fair child on thy breast,

Rest, we will guard thee well

St. Dennis for the Lily-flower,

And the Christian citadel!”

Joan of Arc, born of humble parentage, but strong in military courage, and the enthusiasm of prophecy, appeared among the discouraged troops of France, mounted on a milk-white steed, with snowy plumes nodding over her helmet, and in the name of God urged them on to victory. Battle after battle was gained by the consecrated maiden; and history weeps to record that she at last fell a victim to the cruelty of the English and the base ingratitude of the French.

Margaret of Anjou twice delivered her husband from prison and placed him on the English throne; nor did she yield to an overpowering torrent of misfortunes, till she had decided twelve battles in person.

During the reign of Anne of Austria, the French women often appeared at the head of political factions, wearing scarfs that designated the party to which they belonged. Swords and harps, violins and cuirasses, were seen together in the same saloon. There was a regiment created under the name of Mademoiselle; and when Monsieur wrote to the ladies who attended his daughter to Orleans, the letter was directed as follows: “A Mesdames, les Comtesses Maréchales de camp, dans l’ armée de ma fille, contre le Mazarin.” The gift of a bracelet, or glove, was as much valued by the courteous gentlemen of France, as it had been by the knights of chivalry. M. de Chatillon wore the garter of his beautiful mistress on his arm; and when the Duc de Bellegarde went to take command of the army, he besought the queen to honor him so far as to touch the hilt of his sword. The Duc de la Rochefoucault says of Madam de Longueville:

“Pour meriter son cœur, pour plaire à ses beaux yeux,

J’ai fait la guerre aux Roix; je l’ aurois fait aux Dieux.”

During the reign of James the Second, a singular instance of female heroism occurred in Scotland. Sir John Cochrane being condemned to be hung for joining in Argyle’s rebellion, his daughter twice disguised herself and robbed the mail that brought his death-warrant. In the mean time his pardon was obtained from the king.

A spirit of superstitious devotion manifested itself in those times to an extent quite as remarkable as the military enthusiasm. No guest was so welcome in bower and hall as the pilgrim returned from the Holy Land, with many a tale to tell of victories gained by Knights of the Holy Cross over the worthless infidel. The troubadours, after a youth spent in love and minstrelsy, almost invariably retired to the silence of the cloister. Noble and beautiful ladies, upon the slightest disgust with life, or remorse of conscience, took the vow that separated them forever from the world, and pledged them to perpetual chastity and poverty. When this vow was taken, all jewels and rich garments were laid aside, and the head shorn of its beautiful ornament of hair. The building in which they secluded themselves was guarded by massive walls, and iron-grated windows. The rich and the noble seldom died without leaving something to endow a convent. At last, they became powerful instruments of oppression; for if a nobleman had numerous daughters, and wished, in the pride of his heart, to centre his wealth upon one only, he could compel all the others to take the veil; if they were not sufficiently beautiful to aid his ambitious views, or dared to form an attachment contrary to his wishes the same fate awaited them. If a nun violated her vow of chastity, she suffered a penalty as severe as that imposed on the vestal virgins; being placed in an opening of the walls, which was afterwards bricked up, and thus left to perish slowly with hunger. The priests, with some honorable exceptions, were not remarkable for purity, and as the nature of their office gave them free ingress to the nunneries, the results took place which might have been expected from people bound by unnatural vows. The licentiousness of the priesthood gradually made the holy orders a by-word and a reproach, and prepared the way for the stern reformers of the sixteenth century.

But the influence of convents was far from being all evil. Their gates were ever open to the sick, the wounded, and the destitute; in the most turbulent times, the sweet charities of life there found a kindly nursery; and many a young mind was trained to virtue and learning, under the fostering care of some worthy abbess.

As chivalry declined, men began to take pride in literature, instead of leaving all “book learning to the meaner folk;” and women, of course, assumed a corresponding character. The merits of Aristotle and Plato divided the attention of the learned. The universities declared in favor of Aristotle; but poets, lovers, and women, were enamored of the ethereal Plato. Women preached in public, supported controversies, published and defended theses, filled the chairs of philosophy and law, harangued the popes in Latin, wrote Greek, and read Hebrew. Nuns wrote poetry, women of rank became divines, and young girls publicly exhorted Christian princes to take up arms for the recovery of the holy sepulchre.

Hypatia, daughter of Theon of Alexandria, is said to have exceeded her father in astronomy, and well understood other parts of philosophy. She succeeded her father in the government of the Platonic school, and filled with reputation a seat where many celebrated philosophers had taught. The people regarded her as an oracle, and magistrates consulted her in all important cases. No reproach was ever uttered against the perfect purity of her manners. She was unembarrassed in large assemblies of men, because their admiration was tempered with the most scrupulous respect.

In the thirteenth century, a young lady of Bologna, who had great beauty of person, pronounced a Latin funeral oration at the age of twenty-three. At twenty-six she took the degree of doctor of laws, and began publicly to expound the laws of Justinian. At thirty, she was elevated to a professor’s chair, and taught the law to a crowd of scholars from all nations.

Marguérite Clotilde de Surville, in the early part of the fifteenth century, wrote poetry remarkable for its freshness and simplicity, and for the tender affection toward her husband and child which breathes on every page. After her husband’s death, she did better than to enter a nunnery, according to the fashion of the times—she lived unmarried, and devoted herself to the education of her son. When some of her verses were repeated to Margaret of Scotland, the first wife of Louis the Eleventh, she sent her a wreath of laurel, surmounted with a bouquet of daisies, (in French called marguérites,) in which the flowers were of gold, and the leaves silver. It bore this inscription: “Marguérite d’ Ecosse à Marguérite d’ Helicon.”

Italy produced many learned and gifted women, among whom perhaps none was more celebrated than Victoria Colonna, marchioness of Pescara. She was passionately fond of poetry, and being early left to mourn the loss of a husband dearly beloved, she spent the remainder of her life amid the quiet pursuits of literature. Nearly all her sonnets bear allusion to her husband. In one of these she says: “Since I was not permitted to be the mother of sons, to inherit their father’s glory, I may at least, by uniting my name with his in verse, become the mother of his illustrious deeds and lofty fame.” Ariosto says that the marquis of Pescara was more to be envied for the strains in which his gifted wife elevated him above cotemporary heroes, than Achilles, whose warlike deeds were sung by Homer.

In Spain, Isabella of Rosera converted Jews by her eloquent preaching, and commented upon the learned Scotus before cardinals and archbishops.

In England, Lady Jane Grey had great fame as a scholar. She was found poring over Plato with delight, while other members of her family were engaged in diversions; and the night before the blameless creature was executed for the fault of her ambitious parents, she wrote to her sister in Greek, exhorting her to live and die in the true faith of the reformers.

Roger Ascham said of his royal pupil, Elizabeth, “Yea, I believe that, besides her perfect readiness in Latin, Italian, French, and Spanish, she readeth more Greek every day than some prebendary of this church doth Latin in a whole week.”

The eldest daughter of Sir Thomas More had learning equalled only by her virtues. She corresponded with the celebrated Erasmus, who styled her “the ornament of Britain.”

Mary, queen of Scots, could write and speak six languages. She made graceful verses in French; and, when very young, delivered a Latin oration to the court of France, to prove that there was nothing unfeminine in the pursuit of letters.

The spirit of chivalry blazed forth anew in the literature of that period. Many pens were employed in framing the panegyrics of illustrious women; and Italy was peculiarly distinguished for these performances. Boccacio set the example in his Panegyric de Claris Mulieribus. After this, innumerable writers published eulogies on the celebrated women of all nations. These volumes paved the way for the discussion of the merits of women in general; and the pre-eminence of female character over that of men, was proposed for a question in public debate. In this discussion, Cornelius Agrippa boldly asserted the superiority of women.

Peter Paul de Ribera, an Italian, published a work entitled, “The immortal Triumphs and heroic Enterprises of eight hundred and forty-five Women.” But even this ample panegyric is less singular than a publication at Venice, in 1555, called “The Temple of the divine Signora Joan of Arragon; erected in her honor by all the greatest wits, and in all the principal languages of the world.” The society which conceived this method of deification, disputed upon one point only; viz. whether Joan of Arragon should possess the honors of the temple alone, or share them with her celebrated sister, the marchioness de Gaust. After mature deliberation, it was decided that two sovereigns ought not to sit on the same throne; it was therefore resolved by the academy, “that the marchioness have separate worship, and Joan of Arragon remain in the sole and exclusive possession of her altars.” Latin, Greek, Italian, French, Spanish, Sclavonian, Hebrew, Chaldaic, and many other languages, were combined in this singular monument to woman’s fame.

In the midst of all this adulation, women were not backward in vindicating their own claims. Several Italian ladies wrote books to prove the comparative inferiority of men; and the French women espoused the cause with equal zeal. The most conspicuous among them was Margaret of Navarre, the first wife of Henry the Fourth, who undertook to prove that “woman is much superior to man.” This princess, like Elizabeth of England, made use of expressions so gross, that we in modern times can hardly realize they came from a woman.

About the commencement of the sixteenth century, witches began to be persecuted, abused, and despised, instead of being treated with the reverence of more ancient times. Either from association with the idea of the wrinkled sibyl of Cumæ, or from some other less obvious cause, every woman who was old and haggard was in great danger of being considered a witch. Every unaccountable event in the neighborhood was charged to her; and any explanations she attempted to make were regarded as the cunning instigations of the devil. If a new disease appeared among cattle, or a blight rested on the fields, or a child had a singular kind of fit, or a neighbor had the nightmare, it was immediately attributed to the influence of some old dame, who at midnight, when honest folks were sleeping, left her mortal body and went careering through the air on a broomstick, accompanied by a train of imps. If any person afflicted with fits, or other grievances, swore that any particular individual was the cause, their oath was deemed sufficient, and the poor victim of superstition was forthwith committed to jail, there to await a cruel death. In many parts of the north of Europe, it was for several years a very remarkable thing for any old woman to die peaceably in her bed; and the same kind of excitement prevailed to a considerable extent in England, Germany, and France. The description of witches and their accompaniments are nearly the same all the world over. Even in remote Hindostan, an old woman appeared many years ago, of whom it was reported that she used to cook owls, bats, snakes, lizards, and human flesh, in the skull of an enemy, by which means she was able to render men invisible, and strike terror into their adversaries. If the Hindoos had read Shakspeare, they could not have pictured more exactly the English ideas of a witch. A cat, and generally a black one, is usually described as one of the appendages of these enchantresses; and it was supposed that they very often assumed the form of that animal.

But it was not merely the aged who fell victims to this strange superstition: the young and the beautiful were sometimes burned at the stake, upon the charge of having dealt in magic. Such was the fate of the high-souled maid of Orleans. The duchess de Conchini, being summoned before the judges, and asked by what arts she had bewitched the queen of France, calmly replied, “Merely by that ascendency which great minds must have over little ones.” In England, the duchess of Gloster was accused of making a wax figure of Henry the Sixth, and causing it to melt before the fire with certain incantations, intended to produce his death. For this offence, charged upon her by political enemies of her husband, she was condemned to walk through the streets barefoot, dressed in a white sheet, with papers pinned on her back, and a burning taper in her hand; and after performing this humiliating penance three days, followed by an insulting rabble, she was banished from the realm. Richard the Third pretended that his withered arm was produced by the sorcery of his brother’s widow and Jane Shore.

Fortune-telling was a power supposed to be universally possessed by witches; and the most common method was by studying the lines of the hand. A cup containing tea or coffee grounds was sometimes chosen in preference; the person whirled it round three times toward herself, accompanying each motion with a wish; then the sorceress examined the cup, and pretended to find destiny inscribed there.

On the evening of the thirty-first of October, called Allhallow Even, or Hallow E’en, witches, devils, and fairies were supposed to be peculiarly busy. On this occasion it was common for young girls to try tricks to ascertain whom they were to marry. The burning of nuts or apple-seeds in a shovel was a favorite charm; the nuts were named, and accordingly as they burned quietly together, or bounced away from each other, it was supposed the issue of the courtship would be. Burns describes this ceremony:

“Jean slips in twa wi tentie e’e;

Wha ’twas she wadna tell:

But this is Jock, and this is me,

She says in to hersel:

He bleezed owre her, an she owre him,

As they wad never mair part!

Till luff! he started up the lum,

And Jean had e’en a sair heart

To see ’t that night.”

It was likewise customary to go out blindfolded and pull the first plant of kail they met; its being big or little, crooked or straight, indicated the size and shape of the future husband or wife; the quantity of earth that clung to the root was prophetic of the degree of wealth; and the taste of the stem indicated the natural temper and disposition. Another trick was to go partly down cellar in the dark, and throw a ball of thread down stairs, keeping hold of one end to wind it; if any thing impeded it, they called out, “Who holds?” and it was believed that a voice from the cellar would answer the name of the future spouse. Sometimes an individual stole out unperceived and sowed a handful of hemp-seed, repeating now and then, “Hemp-seed, I sow thee; hemp-seed, I sow thee; and he that is to be my true love come after me and pull thee.” Then looking over the left shoulder, the appearance of the invoked person was supposed to be seen in the attitude of pulling hemp: and no doubt it often was seen; for roguish lovers did not always neglect such opportunities to advance their suit.

