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-- ----------. SPANISH WOMEN,…

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SPANISH WOMEN, — By WILLIAM HENRY BISHOP (THE AMERICAN NOVELIST). an^ ^erf °* tlack bulls was being driven in \r e,.1^e'°Ping whirl of dust across the old Moorish bridge a* Cordova, while the peasants and tha usual traffic were backed up into the old gale of the Puerta del Puente to give theIn passage. The ordinary stir and move- ent resumed their sway, and there came by, rest, a small group of working They were going over to their daily P suburb on the other bank of the u Q*ver' a w'^e> ooffee-coloured stream icn here makes a orescent-like sweep. One of them said to a member of the band Who took toll at the gate, in the customary oreign way, of all market-prod ucs coming into the city, AdiosT Adi-os! hsrmosa,pretty, or beautiful, one-he rejoined. The description was well bestowed; she as a pretty girl without any manner of doubt, rather large than inferior of stature, and with something majestic about her which always belongs to the peasant simplicity of costume. She bad the fine dark eyes which seem to say everything even when they say Dothmg, and the very dark skin found in countries well baked bv the Sun; a smooth akin, nevertheless, and quite capable of giving pusage to the blush that mantled it at her OWn forwardness. She was perfectly we!! e in all those points in which feminine per ection ia outwardly visible, and from her rut !lught be divined the small foot and writ6 1lls';eP *liich have led poets and other ers, from Byron down, to institute com- A p n,s "Jtween the Spanish woman and the Wood8' e?T. w*s without doubt Moorish the oal"1 *» younS c^enizei1 °f the place where even irP *or centories held sway, perhaps ■"ornen supply. Not that the Moorish they m have any such gait, for dions le waddl« about in their inaommo- be a'V •0QSers> an<i let us concede that it may breedaine<* *^ter crossing of the I faicy the beauty at the bridge had no faj-L»&l*l''ance ^*e man who probed the ers oarts for contraband, beyond what r own good spirits gave her. She was some- 61 *boufc sixteen, and he was a lean, guzz.ed individual, with very high oheek oones arid Ieathery-3allow as nothing but a Spanish complexion ever can be. Naturally, girls of their station are not held to so strict an etiquette as in the highest class, and they teceive many bold oks of admiration from chance observers along the way. WeH, she had a red rofte in her hair, and ahe went away laughing with her companions across the ancient bridge, so aucient that a good part of it had been Homan even before it became Arabic and then Spanish. And so-keeping, I trust, a sate distance from the feet of the bulls;-she disappeared for ever, one of those momentary glimpaes of fairness from wbioh the traveller often parts with a real pang; a touch of youno:, warm, and breathing pr&l sent life that derived aU the greater zest from its ancient setting. A IN SP"NGTINIE, and in Cordova of jQS': C0Itie from being ceding W Vaaf; P^auted court pre- its long ifra!/ fraSraDt with ^iottireaque timo-J!! trees, and with the *11 about it an,j f 1,1 in the little streets «»e cathedul uir\being disillusioned in mevable columns in' tWtfuth'of theiunn- tenor you oan s»e b-it « f n»u«h-vaunted in- red and white prii civ. tZ at a tlme' a,ldtbe •treak of fat ai^d thJ f 0i, archltt;ci"1'«. the has been narMv 1 str(;ak of lean, as it were, rous imitatin^ ^ou ky (o° nume- Jon h^vet! • ?°S think of TQrkiHh baths *oarth-iven -{Pr' ^e''ew"3 church, on Cerent pari J ,\0r3f' wbic!l some irre- Eoly ztf ,;ionei' dubbed the Church of the it was qJ,^ ANY rat«>it was all delicious: aMlto°ghtt°be. ^Paui^h »an n°'; tru'ibfully report that all that l"ga 0le.n were like this girl P ltamark agrei>abl^ n°^ing of her companions, flow There are^^ 6ati*i^Gtoi'y is the general rale. 1 (Jre o 8° ma«y uncertainties afloat that Of g00^ r ^formation set before U8 in terms should ha.T>0Un^' ^"equivocal exactness. I Certain nn° a,cl'i',e to this damsel a °He of fcis0 f1- ?r 0{! mental traits; then take 'I l&Oie w 'gher class and deal with her the *0men w exposition of Spanish ^fritej. V„°U completed. Thus a French lately estimates that it takes a l*arisierin T*0llUn three years to become a •WtT!here is n0 lack of succiuctne33 about ih. There is no litel- of succinctness