is
treated as an ordinary occurrence, as it is, and no insult is felt where
none is intended. Such remarks are but an expression, which is
oftentimes naive, of the admiration which is felt at the sight of
unusual feminine charms. The incident simply goes to show that
everywhere in Spain there is tacit recognition of the general
inferiority of women. In the laboring and peasant classes, where the
women work with the men, such lapses from the conventional standard of
good manners would not cause so much comment; but under these
circumstances the dangers and the annoyances are not so great, as these
women of the people, with their practical experience in life, ignorant
as they may be, are often more competent to take care of themselves than
are their more carefully educated sisters in polite society who have
been so carefully fenced from harm.

Many of the objectionable features of Spanish life which spring from
these long-standing notions in regard to women are bound to disappear as
both men and women become more educated, and in several particulars
already encouraging progress has been made. Marriage laws and customs
may always be considered as telling bits of evidence in the discussion
of any question of this nature, and in Spain, as the result of modern
innovations, the rights of the woman in contracting the marriage
relation are superior to those enjoyed elsewhere on the continent or
even in England. In the old days, the _mariage de convenance_ was a
matter of course in educated circles, and the parents and relatives of a
girl were given an almost absolute power in arranging for her future
welfare. Now, as the result of an enlightened public sentiment, which is
somewhat unexpected in that it is in advance of many other social
customs, there is a law which gives a girl the right to marry the man of
her choice, even against her parents' wishes. No father can compel his
daughter to marry against her will; and if there is any attempt to force
her in the matter, she is entitled to claim the protection of a
magistrate, who is empowered by law to protect her from such oppression.
If the parents are insistent, the magistrate may take the girl from her
father's house and act as her guardian until the time of her majority,
when she is free to marry according to her own fancy. Nor is any such
rebellious action to be construed as prejudicial to the daughter's right
to inherit that portion of her father's estate to which she would