A volume might be filled with the “tricks” tried by young people to ascertain who would be their future husband, or wife; but these few specimens must suffice. Egyptian women were the most famous sorcerers of the ancient world; and Gipseys have been most famed for magical skill in modern times.

The fourteenth of February is called St. Valentine’s day. On the evening previous, it was customary in many parts of the world for people to write valentines, or love-letters in verse, to any lady who pleased their fancy; and sometimes ladies were gracious enough to address their lovers in rhyme. The outer door was usually slyly opened, and the verses, tied to an apple or an orange, thrown in. A loud rap then announced the event to the inmates of the house. Sometimes the boys, for the sake of sport, would chalk the size of a letter on the door-step, and then have fine fun when some person attempted to pick it up. There was a superstition that whoever was first seen on the morning of St. Valentine’s day, would assuredly be the future spouse. On that day it was customary for a young lady to choose from among the gentlemen of her acquaintance one to be her gallant; he presented her with a bunch of flowers, or other trifling present, and thus bound himself to attend upon her with the most obsequious gallantry for the space of one year; before the service was completed a more serious partnership was often resolved on.

On St. Valentine’s day, it is still usual for the common people of England to draw names by lot. The man whose name is drawn makes the fair one some trifling present, and is her partner in the dance. She considers him her beau until he is engaged to some one else, or till St. Valentine’s day returns.

These customs, together with the superstitious observances of Hallow E’en, continued in full force during the seventeenth century, and fragments of them are now found in various parts of the world.

It may be necessary to say a few words concerning the dress worn at the remote periods of which we have been speaking. The Saxon ladies wore a bodice and short petticoat, with a kind of mantle over the head and shoulders. Buskins, laced in front, were worn on the feet. The custom of combing the hair all back from the face, surmounted with a black coif and steeple hat, continued from the Norman conquest till near the seventeenth century. Queen Elizabeth was the first woman in England that wore silk stockings; embroidered gloves and perfumes were likewise first introduced into England from Italy, for her use. This magnanimous queen was extremely offended if any of the ladies of her court wore garments approaching to her own in magnificence. She had a new dress for every day in the year, and was much attracted by rich apparel in gentlemen. Sir Walter Raleigh had even his shoes embroidered with pearls, and the court dresses of her favorite Leicester were literally covered with jewels. Elizabeth enacted sumptuary laws, which defined with great precision what sort of bonnet might be worn by a gentlewoman, what by an esquire’s wife, what by a baron’s wife, &c. Aldermen’s wives were permitted by an express law to wear the royal color of scarlet. Every alderman who failed to supply his wife with a scarlet gown before the ensuing Christmas, was fined ten pounds; and every lady, who failed to appear in these dresses at Christmas and Easter, forfeited twenty shillings for every default.

During Cromwell’s time, ornaments were thought sinful. Women wore their hair plain and smooth, and muffled their persons from head to foot, as if beauty were a gift to be ashamed of. This unnatural restraint produced a violent reaction in the time of Charles the Second. Ladies began to copy the elegant drapery of Vandyke’s pictures, which gradually degenerated into extreme immodesty.

The emperor Paul of Russia made very minute regulations concerning the dress both of men and women; and his laws were so capricious that it required the most vigilant attention to comply with them. He once ordered a lady of his court to be imprisoned and kept on bread and water, because she had been guilty of wearing her hair rather lower in the neck than was consistent with his decrees.

During the middle ages, the French women wore gowns quite high in the neck, and fitted closely to the shape. The right side was embroidered with their husbands’ coat of arms, and the left with their own. The custom of displaying the shoulders was unknown before the time of Charles the Sixth. Widows were closely muffled, and wore caps and veils very much like nuns. Henry the Fourth found himself obliged to restrain extravagance by sumptuary laws; yet his mistress, Gabriella, was sometimes so loaded with pearls and diamonds, that she could not support her own weight.

A taste for rich and elegant dress displayed itself first and most conspicuously in Italy and France, and thence spread into more northern nations. Petrarch’s Laura is described as wearing gloves brocaded with gold, and dressed magnificently in silk, though a pound of silk at that period was valued at four pounds sterling in money.

Spanish ladies wore necklaces of steel, to which thin iron rods were fastened, curving upward to expand the veil when thrown over the head. Caps more than a foot high were likewise much in vogue; they were dressed in the form of a toupee on the top of the head, and covered with a black veil. These caps may still be seen in some of the Spanish provinces. Both in Scotland and Spain it was customary for a widow to wear mourning till she died, or married again. The first year was passed in a chamber hung with black, from which the sunlight was excluded; the second it was hung with gray, and jewels and mirrors prohibited.

All nations prided themselves on long and beautiful hair. Among the Saxons and Danes, married women only covered it with a head-dress; girls wore their tresses loose and flowing. A faithless wife had her head shaven, and the church sometimes ordered it as a penance for other sins. The Spanish and Italian ladies retained the Roman predilection for golden hair. In order to obtain the desired hue, they made use of sulphur and aquafortis, and exposed their heads to the sun during the hottest hours of the day.

During the middle ages, dwellings were vast, and in some respects magnificent, but remarkably comfortless. The wife of the proudest baron, though she wore

“A mantle of rich degree,

Purple pall and ermine fre,”

was obliged to live without many things, which the least wealthy citizen of the United States would consider it absolutely necessary to provide for his household. Coffee and tea were unknown. Coaches were not used in England until 1680. Before that time ladies rode on horseback or on palfreys; and sometimes double, with another on the pillion. A fondness for perfumes was universal; they were usually kept burning in censers.

The word lady is supposed to have been derived from the Saxon word hlaf-dig, meaning a loaf-giver, from the custom of distributing bread among retainers, after a feast in baronial halls. It was customary to bind the tender limbs of infants in tight bandages.

After the sixteenth century, books or verses in praise of women gradually diminished; tournaments were abolished; and manners became less reserved and respectful. Ladies of rank began to throw aside the pedantry of learned languages, and acquire what the French call “the talent of society.” The French were the first to set the example of graceful accomplishments, and fascinating vivacity of manners; and they soon became, what they have ever since remained, “the glass of fashion” for other nations.

The beautiful Mary Stuart carried the gay and graceful refinements of Paris into the bleak atmosphere of Scotland, and Henrietta Maria, with her brilliant eyes, lively manners, and ever-changing caprices, made them fashionable in old England.

Under the commonwealth, society assumed a new and stern aspect. The theatres were shut; games shows, and amusements of every kind, were prohibited. Women were in disgrace, and love considered a sin to be expiated by fasting and prayer. It was everywhere reiterated from the pulpits that woman caused man’s expulsion from paradise, and ought to be shunned by Christians, as one of the greatest temptations of Satan. “Man,” said they, “is conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity; it was his complacency in woman that wrought his first abasement; let him not therefore glory in his shame; let him not worship the fountain of his corruption.” Learning and accomplishments were alike discouraged; and women confined themselves to a knowledge of cookery, family medicines, and unintelligible theological disputes of the day.

The reign of Charles the Second was an era of shameless profligacy. Ladies of the court paid little regard to decorum, either in dress or manners; and men covered their selfish sensuality with just gloss enough not to defeat their own purposes. There never was a time when women were so much caressed and so little respected. It was then customary, when a gentleman drank a lady’s health, to throw some article of dress into the flames in her honor; and all his companions were obliged to sacrifice a similar article, whatever it might be. One of Sir Charles Sedley’s friends, perceiving that he wore a very rich lace cravat, drank to the health of a certain lady, and threw his own cravat in the fire. Sir Charles followed the example very good-naturedly, but observed that he too would have a joke sometime. Afterward, when he dined with the same party, he filled a bumper to some reigning beauty, and called a dentist to extract a decaying tooth, which had long pained him. Etiquette demanded that every one of the party should throw a tooth in the fire; and they yielded to necessity, after unavailing remonstrances against this cruel test of their gallantry. The practice of drinking in honor of ladies is said to have originated at the concerts of St. Cecilia. When the concert ended, the gentlemen retired to a tavern; and he, who could drink the most wine, acquired the right of naming the reigning toast for the ensuing year.

During the reign of the second Charles, women, instead of being approached with the respect paid to superior beings, became the objects of contemptuous satire. The despicable earl of Rochester set the example of this species of writing; and in succeeding reigns, it was followed by Pope, Swift, Young, and a multitude of ordinary writers. Pope says:

“Men some to pleasure, some to business take,

But every woman is at heart a rake.”

The objects of this wholesale bitterness have been disposed to palliate it, in consideration of the personal deformity of the poet, which made him magnanimously hate those whom he could not please.

Swift speaks of his unacknowledged and heart-broken wife as follows:

“Her hearers are amazed from whence

Proceeds that fund of wit and sense,

Which, though her modesty would shroud,

Breaks like the sun behind a cloud.

Ten thousand oaths upon record

Are not so sacred as her word!

She tends me like an humble slave,

And when indecently I rave,

She with soft speech my anguish cheers,

Or melts my passion down with tears:

Although ’tis easy to descry

She needs assistance more than I,

She seems to feel my pains alone,

And is a stoic to her own.

Where among scholars can you find

So soft, and yet so firm a mind?”

And yet, when poor Stella had died, a victim to his unkindness, he reviled all womankind in terms of brutal grossness. He even started the opinion that women were a connecting link between men and monkeys; and ladies will no doubt be disposed to thank him for any classification, that does not place them in the same species with himself.

But panegyrists cannot raise women above their level, or satirists force them below it. Their character and condition is always in correspondence with that of men; and both sexes have always furnished about an equal number of exceptions to the general character of the age in which they lived. There were liberal-minded women, as well as men, during the bigoted times of Cromwell, and many an English matron, of stainless character, educated her pure-minded daughters far from the corrupting court of Charles the Second. The excellent lady Russell, who was perhaps the very best woman in the world, lived in these profligate times.

Mary, the wife of William the Third, made industry, domestic virtue, and modest apparel, fashionable by her own example; and during Anne’s reign the social intercourse of the sexes was polite and pleasant without being profligate. It is true that literature was not the order of the day; for the women of that period were as ignorant of their own language, as they had formerly been learned in the classics; Dr. Johnson declares that even the gifted Stella could not spell correctly. Needlework became the all-absorbing occupation among women of the higher classes. Whole churches were hung with tapestry embroidered by devout dames; and notable housewives prided themselves on covering their floors, chairs, and footstools, with the workmanship of their own hands.

In queen Anne’s reign, it was considered vulgar to speak or move like a person in good health. Complete helplessness was considered peculiarly feminine and becoming. The duchess of Marlborough carried this fashion so far, that when she travelled, she ordered the drums of garrisons to be muffled, and straw laid before her hotels, lest her delicate nerves should be offended with rude noises. About this time was introduced from France the fashion of wearing shoes with heels five or six inches high, top-knots of extraordinary height on the head, and hooped petticoats measuring six or seven yards in circumference.

The custom of powdering the hair with flour was introduced by ballad singers, in 1641. In the beginning of the reign of George the First, only two ladies wore their hair powdered, and they were pointed at for their singularity. The women of that period likewise wore a great quantity of artificial hair, in imitation of periwigs worn by men.

About this time, lady Mary Wortley Montagu conferred a great blessing upon England, and the civilized world, by introducing inoculation for the small pox, after her return from Turkey. The custom was opposed with the utmost violence of ignorance and prejudice; but lady Mary persevered in her generous purpose, and to prove her sincerity, she first tried it upon her own son, about three years old. In Litchfield cathedral stands a cenotaph raised to her memory by a lady, who had herself derived benefit from this salutary practice. The monument represents Beauty weeping for the loss of her preserver.

Some of the best English writers appeared during the latter part of the seventeenth century; but the romances of the day were exceedingly prosaic, love-sick, and sentimental. The hero and heroine always fell in love at first sight, and always had innumerable difficulties to contend with, in consequence of the cruelty of relations and the plots of libertines. Love, instead of being acted upon and developed by circumstances, was represented as the chief end and aim of life, and all the events of this busy world were merely its accessories.

About this time was introduced the word “blue-stocking,” which has ever since been applied to literary ladies, who were somewhat pedantic. It is said to have originated at a literary club, where several women assembled. A gentleman who wore blue stockings was regarded as the lion of the menagerie; and when he was detained, it was common to observe, “We can do nothing till the blue stockings come.” The manner in which the phrase has ever since been used leads to the conclusion that the members of this club were pedantic. It is now common to say of a sensible, unaffected woman, “She knows a great deal, but has no tinge of blue.” Byron wittily remarked, “I care not how blue a woman’s stockings are, if her petticoats are long enough to cover them;” and this pithy observation comprises all that ever need be said about the cultivation of female intellect.