eojjgci- 13 statement, based no doubt upon a ak»truse statistics that defies the Vf'ao +url0n" It 13 the airy Aurelian school j gB • L"as Writes in the intervals of the i 8elf°US "k0'69 'n the Maim. lie is him- t p AVe'eran. or I had best say an inveterate i isiau and boidtvardier to the backbone,and one who properly estimates the worth of the ] Position to the attainment of which he affixes i the above limit of time. He goes on to say the Italian b .cpmes a Parisienne in one year, the Englishman in two generations and the German not under tive gfnerations Th? last statement must be a little coloured as part of bis quoia to the revenge for AIsAoe ] and Lorraine. The liussian woman, he con- ) eludes is born Parisian. This, too. is probacy coloured somewhat by the friendly political bias which desire*, abovo all things else at present, a Russian alliiiiee. The day after the visit to Cordova I was at Seville—Byron's Seville; the Sevil:e which It is the received tradition to rave about as the very home of exotic grace and beauty. It was at first visible on a distant height, like city in a fairy tale, and the brown plain over which we approached it was destitute of ouses, while whole tracts were covered with a small violet flower that gave them the aspect of stretches of sea. There is a great, deal of luck in these matters, atid if I did not li 6 10 the full display of female love- jtQess t"»t one is really bound to see there nit??118 on^ due perhaps to unpro- Wor "8 fortune. I saw the girls and toll?.0 °°min* °ut of the great Government <co factory almost the very first thing, ■^verybody speaks of that. Head De for?C1 £ „ tben al8° read Mario Bash- r/ • For my part, I remarked many and Qy a pale face among them, plenty of th<*7n a»°j- fe*tur8S> ajid figures without ,e;^ distinction, the result of unhygienic sickness, hard work, poverty. They all Wore red roses in their hai?, like a tl .J*011 ro#es in the bair were the rule, most without exception, that month in from M?' l<irst' in goin« UP t0 Granada seW A004' y°u"g women showed them- artmu 6ma^ stations thus adorned. I ~rni occasional scarlet carnation. A oran»A°t faces Peered through the like anotK66 ,S- ry' -1ast before BftwitS F of frmt* The wo»en sat 8tanof';«er°UI> y°QnS tailoresses, for in- PartIv'h^0»Pln ^°or8' lust oS the street, or abov« ,n!i *1 nd a CQrtain on the»' balconies %&l) f rod rose in their dark tresM* faten? I gotte.n' more rarely one w»th a 1. ^an.tll'a together at the breast "wtoV °,* them- SeviIIe is a ^^3 of plain hon«n«^' greets, formed of rather b'Mnies chLfl 7 White> VriatUnS with c 'Ut for o 7 8reen, on which the women ofendra* c[larming little women, »hQ heaet m«, wif.h air,alj plates in their hands, in the Plaza del Triunfo. They were endeavouring to add each her mite to a fund being raised for the purpose of buying a fine new veil for a popular Madonna, and they begged me to contribute so sweetly, it was out of the question to refuse. "Andal"—"go on"—"Please do," they urged coaxingly, when I feigned to deny them. This anda reminded me of another time I had heard it not long before, a dark evening, when 1 had had to wait several hours for a train at a little out-of-the-way junction. I went over to the Cantina Andaluz, which, with the station and a few frieght cars, were the only evidenoe of man's habitation in the place. There was a group of persons in the garden, a family group. 1 hardly knew what, it all passed obscurely in the dark; a girl had a guitar, and a younger sister was urging her to sing. Anda, Maria I anda anda-a-a I" she pleaded, impatient of the other's distrust of herself, which was finally overcome. The sitters around joined in and tried various things of their own, not always knowing either the words or the air very well. I am not happy, either with you or with- out yon," sang Maria. When with you you torment me past endurance; without you I die of longing. So I am not happy either with you or without you." Their songs almost invariably begin with a long-drawn, quavering cry, or whine, and then continue in a monotonous minor key—monotonous but fascinating and essen- tially Spanish. I thought the femine voices soft and pleasing, which is unusual, for it is regettable that the Spanish woman's voice too often has a harsh quality, a throat-roughness, about it. I have noticed this in Cuba and Mexico as well, where