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.