Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 July 1881 — Domestic Life in Spain. [ARTICLE]

Domestic Life in Spain.

Nowhere is the sentiment of home stronger than in Spain. The Spanish father is absolute king and lord by his own heart-stone, but his sway is so mild and so readily acquiesced in that it is hardly felt The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it, and the Spanish family seldom call for the harsh exercise of parental authority. This is the rule. Ido not mean to say that there are no exceptions. The pride and jealousy inherent in the race make family quarrels, when,they do rise, the bitterest and the fiercest in the world. In every grade of life these vindictive feuds among kindred are seen fron time to time. Twice at least the steps of the throne have been splashed with royal blood shed by princely hands. Duels between noble cousins and stabbing affrays between pleasant brothers alike attest the unbending sense of personal dignity that still infects this people. A light word between husbands and wives sometimes goes unexplained, and the lift between them widens through life. I know some houses where the wife enters at one door, and the husband at another; where if they meet on the stairs they do not salute each other. Under the same roof they have lived for years and have not spoken. One word would heal all discord, and that word will never lie spoken by either. They cannot be divorced—the church is inexorable. They will not incur the scandal of a public separation. So they pass lives of lonely isolation in adjoining apartments, both thinking rather better of each other and of themselves for this devilish persistence. An infraction of parental discipline is never forgiven. I know a General whose daughter fell in love with his Adjutant, a clever and amiable young officer. He had positively no objection to the suitor, but was surprised that there was any love making in his house without his previous suggestion. He refused his consent, and the young people were married without it. The father and son-in-law went off on a campaign, fought, and were wounded in the same battle. The General was asked to recommend his son-in-law for promotion. “I have no son-in-law!” “I mean your daughter’s husband.” “I have no daughter.” “I refer to Lieut. Don Fulano de Tai. He is a good officer. He distinguished himself greatly in the recent affair.” “Ah! otra cosa!” said the grim father-in-law. His hate could not overcome his sense of justice. The youth got his promotion,but his General will not recognize him at the club.