English history presents many instances of women exercising prerogatives now denied them. In an action at law, it has been determined that an unmarried woman, having a freehold, might vote for members of parliament; and it is recorded that lady Packington returned two members of parliament. Lady Broughton was keeper of the Gate-house prison; and in a much later period a woman was appointed governor of the house of correction at Chelmsford, by order of the court.

In the reign of George the Second, the minister of Clerkenwell was chosen by a majority of women. The office of champion has frequently been held by a woman, and was so at the coronation of George the First. The office of grand chamberlain, in 1822, was filled by two women; and that of clerk of the crown, in the court of king’s bench, has been granted to a female. The celebrated Anne, countess of Pembroke, held the hereditary office of sheriff of Westmoreland, and exercised it in person, sitting on the bench of the judges. In ancient councils mention is made of deaconesses; and in an edition of the New Testament printed in 1574, a woman is spoken of as minister of a church. The society of Friends, and the Methodists, are the only Christian sects who now allow women to speak at public religious meetings.

A woman may succeed to the throne of England with the same power and privileges as a king; and the business of the state is transacted in her name, while her husband is only a subject. The king’s wife is considered as a subject; but is exempted from the law which forbids any married woman to possess property in her own right during the lifetime of her husband; she may sue any person at law without joining her husband in the suit; may buy and sell lands without his interference; and she may dispose of her property by will, as if she were a single woman. She cannot be fined by any court of law; but is liable to be tried and punished for crimes by peers of the realm. The queen dowager enjoys nearly the same privileges that she did before she became a widow; and if she marries a subject still continues to retain her rank and title; but such marriages cannot take place without permission from the reigning sovereign. A woman who is noble in her own right retains her title when she marries a man of inferior rank; but if ennobled by her husband, she loses the title by marrying a commoner. A peeress can only be tried by a jury of peers.

In old times, a woman who was convicted of being a common mischief-maker and scold, was sentenced to the punishment of the ducking-stool; which consisted of a sort of chair fastened to a pole, in which she was seated and repeatedly let down into the water, amid the shouts of the rabble. At Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a woman convicted of the same offence was led about the streets by the hangman, with an instrument of iron bars fitted on her head, like a helmet. A piece of sharp iron entered the mouth, and severely pricked the tongue whenever the culprit attempted to move it.

A great deal of vice prevails in England, among the very fashionable, and the very low classes. Misconduct and divorces are not unfrequent among the former, because their mode of life corrupts their principles, and they deem themselves above the jurisdiction of popular opinion; the latter feel as if they were beneath the influence of public censure, and find it very difficult to be virtuous, on account of extreme poverty and the consequent obstructions in the way of marriage. But the general character of English women is modest, reserved, sincere, and dignified. They have strong passions and affections, which often develope themselves in the most beautiful forms of domestic life. They are in general remarkable for a healthy appearance, and an exquisite bloom of complexion. Perhaps the world does not present a lovelier or more graceful picture than the English home of a virtuous family.

In modern times, no nation has produced a greater number of truly illustrious women. Hannah More wrote as vigorously as Johnson, and with far more of Christian mildness; Maria Edgeworth, as a novelist, is second only to Sir Walter Scott; Mrs. Fry, who cheerfully left the refinements of her own home, to do good to the destitute and vicious in their prisons, deserves a statue by the side of Howard; Mrs. Somerville, notwithstanding the malicious assertion of Byron, has proved that female astronomers can look at the moon for some better purpose than to ascertain whether there be a man in it; and who is disposed to dispute lord Brougham’s assertion, that Harriet Martineau, by her writings on political economy, is doing more good than any man in England?

Modern literature contains abundant satire upon the vices and follies of women; but invectives against the sex are by no means popular. Byron indeed treats them in the true Turkish style, like voluptuous goddesses, or soulless slaves, as his own caprices happen to be; but a libertine will always write thus, because (as the old chronicler said of the troubadour) “he knoweth nothing better.” Cowper, and Wordsworth, and that sweet minstrel Barry Cornwall, have praised us in a purer and better spirit, and thereby left to posterity a transparent record of their own virtue.

The Irish are an extremely warm-hearted people. Their well educated women have an innocent gayety, frankness and naiveté of manner, that is extremely bewitching. As a people, they are remarkably characterized by a want of foresight, and keen enjoyment of the present moment. The style of Irish beauty indicates this; being generally bright-eyed, fresh, and laughing. If a young couple were in love with each other, it would, in most cases, be in vain to remind them of their extreme poverty, with a view to inculcate maxims of worldly prudence. The answer would be, “Sure, two people eat no more when they’re together, than they do when they’re separate;” and when told that they may have a great deal of trouble and hard work in rearing a family of children, they will simply reply, “Sure, that’s what I’ve always been used to.” They are distinguished for filial piety. The most nourishing food and the best seat in their cabins are always appropriated to father and mother; and the grandchildren are taught to treat them with respectful tenderness.

The ancient custom of hired mourners at funerals still prevails in some of the provinces of Ireland. Women will often join a funeral procession, and unite in the lamentations with all their powers of voice for some time, and then turn to ask, “Arrah! who is it that’s dead? Who are we crying for?” Those who are particularly skilful in crying are in great demand; and, as an Irishman said to Miss Edgeworth, “every one would wish and be proud to have such at his funeral, or at that of his friends.”

The Irish have been great believers in fairies, concerning the existence of which they have many wild popular tales. Their literature is generally imaginative and glowing. Some of the most attractive female writers of the present day are of Irish origin.

The Scotch women of former times were remarkably high-minded, heroic, loyal to their prince, and attached to ancient usages. Their character in these respects corresponded with that of the men, and like them they had an excessive pride of noble birth. The dress of the Highland women was very picturesque and graceful. It consisted of a petticoat and jerkin with straight sleeves, over which they wore a plaid fastened with a buckle, and falling toward the feet in large folds. The Scotch generally have high cheek-bones, blue eyes, light hair, and countenances expressive of good sense. They are a prudent, thrifty, and cautious people. The popular belief in a kind of fairies, which they call brownies, is indicative of the national character. Stories are told of industrious housewives, who have great quantities of work performed for them by diligent little brownies, while they are sleeping; and of notable dairy-maids, who awake in the morning and find silver sixpences in their shoes, placed by the same invisible hands.

Scotland has produced several women of great talent, whose writings are generally characterized by sound good sense, and accurate observation of human nature.

It is a singular circumstance that so gallant a nation as the French should exclude women from the throne, while the ungallant English have a strong predilection for the government of queens. The ancient Franks preferred kings, on account of the continual wars in which they were engaged; and a good deal of difficulty having arisen concerning a succession to the crown, after the death of Lewis Hutin, it was solemnly and deliberately decreed that all females should be excluded; and this decree remains to the present day unreversed. Yet there is probably no country in the world where women exert such an active political influence as in France. Under the regency of Anne of Austria, they obtained an ascendency which they have never since lost. According to cardinal de Retz, a revolution in the heart of a woman at that time often produced a revolution in public affairs; and the profligate Louis the Fifteenth was notoriously governed by his mistresses.

The Comtesse Champagne, when she presided at one of the Courts of Love, during the age of chivalry, solemnly decided that true love could not exist between a married pair; and it was the received maxim of those courts in Provence, that being married was no legitimate reason against returning the passion of a lover. To this day, the French have a singular code of morals upon this subject; yet those who know them well, say they are quite as good, if not a little better than their more decorous neighbors. It is difficult to make fair comparisons; and we gladly throw a gauze veil over the subject, à la mode Française.

The French are very susceptible, but not characterized by depth of passion. The following anecdote may serve to illustrate the difference between them and the English: A Frenchman, by the most ardent professions, endeavored to gain the affections of a married woman in England; and she at length became so infatuated as to propose that they should escape to Scotland and secure the happiness of their future lives by marriage. The volatile lover excused himself as well as he could, and often laughed with his countrymen, when he told how much trouble he had to escape such excess of kindness.

The French girls are kept under very strict superintendence. They are not allowed to go to parties, or places of public amusement, without being accompanied by some married female relation; and they see their lovers only in the presence of a third person. Marriages are entirely negotiated by parents; and sometimes the wedding day is the second time that a bride and bridegroom see each other. Nothing is more common than to visit a lady, and attend her parties, without knowing her husband by sight; or to visit a gentleman without ever being introduced to his wife. If a married couple were to be seen frequently in each other’s company, they would be deemed extremely ungenteel. After ladies are married, they have unbounded freedom. It is a common practice to receive morning calls from gentlemen, before they have risen from bed; and they talk with as little reserve to such visiters, as they would in the presence of any woman of refinement.

The French are generally slender, active, and well proportioned, with brown complexions and dark eyes and hair. The prevailing expression of their countenances is vivacity, and their manners are characterized by a graceful ease, which, if it be not nature, is the best possible imitation of nature. An artificial state of society is here carried to the utmost point of refinement. In the perpetual invention of beautiful forms more sober nations have toiled after them in vain, scolding all the while about French fashions, and French caprices.

The beautiful Marie Antoinette first introduced the custom of wearing feathers in the hair. Having one day playfully stuck a peacock’s feather among her curls, she was pleased with the effect, and called for some small ostrich plumes. She arranged them so tastefully with jewels, that the king declared he had never seen any thing more beautiful. Feathers immediately brought an extravagant price in France, and the fashion soon prevailed all over Europe.

One day the same queen put on a brown lutestring dress, which the king, with a smile, remarked was couleur de puce. As soon as this was made known, every person of fashion was eager to wear the color of a flea. They distinguished between the various shades of a young and an old flea, and between different parts of the body of the same insect. The dyers could not possibly satisfy the hourly demand. The silk merchants, finding this mania injurious to their trade, presented new satins to her majesty, who having chosen a glossy ash color, the king observed that it was the color of her hair. The uniform of fleas was forthwith discarded, and every body was eager to wear the color of the queen’s hair. Some of her ringlets were obtained by bribery, and sent to Lyons and other manufactories with all haste, that the exact hue might be caught.

French ladies, especially those not young, use a great deal of rouge. A traveller who saw many of them in their opera boxes, says, “I could compare them to nothing but a large bed of peonies.”

After the French revolution, it became the fashion to have every thing in ancient classic style. Loose flowing drapery, naked arms, sandaled feet, and tresses twisted, or braided, à la Diane, or à la Psyche, were the order of the day. The want of pockets, which had previously been worn, was obviated by sticking the fan in the girdle, and confiding the snuff-box and handkerchief to some obsequious beau. The reticule or indispensable was not then invented.

The state of gross immorality that prevailed at this time ought not to be described, if language had the power. The profligacy of Rome in its worst days was comparatively thrown into the shade. Religion and marriage became a mockery, and every form of impure and vindictive passion walked abroad, with the consciousness that public opinion did not require them to assume even a slight disguise. The fish-women of Paris will long retain an unenviable celebrity for the brutal excesses of their rage. The goddess of Reason was worshipped by men, under the form of a living woman entirely devoid of clothing; and in the public streets ladies might be seen who scarcely paid more attention to decorum. Even the courage they evinced during the reign of terror was often oddly mingled with frivolity. A French writer, who went to the house of the minister, to solicit liberty for an imprisoned friend, was struck with always finding a young woman on the spot, who apparently came for the same purpose. “Madam,” said he, “you must have a good deal of energy, to rise every day so early at a season so rigorous.” She replied, “For more than a month I have constantly been here at eight in the morning, to beg my husband’s liberty. It is necessary to rise at seven to arrange my toilet. You may judge how fatiguing this is; for I cannot miss of a ball, and I often come home at five in the morning, after having danced all night.”

But the French revolution abounds with anecdotes of women who evinced a noble forgetfulness of self. Many a one, at the imminent peril of her life, humanely afforded shelter to fugitives whose religious and political opinions differed from her own; and the courage with which they shared the destiny of their friends was truly wonderful. A mother, in order to gain access to the prison where her son was confined, became portress of the jail. One day the brutal jailers loaded her with such an enormous weight that her delicate frame sunk under the burden, and she expired near him she had loved so well. Madame Lefort was one among numerous instances of wives, who effected their husbands’ escape by change of dress. The angry guards exclaimed, “Wretch! what have you done?” “My duty,” she calmly replied; “do yours.” When the marshal de Mouchy was summoned to appear before the tribunal, his wife accompanied him. Being told that no one accused her, she replied, “When my husband is arrested, so am I.” She followed him to prison, and answered objections by saying, “When my husband is sentenced, so am I.” She sat by his side in the cart that conveyed him to the guillotine, and when the executioner told her that no decree of death had been issued against her, she answered, “Since my husband is condemned, so am I.” They were beheaded together.