the union with the inferior races seems to soften it away. The ladies, of a higher grade, who came out from the entertainment given by a group of fashionable yoong men at the bull-ring one Sunday afternooon-the ladies who drove in the throng of fine equipages in the Pasco by the Guadalquiver-had often bad com- plexions, and some of the elder ones mous- taches like grenadiers. Bat all were very Spanish; they flaunted the Southern fan, they wore the mantilla still, thank heaven, though its days are probably numbered with the advanca of the railroad; and some of the beautiful carriages were drawn by mules all bedecked with coloured trappingEl. Spanish women are rather picturesque than beautiful, and it is the painter-like effects to which they lend themselves that account for the enthusiast, about them quite as much as their actaa/ good looks. It is a land where tyey are not afraid of vivid colours. Crirccaon and yellow drape not only the balconie/, but the backs of the dark- haired wom/n, in neckerchiefs or shawU of China silk wrought with gay patterns of dowers or birds. Look at yonder maid, in the Savillan suburb of Triana; she wears a China shawl of brilliant yellow, embroidered with green and scarlet, and she stands idly await- ing somebody in the doorway of a low house, dazzling white in the sunlight. From win- dow near by tumbles out a perfect cascade of gorgeous scarlet cactus blossoms. The best of it is it is in no way tawdry; yoa no more think of tawdriness in connection with it than with a gumming bird or a bird of para- dise. Naturally, the ingenious Parisian writer before mentioned did not mean that all Spanish women would become Parisiennes, but only those endowed by Nature with the peculiar adaptibility required. The truth is, there are no great number of Parisiennes even in Paris. To my mind, the Parisieone is born a. little indiscriminately everywhere. That union of grace, coquetry, intelligence, taste in personal adornment, gaiety of nature and well-meaning character—which yet must not be too rarely tempted—is a feminine in- heritance, confined to no particular section, and only awaiting its opportunities. If, then, even those best adapted to it cannot become Parisiennes in less than three years, it shows a certain fixity in the Spanish character, a gravity and depth even ill the lightest. We would by no means want them to become Parisiennes, at any rate in dress. Heaven forbid! This accomplished-and alas, it is in active progress in Madrid at least—muohjjg&of their interest would pass away. It is the characteristic fan and mantilla, or the laughing gipsy-like heads, with a bright handkerchief tied above them, or the water-girls going to the foun- tain, as at'Salamanca, with a copper jar poised on their heads and another on their hips. Fortunately for the traveller, the part which is most inter esting from this point of view is precisely that which it is the easiest to see. Society in the Spanish towns, if it exist at all, is retiring, and hides itself away from the"stranger. I was told of an English family that had resided in Seville for several v-ean-drawu by the.beauty of the surround- ings and the climate-and had not a single tocial acquaintance. Of course there is no tell- ing what portion of the fault wss on their side. l'he world over, no local society can be ex- pected to break up its long-established manners and customs, or to immediately understand^too entire lack of adhesion to Lbem in others, newly arriving at its gates. Native authorities give a pleasant account Jf society at Seville. There would appear to be plenty of re-unions, tertullias-not so many dinuers-balls, and even pic-nics, and rowing-parties down the river. In the course of these, notwithstanding that the Moors have left to Spain the tradition of bringing up its women under an unusually close supervision, there are y)ften as free and inerryvgoings-on as if it wVre Amerioa. Then, after all their gaieties arjd coquetries, the young women" settle down, and become the best of wives. The more one travels about and happens, as he will, upon little natural incidents and home-like traits common everywhere, the more often be is inclined to think that thdre are no really inveterate national types, but, only differing individuals speaking different languages. There are light Spanish women as well as dark; reserved and silent