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.