Madam de Maillé was imprisoned instead of her sister-in-law. She was aware of the mistake, but submitted quietly, that the real victim might escape. When tried, she merely observed that the Christian name they had read did not belong to her. When they insisted upon discovering where the person lived to whom it did belong, she replied, “I am not weary of life, but I had rather die a thousand deaths than save myself at the expense of another. Proceed to the guillotine.” The monsters, for once, spared human life from respect to a noble action.

At this period, people ran wild with the idea that men and women ought to perform the same duties, and that it was gross tyranny not to choose women to command armies, harangue senates, &c. An influential Frenchman, being asked why they did not elect ladies members of the Chamber of Deputies, replied that the law required every member to be forty years old, and he despaired of finding any one who would acknowledge herself of that age.

Perhaps there is no country in the world where women of all ranks are treated with so much politeness as in France. No party is considered a party of pleasure without their presence, and great complaints would be made if they retired from table after dinner, according to the custom of the English. Whatever may be the husband’s business, they are active partners in all his concerns. They may be seen talking politics in saloons, selling goods at the counter, gathering grapes from the vineyards, and laboring in the fields.

France has produced many distinguished women. Their literature has been, like themselves, witty, agreeable and graceful; but it often reminds one of the perfect artificial flowers from Paris, so natural that they even bear the perfume of the blossoms they represent. It seems to be universally conceded that Madam de Staël was intellectually the greatest woman that ever lived.

From the time of the Bourbon dynasty, Spanish women were excluded from the throne; but the late king reversed the decree in favor of his daughter, who is now queen. The Spanish women are small and slender, with dark hair and sparkling black eyes full of expression. They are in general very ignorant, but naturally witty, and much given to lively repartee. Their motions are slow and graceful, and their dress is usually modest. They are rarely seen either in the house or the street without their fans; and when they meet an acquaintance, they have an exceedingly graceful and coquettish manner of shaking the fan, by way of recognition. They are indolent in their habits, doing little except dressing, sleeping, saying their prayers by bead-roll, and daily sauntering away a couple of hours on the Prado. Cleanliness is far from being a national characteristic. There is great fondness for perfumes, which are generally kept burning in their apartments, and ladies are seldom without some high-spiced comfit in their mouths. In no part of the world has the spirit of chivalry lingered so long as in Spain. The Spanish lover moves, speaks, thinks, and breathes only for his mistress. He praises her in the most hyperbolical terms, and approaches her with the deference due to a superior being. Something of this characterizes the Spanish manners toward the whole sex. They never sit down while a lady is standing in the room; and at the close of letters to women, or princes, they say, “I kiss your feet,” though to a gentleman they merely say, “I kiss your hand.” If a lady happened to express admiration of a gentleman’s watch, or any valuable trinket, it would be deemed very impolite not to present it to her. Throughout Spain, the sound of the guitar, frequently accompanied by the voice, may be heard until late in the night; for he who has not chosen a lady-love, will from mere gallantry serenade some lady of his acquaintance.

The Spanish are fond of masquerades, and have a great passion for chess. Ladies often attend the cruel entertainment of bull-fights. Like all the inhabitants of Catholic countries, they spend a great deal of time at church, in religious ceremonies, which often prove a convenient cover for love intrigues. One of the boys who attend the altar is not unfrequently the messenger on these occasions. He kneels near the fair lady, crosses himself, repeats his Ave Marias, and devoutly kisses the ground; during this process, he contrives to slip a letter under the lady’s drapery, and receive another in return. Girls are generally educated at convents, and their marriages arranged for them by relatives, soon after they leave its walls. It is a matter of course for a married lady to have a cortego, or gallant, who attends upon her obsequiously wherever she goes, and submits to all her caprices. The old custom of locks and keys, duennas and spies, to guard the character of women, has fallen into disuse in modern times.

The Portuguese are, in general terms, so similar to the Spanish, that they do not need a separate description. The pageantry, superstition and ignorance of Catholic countries prevail in both kingdoms. Nothing is more common than to see large processions of men, women and children, on horses, mules and asses, accompanied with music, going to return thanks to some particular image of the Virgin, in fulfilment of a vow. Women sit with the left side toward the horse’s head, and sometimes ride after the fashion of men. The title of donna is given to all ladies. Those of high rank make their visits in great state; they are carried in a chair by four men, of whom the two foremost are uncovered; two others attend as a guard, and a seventh carries a lantern; two coaches follow, drawn by mules, one containing her women, and the other the gentlemen of her household. The market women, trudging into the cities, by the side of their donkeys, with panniers heavily laden with fruit and vegetables, and the great numbers kneeling by the side of rivers to wash clothing, or spreading it out on the banks to dry, have a very picturesque effect in the eye of a traveller. In both nations marriages, christenings, and funerals are celebrated with all the pomp their circumstances will admit; but their usual habits are frugal and temperate. The ladies seldom taste any thing but water. Their countenances are generally tranquil and modest; and their teeth extremely white and regular, owing to the frequent use of tooth-picks made of soft, pliant wood.

In Portugal, women wear the crown, and confer the title of king on their husbands, as in England. In the interior provinces, they are not allowed to go out of doors, without permission of parents and husband; and even their male relations are not allowed to sit beside them in public places. The church is almost the only place where lovers have a chance to obtain a sight of them. The Portuguese women do not assume the names of their husbands, but retain their own. Children bear the family name of both parents, and are sometimes called by one, sometimes by the other. It is not common for widows to marry again.

The Italians, like their neighbors of Spain and Portugal, live under the paralyzing influence of a religion that retains its superstitious forms, while little of life-giving faith remains. Like them they have lively passions, are extremely susceptible, and in the general conduct of life more governed by the impetuosity of impulse than rectitude of principle. The ladies have less gravity than the Spanish, and less frivolity than the French, and in their style of dress incline toward the freedom of the latter. Some of the richest and most commodious convents of Europe are in Italy. The daughters of wealthy families are generally bestowed in marriage as soon as they leave these places of education. These matters are entirely arranged by parents and guardians, and youth and age are not unfrequently joined together, for the sake of uniting certain acres of land. But the affections, thus repressed, seek their natural level by indirect courses. It is a rare thing for an Italian lady to be without her cavaliere servente, or lover, who spends much of his time at her house, attends her to all public places, and appears to live upon her smiles. The old maxim of the Provençal troubadours, that matrimony ought to be no hindrance to such liaisons, seems to be generally and practically believed in Italy.

Under the powerful aristocracy of Venice, heiresses were bestowed in marriage by the government, and never allowed to make a foreigner master of themselves and their wealth.

In Genoa, there are marriage-brokers, who have pocketbooks filled with the names of marriageable girls of different classes, with an account of their fortunes, personal attractions, &c. When they succeed in arranging connections, they have two or three per cent. commission on the portion. The marriage-contract is often drawn up before the parties have seen each other. If a man dislikes the appearance or manners of his future partner, he may break off the match, on condition of paying the brokerage and other expenses.

The Italian ladies are affable and polite, and have in general a good deal of taste and imagination. At the theatres are a class of performers, called improvisatrice, who recite extempore poetry upon any subject the audience suggest, and often in such metre as they prescribe. An English traveller describes an improvisatrice whom he heard in the winter of 1818, as a pale girl about seventeen, with large black eyes full of fire. When she first began to declaim, her cheeks glowed and her whole frame quivered with convulsive effort; but as she proceeded her language became more flowing and impassioned, and the audience expressed their delight by loud and frequent applause.

The literature of Italy has several illustrious female names. Their writings, like every thing in that sunny clime, are full of fervor and enthusiasm. It has already been mentioned that a woman filled one of the learned professorships in Bologna in the thirteenth century; the same thing occurred in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and eighteenth centuries.

Polish women resemble the French in gayety and love of pleasure, and the Italians in ardor of passion and vividness of imagination. Their manners are said to be a seductive mixture of languid voluptuousness and sprightly coquetry. The state of public opinion is not favorable to female virtue; a circumstance which at once indicates corruption, and increases it. The Poles are fond of pageantry and splendor, but are charged with sluttishness in the interior arrangement of their houses. I presume there is no nation, whose ladies are so universally acknowledged to be pre-eminent in beauty. They have fine forms, and an exceedingly graceful carriage. Their complexions are generally very fair and clear; but all except the young make use of rouge, and some to an excessive degree. The eyes and hair are generally light, but there are numerous exceptions.

During all the struggles of unhappy Poland, the women have manifested an heroic spirit. When king John Sobieski departed from home to raise the siege of Vienna, then closely invested by the Turks, his wife looked at him tearfully, and then at a little boy, the youngest of her sons. “Why do you weep so bitterly?” inquired the king. “It is because this boy is not old enough to accompany his father,” she replied.

During the late war, Polish women assisted the men in erecting fortifications; and one of the out-works was called the “lunette of the women,” because it was built entirely by their hands. The countess Plater raised and equipped a regiment of five or six hundred Lithuanians at her own expense; and she was uniformly at their head, encouraging them by her brave example in every battle. The women proposed to form three companies of their own sex to share the fatigues and perils of the army; but their countrymen, wishing to employ their energies in a manner less dangerous, distributed them among the hospitals to attend the wounded. The old Spartan spirit revived at this troubled period, and Polish matrons wished their sons to conquer or die. If any man, from prudential motives, hesitated to fight for his country’s freedom, the ladies treated him with contempt, and not unfrequently sent him a needle and thread, and asked a sword in return.

Two beautiful sisters of Rukiewicz, quietly seated at home, were startled by the sight of a Russian officer, with gens d’armes, entering the court. Knowing that their brother was secretary of a patriotic club, they immediately suspected that he had been arrested, and that his enemies were in search of his papers. While one sister with graceful courtesy received and entertained the unwelcome visiters, the other hastily set fire to the summer-house, where her brother kept the records of the club. More than two hundred persons, whose names were on the register, were saved by her presence of mind. She returned joyfully, and when the Russians inquired what had occasioned the fire, she replied, “I wished to save you further brutalities. You will find no documents, or papers. I am your prisoner. Add me to the number of your victims.” These noble girls were carried to prison, and shamefully treated for three years. As soon as they were released, they set off, in spite of the remonstrances of their friends, to travel on foot, and on the wagons of the peasantry, until they could reach their exiled brother in Siberia.

In Poland, a son has two shares of an estate, and a daughter but one; a father cannot dispose of his fortune otherwise, except by a judicial sentence.

The Germans are less susceptible than the French, but have more depth of passion. Among them there is little of that instantaneous falling in love, so common among the Italians and Poles; but their affections are gained by solid and true qualities. They have more sobriety than the French, and more frankness than the English. Living for happiness rather than pleasure, they attach all due sacredness to that good English word home, the spirit of which is so little understood by the southern nations. The women of all classes are distinguished for industry. It is a common practice to carry needlework into parties; and sometimes a notable dame may be seen knitting diligently at the theatre. Many of the young Swabian girls, of thirteen or fourteen years old, are sent to Stuttgard, to acquire music, or other branches of education, among which household duties are generally included. A matron, who keeps a large establishment there, gives the instruction, which they voluntarily seek. They may often be seen returning from the baker’s, with a tray full of cakes and pies of their own making; and sometimes young gentlemen, for the sake of fun, stop them to buy samples of their cookery.

Injustice is always done to nations by describing them in general terms; and this is peculiarly the case with Germany; for both men and women are remarkable for individuality of character. It may, however, be truly said that German women are usually disposed to keep within the precincts of domestic life, and are little ambitious of display. Their influence on literature is important, though less obvious than in some other countries. In almost every considerable town, a few literary families naturally fall into the habit of meeting at each other’s houses alternately, and thus, without pretension, form social clubs, of which intelligent and learned women are often the brightest ornaments. Their female writers have usually belonged to the higher classes; others being too much employed in domestic avocations to attend to literature. Several of these writers are such as any nation might be proud to own. Among the most distinguished are Theresa Huber, daughter of the celebrated Heyne, in Göttingen; Madame Schoppenhauer; and Baronne de la Motte Fouqué.

The women of Germany and Austria have, in general, fair complexions, auburn hair, large blue eyes, and a mild, ingenuous expression of countenance. There is a good deal of innocent freedom in their deportment, but so tempered with modest simplicity, that they receive respect without the necessity of requiring it. They are in general exemplary wives, and excellent mothers. Divorce has never been sanctioned by Austrian laws.

Both Germans and Austrians are said to have great pride of high birth. The poor are simple and gentle in their manners, very neat in their dress, and industrious in their habits; but in some of the provinces the peasantry, both men and women, are addicted to intemperance. The young men of Vienna are accused of being more fond of riding, hunting, good eating, and smoking, than of joining the parties of ladies. A foreigner is somewhat surprised to see on such occasions thirty or forty ladies, talking together, and engaged in various kinds of needlework, without attracting, or seeming to expect, attention from their countrymen.