ones as well as gay bustlings pirits actively forwarding the march cf modern progress, as well as those who sit under the sober shade of arcbtnic traditions. It would be difficult to find in any country at present, in the domain of intelligence, a more energetic worker than Senora Emilia Pardo Bazan. She devotes herself especially to the mere enlightened treatment of women, whose state she pronounces a veritable slavery, now maintained-by iron bars, now by fetters of gold and diamonds. In She school that she is forming around her she welcomes especially every woman who can contribute to the emancipation of her set not mere sentimental talk, nor ridiculous exaggerations, but tangible d.ed! of merit. She does her own part as a novelist and essayist, and in these fields takes the highest rank. With all this, she is no lladioal, not even a Republican; but, strangely enough, a Monarchist of the most uncompromising sort. It is quite refreshing her denunciations of the poor farce of Parlia- mentaryism. "Representative government, How and How Much our posterity will laugh at it," she exclaims. There is certainly much to be said for the monarchy when it can present those personal models which take a more powerful hold than any others upon the subjects; there would be everything to be said for it if these could be coustant. There are two European countries, namely, Spain and Italy, ^hich find them- elvas in this barmy condition at present! so far as women are concerned. The sweet young Queen-Regent of Spain, with her baby son in her arms, is a picture not ouly hanging in all the public assembly-halls, but impressed in feminine hearts and silently making a type and strengthening the domestic virtues. It would be curious if there were not a fund of gravity even in tha lightest minds in Spain, for it is a country that has always taken things seriously. It has always had heroic, even if somewhat mistaken, ideals; and personal convenience has never been allowed to stand in the way of carrying them into effect—whence, perhaps, one may traoe the modern indifference to the cruelty of bull-fighting. How could all Spanish women be alike with the prodigious variations of clinfate that raise differences between them ? On the high central plateau there are no oranges nor myrtles no more the delicious gardens of Bindarja nor Maria Pradilla. Barren la Mancha is fit for th", melancholy shepherdesses, the Cucinda8 and Camillas, who aired their misfortunes there. A chill wind blows at Madrid, and there are no red roses in the air. Further north more barrenness, yet without the resource of the ordinary society that at Madrid seeks its re- oreation within doors almost as it might in London. The neighbourhood of Avila, where the winter is long and harsh and there is no spring, is characterised as a country of stones and saints. In this stern spot Saint Theresa was born, a woman who, aa an ideal, still influences the women of Spain enor- mously. She was a saiut, who, her sanctity apart, was full of an eminent common- sense, an originality that has commended her to readers of all opinions. Without even having been taught, she wrote a style that an eminent member of the Spanish Academy, Juan Valera, has declared to be a model among the foremost. According to the testi- mony of her contemporarie<she,was beautiful. She was always gay. Amid her severe auste- rities she permitted herself but one luxury— it is one I thoroughly appreciate—she always placed her convents in a beautiful point of view. "Above all things, she said, If let us-not stultify our intellects; no one has any too much." Saint though she was, there was something very humanly lovable about her. I am not af; aid to quote, even in so close a connection with a revered name, one more of these faaci- natiug little songs, for guitar and caatanets, in which the popular rhymers of Spain show their own appreciation of their wouienkind. A star out of heaven has been lost, and in its place it no longer appears. In thy chamber instead it dwells and 3hines through thy radiant face. It shines through thy radiant face. A star out of heaven has been lost. Thine eyes, 0, my brown one, entrance me more than roses; more than the jacimino flower they delight. Ah, truly I am ill of them; to the hospital of i^an Augustine I must go away for oure."

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