The people who inhabit the vast extent of country between the Black sea and the North sea are divided into various distinct races, too numerous to admit of a particular description. The women are generally very industrious; even in their walks they carry a portable distaff and spin every step of the way. Generally speaking, the clothing of these people is of domestic manufacture; the wants of each family being supplied by the diligent fingers of its female members. A Walachian woman may often be seen carrying a large basket of goods to market on her head, singing and spinning as she trudges along. Both Croatian and Walachian women perform all the agricultural operations, in addition to their own domestic concerns. When a mother goes to church, or to visit a neighbor, or to labor in the fields, she carries her infant in a low open box, swung over her shoulders by cords; while she is at work, this box is suspended on a neighboring tree. The Liburnian women carry on their heads a cradle, in which the babe sleeps securely. When these cradles are set on the ground, they rock with the slightest impulsion. The Gothscheer women often follow the trade of pedlers, and are absent from their homes many months, travelling about the country with staff in hand, and a pack at their back.

Among these numerous tribes, each preserving their ancient customs from time immemorial, the Morlachians seem to be the most rude. “In general,” says M. Fortis, “their women, except those of the towns, seem not at all displeased to receive a beating from their husbands, and sometimes even from their lovers.” Being treated like beasts of burden, and expected to endure submissively every species of hardship, they naturally become very dirty and careless in their habits. The wretched wife, after she has labored hard all day, is obliged to lie upon the floor, and would be beaten, if she presumed to approach the heap of straw on which her tyrant sleeps. When the Morlachians have occasion to speak of a woman, before any respectable person, they always say, “saving your presence;” as if apologizing for the mention of things so disgusting; and in answer to inquiries reply, “It is my wife—excuse the word.”

From these brutes in the human form, we gladly turn to the frank, affectionate, romantic Tyrolese. Among these simple, virtuous people, husbands and wives are remarkably faithful to each other, and fondly attached to their children. Their robust and vigorous women are engaged in very toilsome occupations, but the men take their full share in all laborious tasks. Many of them travel through Germany as pedlers, and they are rarely seen without a wife or a sister by their side. The Tyrolese women are gentle and modest, but not shy in the presence of strangers. A mother, in the innocent kindness of her heart, frequently sends her daughters to meet a traveller, and offer him a present of fruit or flowers, or a draught of sweet milk, from her own neat dairy. Their affections are ardent, and they are proverbial for constancy. It is an almost unheard of thing for parents to arrange marriages, or attempt to throw any obstacle in the way of a desired union between their children. The young people become acquainted with each other in their walks, or at their rustic amusements, and when they have once taken each other by the hand, in earnest pledge of their mutual affection, every other man and woman in the world are forever after excluded from their thoughts, so far as love is concerned. The Tyrolese have a reverent and simple faith in religion, and a strong belief in the active agency of good and evil spirits. The peasant girls scarcely dare to go abroad after dark, for fear of falling into snares laid by mischievous spirits. To protect themselves from these influences, it is common for both sexes to engrave the figure of Christ upon their flesh, by pricking it with a needle and rubbing gunpowder into the punctures.

The Swiss resemble the Tyrolese in simplicity, frankness, and honesty. The women are very neat and industrious. They are busily engaged in their dairies and domestic avocations, and are little inclined to visiting. When they do visit socially, very few men are invited, and those are their nearest relations. Sometimes twenty ladies assemble together, without one man in the party; their husbands being all assembled at the smoking clubs.

In Basil, female societies are formed from infancy of children of the same age, and the same class. They are so particular about equality of years, that sisters, whose ages differ a few years, belong to separate societies, with whom they always meet at each other’s houses. Friendships formed in this way constitute a strong bond of union. Those that have belonged to the same society in childhood often meet, after separation, in maturer years, with the affection of sisters. The ladies usually carry work to parties, at which they assemble as early as three in the afternoon. Parents have one day of the week, which they call le jour de famille. On this occasion all their offspring, even to the fifth and sixth generation, are assembled together. The Swiss women marry at an early age. Not long since, there were six ladies in Basil whose grandchildren were grandmothers. The manners of these hardy mountaineers are patriarchal and affectionate. Young people are allowed to marry according to their inclination, and matches from interested motives are not common. In such a state of things, there is no need of the restraints imposed among voluptuous nations. The Swiss girls have a great deal of freedom allowed them, and are distinguished for innocence and modesty.

The inhabitants of the Netherlands are proverbial for their industry and love of acquiring money. Their women are eminently domestic, being always busy in their household, or engaged in assisting their husbands in some department of his business, such as keeping accounts, and receiving money. They are not only thrifty themselves, but teach their children to earn something as soon as they can use their fingers. If they quit their domestic employments, it is to join some family party, or take a short excursion with their husbands. Their stainless floors, shining pewter dishes, and snow-white starched caps, all indicate that notable housewives are common in the land. The Dutch women are generally robust and rosy, with figures the reverse of tall and slender. At Haarlem, a very ancient and peculiar custom is still preserved. When a child is newly born, a wooden figure, about sixteen inches square, covered with red silk and Brussels lace, is placed at the door. This exempts the master of the house from all judicial molestation, and is intended to insure the tranquillity necessary for the mother’s health. To prevent the kind but injudicious intrusion of friends, a written bulletin of the state of both mother and child is daily affixed to the door or window; and finally a paper is posted on the door, to signify on what day the mother will receive the ladies of her acquaintance. Among the phlegmatic and thrifty Dutch, matches are, of course, generally made from prudential motives, rather than the impulses of passion, or the refinement of sentiment.

Russia is a country slowly emerging from barbarism. Of their condition in the time of Peter the Great, something may be judged by the regulation he made, ordering the ladies of his court not to get drunk upon any pretence whatever, and forbidding gentlemen to do so before ten o’clock. The empress Catherine ordered certain Russian ladies to be publicly knouted for some indiscretions. French manners now prevail among the higher ranks, who are generally frank, hospitable and courtly. The women are serious and dignified, with something of oriental languor. Their forms of society are ceremonious, compared with the lively graces of the Poles, of whose manners they are apt to judge severely. A French writer has asserted that of all countries, except France, it is perhaps the most agreeable to be a woman in Russia; but when he said this, he must have been thinking only of cities, and of a favored class in those cities. The Russian ladies are proverbial for the facility with which they acquire foreign languages. They speak and write French like native Parisians, though often unable to spell the Russian tongue, which is seldom spoken in polite circles. Among the higher ranks, whose blood is mingled with that of Georgians, Circassians, and Poles, there are some women of extraordinary beauty; but the Russian females are in general short, clumsy, round-faced and sallow. They daub their faces with red and white paint, and in some districts stain their teeth black. The peasantry use no cradles. The babe is placed on a mattress, inclosed in a frame like that used for embroidery, and suspended from the ceiling by four cords, after the manner of the Hindoos. Russian fathers, of all classes, generally arrange marriages for their children, without consulting their inclinations. Among the peasantry, if a girl has the name of being a good housewife, her parents will not fail to have applications for her, whatever may be her age, or personal endowments. As soon as a young man is old enough to be married, his parents seek a wife for him, and all is settled before the young couple know any thing of the matter. Porter gives very unfavorable ideas of the morality of the Russian nobility. He says the marriage tie is little regarded, but the women are less profligate than the men. It ought, however, in justice, to be remembered that a traveller has a better chance to see the vices of a country, than its virtues. Although the Russians, in common with their neighbors of Sweden and Lapland, have an Asiatic fondness for frequent bathing, they are so dirty with regard to their garments, that even the wealthy are generally more or less infested with vermin.

The Cossack women are very cleanly and industrious. In the absence of their husbands they supply their places, by taking charge of all their usual occupations in addition to their own. It is rare for a Cossack woman not to know some trade, such as dyeing cloth, tanning leather, &c.

Throughout Russia all classes salute each other by kissing. “When a lady would only courtesy a welcome in England, she must kiss it in Russia;” and if a man salutes her in this way, she must on no occasion refuse to return it.

The higher classes, both in Denmark and Sweden, imitate the French manners and customs very closely. The ladies generally have the northern physiognomy; viz. fair complexion, light hair, blue eyes, and a mild, clear expression. They have little of the ardor of the Italians, or the vivacity of the French. Ambition is more easily excited in their breasts than love. Their manners are modest and reserved. Gallantry toward ladies is not the characteristic of any of the northern nations. The Swedes are generally industrious and sincere, and perhaps there is no country in the world where women perform so much and such various labor. They serve the bricklayers, carry burdens, row boats, thresh grain, and manage the plough.

Swedish children are wrapped up in bandages like cylindrical wicker baskets, to keep them straight, from one to eighteen months old. They are suspended from pegs in the wall, or laid in any convenient part of the room, where they remain in great silence and good humor. M’Donald, in his Travels, says, “I have not heard the cries of a child since I came to Sweden.” Travellers in these northern countries are surprised to see women drink strong, spirituous liquors, with as much freedom as the men.

Among the half-savage Laplanders, this bad habit is carried to a great extent. There a lover cannot make a more acceptable present to the girl of his choice, than a bottle of brandy; and when he wishes to gain the favor of her relations, he endeavors to do it by a liberal distribution of the same liquor.

The Icelanders, though living in a climate even more inclement, and exposed to equal fatigue while fishing in their stormy seas, are temperate in their habits, and at festive meetings rarely drink any thing but milk and water. They have a love of literature truly surprising among a people exposed to such continual danger and toil. It is contrary to law for a woman to marry unless she can read and write. When darkness covers the land, and their little huts are almost buried in snow, one of the family reads some instructive volume, by the light of a lamp, while the others listen to him, as they perform their usual avocations. “In these regular evening readings the master of the family always begins, and he is followed by the rest in their turn. Even during their daily in-door labors, while some are employed in making ropes of wool, or horse-hair, some in preparing sheep-skin for fishing dresses, or in spinning, knitting, or weaving, one of the party generally reads aloud for the amusement and instruction of the whole. Most farm-houses have a little library, and they exchange books with each other. As these houses are scattered over a wild country, and far apart, the only opportunity they have of making these exchanges is when they meet at church; and there a few always contrive to be present, even in the most inclement weather.”

The dress of the Icelanders is neat, without any effort to be ornamental. Families are almost invariably clothed in garments spun and woven at home. It is needless to say that a people with such habits cherish the domestic virtues, and treat their women with kindness.

The general manners of the modern Greeks are the same, whether they live in Constantinople or the various islands of the Archipelago. In cities, women rarely appear in public, even at churches, till they are married. In their houses certain rooms are appropriated to the ladies and their attendants, to carry on embroidery and other feminine employments. The men have separate apartments. Female slaves are treated with great gentleness. Some adopt them when very young, and call them “children of their souls.” Like the Greeks of old, some trusty female slave is often the nurse, confidant, and friend of her mistress. A woman of any consideration never appears abroad without one servant at least; and those who affect display, are attended by an innumerable troop. The Greek ladies present their hand to be kissed by their children or inferiors. Young girls salute each other in a singular manner; they hold each other by the ears while they kiss the eyes. The wealthy Greeks, like the Turks, are exceedingly fond of expensive jewels. The ladies often dress themselves in the most splendid manner, without any expectation of seeing company, merely to indulge their own fancy, or that of their husbands. Their marriage ceremonies in many respects resemble those of their classic ancestors. The evening preceding the wedding, the bride is conducted to the bath, accompanied by music and attendants. The next day, she proceeds with slow and solemn pace to the church, adorned with all the jewels she can obtain, and covered with a rose-colored veil. A blazing torch is carried before her, and a long procession follows. At the altar both bride and bridegroom are crowned with flowers, which are frequently exchanged in the course of the ceremony. They have likewise two wedding rings, which are exchanged and re-exchanged several times. Immediately after the benediction, a cup of wine is offered to the young couple, and afterward to the witnesses of the marriage. When the bride arrives at her new home, she is lifted over the threshold, it being considered ominous for her feet to touch it. She likewise walks over a sieve covered with a carpet. She is seated on a sofa in the corner of the room, and there expected to remain downcast and immovable, amid all the music, and dancing, and gayety around her. Every guest, as he comes into the room, passes by her, and throws a piece of money in her lap, which she deposits in a small silver box, without moving her lips, or raising her eyes. The festival is kept up three days, during which time the bride does not utter a word except it be in a whisper to some of her female attendants. Marriages usually take place on Sunday, and the bride is not allowed to leave the house until the Sunday following. Custom demands that some dowry should be in readiness, and even a beautiful woman is more acceptable for not being entirely destitute. The Albanian girls carry their marriage portions on their scarlet caps, which are covered with paras and piastres, like scales. Peasant girls will undergo the greatest fatigue to add a para to this cherished hoard. They often get a large price for old coins found among the ruins; but sometimes no money will tempt them to sell it, because they believe a certain charm resides in the legend round the coin. The Greeks have universally a strong belief in omens, signs, and oracles. When they drink to the health of a bridal pair, they always accompany it with the wish that no evil eye, or malignant influence, may blight their happiness. They are a gay and lively people, exceedingly fond of music and dancing, which in their fine climate are often enjoyed in the open air. Their character is ardent and susceptible in the extreme; and the reality of love is very apt to be tested by the suddenness of the impression. Girls are often married at ten years of age, and bachelors are very uncommon. Except in the large towns, and among the opulent classes, matches are rarely made from interested motives, and divorces scarcely ever occur.

The inhabitants of ancient Lesbos were said to be dissolute in their manners; and the island (now called Metelin) still bears the same character. The women of Scio are said to be peculiarly handsome and engaging in their manners. They may be seen at the doors and windows, twisting silk, or knitting; and when a traveller appears, they not only invite him into their houses, but urge him with playful earnestness. Their object is partly friendly hospitality, and partly a wish to sell some of the handsome purses for which Scio is celebrated. They have learned to offer them in the language of many nations; and Frenchman, Italian, or Swede, is likely to hear himself addressed, in his own tongue, from various quarters, “Come and look at some handsome purses, sir.” But this frankness is so obviously innocent, that a profligate man would never mistake it for boldness.

The dead are carried to the grave in a kind of open litter, with the face uncovered. When a young maiden dies, she is covered with rich garments, and crowned with a garland. As the bier passes along the streets, women throw roses, and scatter perfumed waters upon it.

At various epochs of their history, the Greek women have evinced heroism worthy of the ancient Spartans. They have fought against the Turks with the resolute and persevering bravery of disciplined warriors, and sought death in its most horrid forms to save themselves from infamy. A woman of Cyprus, with the consent of her daughters, set fire to the powder-magazine in which they were concealed, because they preferred this fate to the sultan’s seraglio; and this was but one of many instances of similar resolution. The captain of a Greek gun-brig, famous for his bravery during the dreadful scene at Napoli di Romania, was treacherously murdered by order of the capitan pacha, at Constantinople. To avenge his death, his widow built three ships at her own expense, of which during the war she took the command, accompanied by her two sons.

The Greeks are very ignorant; but both men and women generally evince a desire to receive books, and have schools established among them. Females of the lower class often labor hard in the fields, and thereby lose the beauty for which their country-women are distinguished. Madox speaks of seeing women in the Greek islands winnowing corn, who looked like the witches in Macbeth.

In giving this brief outline of European manners, either in the middle ages or modern times, the poor have been nearly left out of the account. In the middle ages, nobles treated their vassals as slaves. They were scantily fed, miserably clothed, obliged to marry according to the dictates of a master, and seldom addressed in any better language than “villain,” or “base hound.” The condition of Polish and Russian serfs in modern times is about the same. The Polish peasant women have scarcely clothing enough for decency, and the hardships and privations to which they are subjected destroy every vestige of good looks. In Russia, women have been seen paving the streets, and performing other similar drudgery. In Finland, they work like beasts of burden, and may be seen for hours up to the middle in snow-water, tugging away at boats and sledges. In Flanders, girls carry heavy baskets of coal to market strapped on their shoulders. The old peasant women in France are said to be frightfully ugly, in consequence of continued toil and exposure to the weather. In England, it is not unusual to see poor women scraping up manure from the streets, with their hands, and gathering it into baskets. In a word, there is no part of Europe where an American would not see the novel sight of females laboring in the fields, or carrying burdens in the streets, without a bonnet to shield them from sun or rain.

But the European structure of society differs from that of Asiatic nations or savage tribes in the comparative equality of labor between the sexes; if poor women are obliged to work hard, poor men are so likewise; they do not, like Orientals, sit in idleness, while women perform nearly all the drudgery. In some districts, such as Croatia, Morlachia, &c. women have more than their share of toil. In Savoy and the north of Italy, emigration, for the purpose of gaining a livelihood in other countries, is general among the peasantry, especially during the winter. In some districts it is uncommon to find a tenth part of the male population at home. The women and children take care of the goats, sheep, and cattle, do all the out-of-door work, and spin and weave garments for their absent husbands.

Nearly all the amusements of modern times are shared by the women as well as the men. No recreations are more universally enjoyed by all nations, and all classes, than music and dancing. In the splendid saloons of the wealthy and the fashionable they are introduced in a thousand forms, to vary the excitements of life; and the toil-worn peasant dancing with the girl of his heart, with the green-sward for his carpet, and heaven for his canopy, has enjoyment that princes might sigh for in vain. A traveller, speaking of Greek dances, says: “Though the company was generally composed of boatmen, fishermen, and donkey drivers, with their wives, daughters, sisters, or sweethearts, I have seen more beauty and grace, and infinitely more spirit and gayety, than it has been my lot to meet in saloons luminous with chandeliers, and furnished with all the appurtenances of luxury.” The Irish are extravagantly fond of dancing. Weddings and other festivals are celebrated with much dancing, and Sunday rarely passes without it. Dancing-masters travel through the country, from cabin to cabin, with a piper or blind fiddler, and their pay is sixpence a quarter. The waltz is a graceful dance of German origin. Modest matrons formerly objected to their daughters waltzing with gentlemen, on account of the frequent intertwining of arms, and clasping each other’s waists; but this is now common in the fashionable circles of Europe, not only among the voluptuous nations of the South, but with the more reserved inhabitants of the North. The waltz is said to have been danced at Luther’s wedding, when he married the nun.

Theatrical representations are as open to women as to men, though custom requires that they should not appear in such public places without some protector. In Spain, no man is allowed to enter the boxes appropriated to women; but in other places, the male and female members of the same family, or the same party, sit together. The public performances called opera-dancing can never be witnessed by a modest woman for the first time, without feelings of shame; yet they are sanctioned by fashion. There has been about an equal degree of male and female talent for dramatic acting. Women who adopt this profession are not generally respected, because it is taken for granted that their morals are not very severe; but many have risen to high rank, in consequence of powerful talent, and purity of character. The nobility and gentry of Europe have very frequently intermarried with distinguished actresses.

In Holland and Russia, skating is a favorite amusement both with men and women. The Friesland women often make a match to contend for a prize. At one of these races, which took place in 1805, one of the competitors was past fifty, and many only fifteen. A girl about twenty gained the principal prize, which was a golden ornament for the head; another, sixteen years old, gained the second prize, a coral necklace with a gold clasp. It is stated that the former skated a mile in something less than two minutes and a half. They commonly go two and two, each with an arm round the other’s waist, or one before the other, holding by the hand; but sometimes thirty persons may be seen skating all together, and holding each other by the hand.

In Catholic countries festival days are too numerous to be described. During the Carnival there is one universal spirit of gayety and fun. People appear abroad in all manner of fantastic carriages, and masquerade dresses. Buffoons, peasant girls, Gipseys, Tartar warriors, and Indian queens, are mingled together in grotesque confusion. People pelt each other with sugar-plums, or with small comfits made of plaster of Paris and flour, until they look as if a sack of meal had been shaken over them. Beautiful girls have showers of bon-bons bestowed, as they pass along; and not unfrequently these sweet gifts are contained in fanciful little baskets tied with ribbons. On certain days it is allowable to play all manner of mischievous pranks; these are called intruding days, and probably have the same origin as our April-fool day.

Easter is ushered in with great religious pomp and pageantry. No person meets another without kissing him on each side of his face and saying, “Christ is risen!” The answer uniformly is, “He is risen indeed!” On Easter Monday begins the presentation of the paschal eggs, which have been previously blessed by the priest. These ornamental eggs, either of glass, porcelain, or gold, or real eggs with fanciful colors and patterns, are presented by lovers to their mistresses, by friends to each other, and by servants to their masters. The poorest peasant, when he presents his paschal egg and repeats the words, “Christ is risen!” may demand a kiss even of the empress. All business is laid aside. The rich devote themselves to suppers, balls, and masquerades, while the poor sing and carouse in the streets.

Christmas is observed with great festivity in Protestant countries, as well as Catholic. All the schools give a vacation, that families may be enabled to meet together round the merry Christmas table. The custom of bestowing presents is universal. In some places, a large bough, called the Christmas tree, is prepared the evening previous, and the boxes, baskets, trinkets, &c. sent by friends are suspended on the branches, with the name of the person for whom they are intended affixed to them. There is great eagerness, particularly among the children of a family, to ascertain what are their Christmas gifts. Houses are decorated with evergreens. In Great Britain, a branch of misletoe is hung up in great state, and a man may claim kisses of any woman who passes under it, plucking off a berry at each kiss. Both at Easter and Christmas it is customary to lay aside the distinctions of rank, to a certain extent, in imitation of the “meek and lowly” founder of the Christian religion. The old barons and their vassals shared the same Christmas luxuries at the same loaded table; and even now, a servant may, without offence, kiss the daughter of his lady, if she chance to stand under the misletoe. On this occasion, the rich are expected to give bountifully to the poor.

The custom of bestowing gifts on the first of January, accompanied with wishes for a happy new year, is universal, according to the custom of the old Romans, on the Kalends of January. Almost every lover, husband, and parent, makes it a point to provide some acceptable present for the objects of his affection. On this day there is a great rivalry who shall call the earliest upon friends with the compliments of the season. In France, every man is expected to present bon-bons, at least, to the ladies of his acquaintance; and whoever visits a Parisian belle on the first of January, will find her table covered with the jewels, gloves, perfumes, and artificial flowers, that have been presented in the course of the day. The ancient Romans had a similar custom on the Kalends of January.

The first of May was formerly observed with the pageantry of processions, music, dancing, and oxen decorated with ribbons and flowers. This festival is still observed in most parts of Europe. People of all classes go out into the fields to gather flowers and green branches, which they often leave in baskets at the door of some friend, accompanied with a poetical welcome to Spring. In most villages a May-pole is erected, decorated with garlands and ribbons, around which the young people dance right joyfully. The favorite of the village is usually chosen queen of May, and crowned with flowers. It was an old superstition that the first dew gathered in May was peculiarly beneficial to the complexion.

The limits of this work will not permit even a passing allusion to the numerous games and festivals of modern times; it is sufficient to say that women join in all, except those which are fatiguing and dangerous.

The habits and employments of fashionable circles are nearly the same throughout Christendom; the general tone of their manners is taken from the French and English, and is sometimes a compound of both. Their infants are almost always nourished and taken care of by hired nurses. The fashion of dress, which varies more rapidly than the changing seasons, is an all-absorbing object of interest. The time that is not spent with mantuamakers, milliners, jewellers, and dressing maids, is devoted to parties, morning calls, and amusements, with an occasional exertion of ingenuity in some light fancy-work. Many of the court ladies of Bavaria are said to have no other employment than changing their dresses many times a day, and playing with their numerous parrots, dogs, and cats. But in every country there are among the wealthy classes honorable exceptions to these remarks—women who appear with elegance, without suffering dress to engross their thoughts, and who can find time for the graceful courtesies of life, without neglecting the cultivation of their minds, or the care of their children. In recent times, it is very common for ladies to form societies for various charitable purposes. Women of different nations sometimes unite their efforts for the same object; thus the English ladies joined with the German, to support the numerous Saxon orphans, who lost their parents in the wars of 1813. Sometimes the members of such societies busy themselves, for months together, in preparing useful and elegant articles, and afterwards sell them at a fair, which their friends and acquaintances are, of course, generally desirous to attend.

In many parts of Europe the peasantry do not change their style of dress in the course of centuries; but each of the innumerable districts has a fashion peculiar to itself. They are distinguished from the same classes of women in Asia, by going with their faces uncovered, and almost universally dressing modestly high in the neck. Among the wealthy, female decorum is often sacrificed on the altar of unblushing fashion.

Beautiful hair is now, as it always has been, considered the greatest external ornament of woman; and it is one with which the poor are often endowed, as well as the rich. An Oxfordshire lass, with remarkably beautiful hair, was courted by a young man, whose friends objected to the match, unless the girl’s parents would bestow fifty pounds as a dowry. She went to London, sold her hair to a wig-maker for sixty pounds, and triumphantly returned with the requisite sum. The daughter of an English clergyman, who had left his family in poverty, sold her own rich profusion of glossy ringlets, to buy books for her brother in college. A poor young German girl, who lived at service, had very long auburn hair, so remarkable for its beauty, that wealthy ladies repeatedly offered her large sums for it. She could never be persuaded to part with it; but when, during the grievous wars of 1812 and 13, she saw the rich and the noble giving their jewels for the relief of poor soldiers, her shining tresses “of brown in the shadow, and gold in the sun,” were silently and cheerfully laid on the altar of patriotism. Who, after this, will say that beautiful hair, or any other outward adorning, is the greatest ornament of woman?

The Catholics, Lutherans, and Episcopalians, usually celebrate their marriages in church. Pope Innocent the Third is said to have been the first who instituted this custom. Centuries ago, the ceremony was performed at the door of the church, as if the interior of the building were too holy for the purpose; but now the young couple kneel before the altar, to receive their nuptial benediction. The Catholics consider marriage as one of the sacraments.

During the time of Cromwell, the Puritans, in their zeal to change all popish customs, good or bad, ordered that marriages should be performed by magistrates, instead of priests; but the old custom was restored by Charles, and though marriages under the previous law were declared valid, many were so scrupulous about the sanction of the church, that they were re-married by clergymen. The Roman Catholic clergy are still required to live in celibacy, unless the pope grants them an especial license to take a wife; and great numbers, both of men and women, seclude themselves in convents, from the idea that there is a peculiar sanctity in single life. In the Greek church, women under fifty years of age are not allowed to become nuns; their priests are required to marry, but in case of a wife’s death are never permitted to marry again. Among the Protestants, I believe there is but one sect, who consider matrimony unholy: the Shakers even require husband and wife to separate when they join their community.

The wedding ceremonies vary in particulars, in different nations and districts, but there is a general resemblance between all the Christian forms. The intention of marriage is proclaimed in the church, on three successive public days, in order that any one who has legal objections to the match, may have an opportunity to make them known. When the bride and bridegroom stand before the altar, the priest says to the man, “Wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou love, honor, and comfort her, and keep her in sickness and in health; and forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live?” The bridegroom answers, “I will.” The same question is then asked of the bride, excepting that she is required to “obey and serve,” as well as “love and honor.” Then her father, or guardian, giveth her to the bridegroom, who takes her by the right hand, saying, “I take thee, ——, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God’s holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth.” The bride then takes him by the right hand and repeats the same form, with the addition of the word “obey.” The bridegroom then puts a golden ring on the fourth finger of her left hand, saying, “With this ring I thee wed, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.” They then kneel before the altar, while the priest utters a prayer for their temporal and eternal welfare; at the close of which, he joins their hands together, saying, “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” Among many of the Protestant sects, weddings are not celebrated in the church, but at the house of the bride’s father, or some near relation. The members of the society of Friends have neither priest nor magistrate to officiate at the ceremony. The bride and bridegroom take each other by the hand, and make the required vows to each other, in presence of the congregation and the elders; a public record of the transaction is made, and attested by witnesses. This society do not allow their members to marry individuals of a different creed. In some parts of Switzerland, a marriage between a Protestant and a Catholic is illegal.

It is a general idea that white is the most proper color for a bridal dress. Garlands and bouquets of orange-buds, and other purely white blossoms, are almost universally worn; and pearls are considered the most appropriate jewels. In Holland, the apartment in which the bride habitually resides, and all the furniture in it, are decorated with garlands; every thing belonging to the bridegroom, even his pipe and tobacco box, is adorned in the same manner; and a triumphal arch is erected before the house, or festoons suspended at the entrance. Among the Tyrolese, and in several other parts of Europe, it is customary for the young couple to be escorted to church by a gay procession, wearing flowers and ribbons, dancing, playing on instruments of music, and firing pistols by the way. A part of Bohemia, called Egra, seems to be the only place where a wedding is not considered an occasion of rejoicing. There it would be deemed indecorous for the bride to appear in white garments, or adorn herself with jewels and flowers. She wears her usual black dress, with a cloak of the same color, with a rosary in one hand, and in the other a veil, with which to cover her during the ceremony. In this dismal attire, she demurely proceeds to church, attended by relations, who preserve the utmost solemnity of countenance.

In Lapland, it is death to marry a girl without consent of her friends. When a young man proposes marriage, the friends of both parties meet to witness a race between them. The girl is allowed at starting the advantage of a third part of the race; if her lover does not overtake her, it is a penal offence for him ever to renew his offers of marriage. If the damsel favors his suit, she may run hard at first, to try his affection, but she will be sure to linger before she comes to the end of the race. Thus no marriages are made contrary to inclination, and this is the probable reason of so much domestic contentment in Lapland.

In the cold climates of Lapland and Iceland, the bride, instead of garlands, wears a crown of silver gilt. In Russia, the priest places silver crowns on the heads of both the young couple; at the marriages of people of rank, these crowns are held over their heads by attendants. In some districts, the peasant bride wears a wreath of wormwood; and in that country of perpetual flagellation, it is an appropriate emblem of her unhappy lot. After the nuptial benediction is pronounced, it is likewise customary to throw a handful of hops on her head, with the wish that she may prove as fruitful as that vine. In some Russian villages, it is customary, before the bridal procession go to church, for a choir of young girls to chant this epithalamium: “A falcon flies in pursuit of a dove. Charming dove, are you ready? Your mate is come to seek you.” The bride timidly answers, “Yes;” and the procession moves forward. After the wedding ceremony is performed, the bridegroom has a right to give his bride “the kiss of love,” holding her by the ears. The Sclavonian women, for a week previous to their marriage, are expected to kiss every man who visits them, in token of general respect and friendship for the sex. Some nations consider the ceremony of betrothal nearly as solemn as that of marriage. Among the Tyrolese, the father of the lover proceeds to the house of the beloved, accompanied by his younger sons, carrying baskets of honey-comb and aromatic plants. When he arrives, she and all her friends rise and salute him. “Welcome, my friend,” says the head of the family; “what brings thee among us?” He replies, “As thou art a father, let me put a question to thy daughter.” He then steps up to the maiden, kisses her forehead, and says: “God bless thee, lovely girl, who remindest me of the days of my youth. I have a son; he loves thee. Wilt thou make my declining years happy?” If the damsel is too much embarrassed to reply, her mother, who is the confidant of her sentiments, answers for her. The young man is then introduced, and receives a kiss from his new parents, and his future bride. Sometimes, in order to try the sincerity of their son’s attachment, the old people will not allow him to be formally betrothed to the object of his choice, till he has made a tour into Switzerland, Bavaria, or Italy, to sell some of the productions of the country. “Go, earn thy wife,” say they; “a good husband must be able to earn bread for his family.” The lover almost invariably returns unchanged, bringing the proceeds of his industry, with the ribbons still waving from his hat, which had been placed there by the idol of his heart.

In some parts of Russia young people are solemnly betrothed, in presence of their families. A garment of skin is spread on the ground, and the young people kneel upon it. When they have interchanged rings, the girl’s father places on their heads one of the household saints, and pronounces a blessing. In former times, he gave his daughter a few smart strokes of the whip, and then delivered the instrument of punishment to his future son-in-law, to signify that he transferred authority to him; but this brutal custom is now abolished. Russian husbands were formerly intrusted with power of life and death over their wives and children; but this law is ameliorated. In Scotland and some other parts of Great Britain, lovers, when they plight their troth to each other, break a small coin, and each one wears half of it next the heart.

In Scotland, a mutual promise to consider each other husband and wife, if it be given in the presence of two witnesses, constitutes a lawful marriage; and in that country, as well as some parts of Germany, if a man makes public acknowledgment that he considers a woman as his wife, it gives her, and all the children she may have borne to him, the same legal rights they would have had, if the marriage had been duly solemnized.

In the polished circles of Europe, whose marriages are generally made par convenance, the affianced couple do not have frequent opportunities of seeing each other, without the presence of friends. If a gentleman prolonged a visit to his lady after the family had retired to rest, it would be regarded as extremely ungenteel and ridiculous, and in many places would by no means be permitted.

In North Holland, a singular degree of freedom is allowed. A lover comes every Sunday evening “to have a talk” with the girl of his heart, and, having chosen some place apart from the rest of the family, often remains until daybreak. A custom called kweesten likewise prevails here, as well as in some parts of Switzerland and Wales. In this case, if the girl is coy, her admirer watches an opportunity to get in at her chamber window, and there urges his suit. This is so far from being considered any harm, that parents, who have marriageable daughters, do not scruple to leave a window open for the express purpose. Those who are shocked at this custom, will do well to remember that great restraints imposed upon young people, however necessary they may be, are always an indication of a corrupt state of society.

It is a general custom in all parts of Christendom for parents to give a dowry with their daughters, proportioned to their wealth; even the poorest generally contrive to bestow a few articles of clothing or furniture. It is likewise an universal practice for friends to send presents to the bride, a few days previous to the wedding. When the Welsh peasantry are about to enter into the matrimonial state, they send a man round to invite their friends, and to declare that any donations they may please to bestow will be gratefully received, and cheerfully repaid on a similar occasion. After the wedding party have partaken a frugal entertainment of bread and cheese, a plate is placed on the table to collect money from the guests; and the young couple generally receive as much as fifty or a hundred pounds to furnish their household establishment. The village girls, in nearly all countries, are ambitious about having a few pieces of cloth, and coverlids, woven in readiness for their marriage portion; but in cities, the extreme poverty of the poor usually prevents even this simple preparation. In the Greek island of Himia, the inhabitants gain a livelihood by obtaining sponges for the Turkish baths; and no girl is allowed to marry, till she has proved her dexterity by bringing up from the sea a certain quantity of this marketable article.

Before the time of Francis the First, one hundred livres, about fifty pounds, was considered a very handsome dowry for a young lady; but at the present time, a fashionable and wealthy bride would expend a larger sum than that upon a single mirror. In all countries a feast is given to relations and friends, on the occasion of a daughter’s wedding; and the entertainment is more or less bountiful and splendid, according to the circumstances of the bride’s family.

After the ceremony is performed, all the guests congratulate the newly married pair, and wish them joy. The young couple generally choose from among their intimate friends some individuals to officiate as bride’s maids and groom’s men. These friends are dressed in bridal attire, and during the wedding ceremony stand on each side of the bride and bridegroom. In some places, the maidens chosen for this office carry the bride’s gloves and handkerchief. In France, some people still retain the old custom of having a silken canopy supported over the heads of a young couple, by their attendants. Those who affect display have five or six bride’s maids, and as many groom’s men; but it is more common to have one or two of each. The groom’s men are expected to make presents to the bride, and to be among the earliest friends, who call at her new abode. The wedding cake is usually much decorated with flowers, and sugar-work of various kinds. This is offered to all visiters, and a slice neatly done up in paper, and tied with white ribbons, is usually sent to intimate friends. The superstitious depend very much upon having a piece of wedding cake to place under their pillows; and if nine new pins from the bride’s dress are placed in it, the charm is supposed to be doubly efficacious. The object is to dream of the individuals they are destined to marry. Sometimes names are written on small slips of paper, rolled up, and placed beside the cake; and the first one taken out in the morning reveals the name of the future spouse.

The Tyrolese place a similar value upon the bride’s garland, and the pins that fasten it. The bride scatters flowers from a basket among the young men of her acquaintance; and these flowers prognosticate their future fortunes; the honeysuckle and alpine lily promise uncommon prosperity, but the foxglove is an omen of misfortune. The Tyrolese bridegroom distributes ribbons among the girls, to the different colors of which they likewise attach prophetic meaning. The Dutch treat their wedding-guests with a kind of liquor called “the bride’s tears;” and small bottles of it, adorned with white and green ribbons, are sent as presents to friends, accompanied with boxes of sweetmeats.

The time between the avowed intention of marriage and the performance of the bridal ceremony varies in different places, and among different ranks. One year seems to be the most general period of courtship; but people of rank are often contracted to each other several years before marriage; and in all nations there are some individuals who marry after a few months’ or a few weeks’ acquaintance.

In Prussia, men are allowed to form what is called a left-handed marriage, in which the ceremonies are similar to other marriages, excepting that the left hand is used instead of the right. Under these circumstances, neither the wife nor the children assume the name of the husband, or live in his house, or have a legal claim to dower, or succeed to his estate and titles; but they receive what he pleases to give them during his lifetime, and at his death such legacies as are named in his will. These marriages are principally formed by poor nobles, who already have large families. European monarchs are not allowed to marry into any other than royal families; but they sometimes form left-handed marriages with women, who will not consent to be theirs on less honorable terms.

By the Prussian laws, a man may be imprisoned, and fined half his fortune, or earnings, if he refuses to marry a woman, whom he has deceived with false promises. If he runs away, the woman may be married to him by proxy, and have a legal claim upon him for the maintenance of herself and child.

The laws of most Christian countries do not allow females to dispose of themselves before they are twenty-one years old. If a girl over fourteen marries without the knowledge of her parents, they cannot render the contract void; but if they know of her intention, they have power to forbid the union until she is of age. The consent of both parents is almost universally asked before young people are betrothed; but after they are of age, the opposition of parents cannot prevent marriage, unless the lovers choose to submit, from motives of duty, or filial affection.

By the English laws, it is felony to abduct an heiress, even if her consent to matrimony is obtained after forcible abduction. He who compels a woman to marry by threats is subject to a very heavy fine, and two years’ imprisonment. If any girl is forced or persuaded to marry, before she is twelve years old, the ceremony can be declared null and void. Very severe laws are made to protect females from personal insult. Either man or woman may sue for a breach of promise of marriage, and recover a sum of money according to the aggravated nature of the circumstances. If a father is displeased with his daughter’s marriage, he can refuse to bestow any dowry, and can make a will to prevent her receiving any portion of his fortune. Hereditary estates and titles do not descend to daughters so long as any sons are living; but fathers can leave them by will such estates as are not restricted by some settlement or entail. As a general rule, parents bequeath a larger proportion to sons than daughters; but where there is no will, property is equally divided. Among the rich, who settle marriage contracts with all possible formality, the bridegroom often binds himself to pay a certain annual sum to his wife, for her own peculiar use, which is called pin-money. This phrase probably originated in ancient times, when ornamental pins constituted an important and expensive part of a lady’s dress. It is deemed the husband’s business to purchase furniture, and put the house in readiness for his bride.

Not long ago, an English judge decided that the law allowed a man to beat his wife with a stick as big as his thumb; whereupon the ladies sent a request that his thumb might be accurately measured. In the present state of public opinion, any man who availed himself of such permission would be disgraced. Among the lower classes, a husband sometimes puts a rope round his wife’s neck, and sells her in the market; but this is an adherence to old custom not sanctioned by any law.

A husband is bound to pay all the debts his wife may have contracted since she became of age, whether he knew of their existence or not; if she dies before payment is completed, his liability ceases. If a wife is driven away by ill usage, she can claim a separate maintenance, but the husband is no longer liable for her debts; and if she runs away from his house, it is common to put an advertisement in the newspapers warning people that he has ceased to be responsible for expenses she may incur. Both parties can claim divorce, with leave to marry again, in cases of criminal intercourse. Where a woman claims divorce, the husband is adjudged to afford her a maintenance suitable to his wealth; when a man seeks divorce, the wife’s paramour is condemned to pay damages according to the discretion of the court. The court likewise decide with which of the separated parties the children are to remain. Some individuals, especially officers of the army and navy have thought there was something contemptible in adjudging a sum of money in reparation of so great an injury, and have chosen to revenge themselves by single combat; but the opinion of the civilized world has been growing more and more opposed to duelling; and it is to be hoped that the last traces of it will soon disappear before the light of the Gospel.

A woman cannot dispose of any property, or bring an action at law, in her own name, during the lifetime of her husband; her signature to a note is of no legal value, because the law considers her as under the guardianship of her husband, and all her property as his. A widow is entitled to one third of her husband’s estate, and any proportion of it may be inherited by his will. Among the wealthy, the bridegroom, before marriage, often settles a jointure upon his bride, which cuts off her right of dower. If a man transfers any landed property without his wife’s signature thereto, the purchaser always remains liable to relinquish a third of it to the widow. Whatever a woman earns, or inherits by legacy, becomes her husband’s, and may be seized by his creditors, or a proportion of it divided among his relations, if he dies without children. To avoid these risks, the whole, or a part of a woman’s fortune, whether inherited before or after marriage, is often put in the hands of trustees, for her especial use. This places it out of the power of creditors, unless it can be shown that the transfer was made with fraudulent intentions.

In Germany such precautions are unnecessary, because the law protects every article of a woman’s property from the creditors of her husband. In France, a widow has no claim on any part of her husband’s fortune, unless he dies without relations, or a particular contract to that effect has been made previous to marriage; but she always retains a right to her dowry, and to any donations or legacies made to her. When a man has no children, he often wills his whole fortune to his wife; and if he has a family, leaves her one quarter of it, or half the income for life. It is likewise a common thing for women to bestow their fortunes on surviving husbands, by will. The right of primogeniture ceased with hereditary estates and titles; and all the children of a French family now inherit an equal share of their parents’ property.

If a Spaniard has heirs in direct succession, his widow can claim only one fifth of the estate, out of which she is obliged to pay the funeral expenses. European women drop the name of their fathers when they marry, and assume that of their husbands. A woman cannot recover damages for breach of promise of marriage, either in France or Spain. In France, and some parts of Germany, in addition to the usual causes for divorce, it is allowable, whenever both parties appear before magistrates, at successive periods, (the interval between which is prescribed by law,) and persevere in expressing a mutual wish for separation. Exceptions are frequently made to the usual laws, in favor of crowned heads. Philip, landgrave of Hesse, applied to Luther for permission to divorce his wife, and marry another, because his princess was plain in her person, sometimes intoxicated, and had a disagreeable breath. The royal petitioner threatened to apply to the pope for a dispensation, in case of refusal; and the synod of six reformers, convoked by Luther, contrived to find good reasons for granting his request. In later times, Napoleon divorced Josephine, by decree of the senate, because she brought him no children.

The women of Christian countries generally nurse their children about one year; though many exceed that time. Among the Catholics and Lutherans, the ceremony of baptism is usually performed privately at the house of the minister, soon after the birth of the child, because they are in haste to administer a rite which they deem necessary for salvation; but other Protestant sects have their children baptized in church, after divine service. The parents stand beside each other when their child is offered for baptism. The father takes the infant from its mother’s arms, and presents it to the priest, who sprinkles it with water, and bestows the baptismal name. Some people request several of their friends to stand as godfathers and godmothers at the baptism of their children. Wealthy relations are very apt to have this compliment paid them, because they are expected to make the infant a present, and bound by a promise at the altar to take some interest in its welfare.

In Holland, it is customary, so long as the mother keeps her room, to treat the children of the house and even of the neighborhood, with sugar-plums, which are rough if the babe is a boy, and smooth if a girl. In Russia, all married people who call to congratulate a friend for having become a mother are expected to slip a piece of money under her pillow, the wealthy usually give a ducat.

It is uncommon for European women to study medicine for the purpose of attending upon their own sex, in seasons of illness; but in some cases it is practised with great success.

Throughout Christendom, the law allows but one wife. Licentiousness abounds in all cities; it is not confined to a class of women avowedly depraved, but sometimes lurks beneath the garb of decency, and even of elegance. In villages there is a better state of things, because the influences of rural life are more pure, and young people generally form marriages of inclination. Even in thrifty Scotland, and phlegmatic Holland, matches of interest are common only among the wealthier classes.

European laws allow widows to marry again, and they very frequently do so, without the slightest imputation of impropriety; but in all nations, she who remains in perpetual widowhood is involuntarily regarded with peculiar respect. In some parts of Illyria and Dalmatia, if the bride or bridegroom have been previously married, but especially if the bride be a widow, the populace follow the wedding party, as they proceed to church, keeping up a continual din with frying-pans and shovels, and loading them with all manner of abuse; sometimes they gather round the house, and make hideous noises all night long, unless the newly married pair purchase exemption by the distribution of wine.

Some degree of blame is everywhere incurred by a widow who marries again within the time prescribed by custom; which is usually one year. Black is the color of European mourning. The queens of France formerly wore white as an emblem of widowhood, and were therefore called reines blanches; but this custom was changed by Anne of Bretagne, who assumed black when Charles the Eighth died. The empress dowagers of Austria never lay aside their mourning, and their apartments are always hung with black. In England, the mourning worn on the death of any of the royal family is purple. The nieces of the pope never wear mourning for any relation.

I believe France is the only country in Europe where women do not inherit the crown. There has been a comparatively greater proportion of good queens, than of good kings. Perhaps it may be that women, distrustful of their own strength, pay more attention to the public voice, and their government thus acquires something of the character of elective monarchies. But independent of this circumstance, illustrious queens have generally purchased celebrity by individual strength of character. In England, nothing was more common than to hear the people talk of king Elizabeth and queen James. Margaret, queen of Denmark and Norway, was called the Semiramis of the North, on account of her capacity to plan and conduct great projects. Spain numbers among her sovereigns no one that can dispute precedence with the virtuous and highly-gifted Isabella of Castile. The annals of Africa furnish no example of a monarch equal to the brave, intelligent, and proud-hearted Zhinga, the negro queen of Angola; and Catherine of Russia bears honorable comparison with Peter the Great. Blanche of Castile evinced great ability in administering the government of France, during the minority of her son; and similar praise is due to Caroline of England, during the absence of her husband.

In the walks of literature, women have gained abundant and enduring laurels; but it cannot be truly said that a Homer, a Shakspeare, a Milton, or a Newton have ever appeared among them. It is somewhat singular that instances of great genius in the fine arts have been more rare among women than any other manifestations of talent. Propertia da Rossi, of Bologna, and the Hon. Mrs. Damer, of England, did indeed gain a considerable degree of distinction as sculptors, and Angelica Kauffman had a high reputation as a painter; but these ladies have had few competitors. Yet in works requiring delicacy, ingenuity, imagination, and taste, women are proverbial for excellence.

When knowledge was confined to a few, and applied principally to the acquisition of languages, which are merely the external forms of thought, men were pedantic, and women were the same; for the correspondence between the character of the sexes is as intimate, as the affections and thoughts of the same individual. In these days, when knowledge is obtained to be applied to use,—when even that pretty and ever-varying toy, the kaleidoscope, is used to furnish new patterns at carpet-manufactories,—female literature is universally more or less practical. Modern female writers are generally known to be women who can make a pudding, embroider a collar, or dance a cotillion, as well as their neighbors. It is no longer deemed a mark of intellect to despise the homelier duties, or lighter graces of the social system. This will, in time, probably make men more liberal with regard to female learning. A writer in the time of Charles the First says, “She that knoweth how to compound a pudding is more desirable than she who skilfully compoundeth a poem. A female poet I mislike at all times.” Within the last century it has been gravely asserted that “chemistry enough to keep the pot boiling, and geography enough to know the location of the different rooms in her house, is learning sufficient for a woman.” Byron, who was too sensual to conceive of a pure and perfect companionship between the sexes, would limit a woman’s library to a Bible and a cookery book. All this is poor philosophy and miserable wit. It is on a par with the dictatorial assertions of the Austrian emperor, that his people will be better subjects, and far more happy, if they are not allowed to learn to read.

One of the most striking characteristics of modern times is the tendency toward a universal dissemination of knowledge in all Protestant communities. It is now a very common thing for women to be well versed in the popular sciences, and to know other languages than their own; and this circumstance, independent of the liberality and sincerity induced by true knowledge, has very perceptibly diminished the tendency to literary affectation. Pedantry is certainly not the vice of modern times; yet the old prejudice still lurks in the minds of men, who ought to be ashamed of it. It is by no means easy to find a man so magnanimous, as to be perfectly willing that a woman should know more than himself, on any subject except dress and cookery.

That women are more fond of ornament than men is probably true; but I doubt whether there is so much difference between the personal vanity of the sexes, as has been imagined. Dandies are a large class, if not a respectable one. No maiden lady was ever more irritable under a sense of personal deformity than were Pope and Byron; and Bonaparte was quite as vain of his small foot, as Madam de Staël of her beautiful arms.

In searching the history of women, the mild, unobtrusive domestic virtues, which constitute their greatest charm, and ought always to be the ground-work of their character, are not found on record. We hear of storms and tempests, and northern lights; but men do not describe the perpetual blessing of sunshine.

The personal bravery evinced by women at all periods excites surprise. We hear scarcely any thing of the Phœnician women, except that they agreed to perish in the flames, if their countrymen lost a certain battle, and that they crowned with flowers the woman who first made that motion in the council. The Moorish women of Spain were full of this fiery spirit. When Boabdil wept at taking a farewell glance of beautiful Granada, his proud-hearted mother said, scornfully, “You do well to weep for it like a woman, since you would not defend it like a man.”

The old Hungarian women, when their country was invaded by the Turks, performed prodigies of valor; and now, among the predatory tribes of Illyria and Dalmatia, he who attempted to insult a girl, would find that she wore a dagger and pistol at her belt. But Christianity, which has done so much for woman—which, at a time when its pure maxims could produce nothing better, by reason of man’s own evils, brought forth the generous spirit of chivalry from the iron despotism of the middle ages—Christianity is removing the garlands from the bloody front of war, and teaching her sons and her daughters that evil must be “overcome with good.”

Women are apt to be more aristocratic than men; for the habits of their life compel attention to details, and consequently make them more observing of manners than of principles.

Where the Mohammedan religion prevails, man’s reason is taught to bow blindly to faith, and his affections have little freedom to seek their corresponding truth; in all such countries women are slaves.

At those periods when reason has run wild, and men have maintained that there was no such thing as unchangeable truth, but that every one made it, according to the state of his own will—at such times, there has always been a tendency to have men and women change places, that the latter might command armies and harangue senates, while men attended to domestic concerns. These doctrines were maintained by infidels of the French revolution, and by their modern disciple, Fanny Wright.

Many silly things have been written, and are now written, concerning the equality of the sexes; but that true and perfect companionship, which gives both man and woman complete freedom in their places, without a restless desire to go out of them, is as yet imperfectly understood. The time will come, when it will be seen that the moral and intellectual condition of woman must be, and ought to be, in exact correspondence with that of man, not only in its general aspect, but in its individual manifestations; and then it will be perceived that all this discussion about relative superiority, is as idle as a controversy to determine which is most important to the world, the light of the sun, or the warmth of the sun.