noticed in any English periodical. The chief fault of this excellent writer, (a fault balanced by many admirable qualities,) is the devoting himself with so much zeal to whatever subject he undertakes, that he seems unable to understand that every one may not think it worth the same amount of time and laborious attention;—and we often have to search for the wheat through a considerable amount of what readers less patient and laborious, will be apt to consider chaff, although it cannot be denied that the wheat when we have found it is generally of sterling quality. For this reason, in order to include as much interesting matter as possible within the very limited space at our disposal, we have thrown together some of the particulars that appeared best worth giving, instead of inserting a few disjointed extracts in the ordinary style, but it is only just to the author to add, that these sketches contain a very small part of the amusing and useful information afforded in the volumes themselves. * We now return to the sketches of Cattaro and Montenegro, begun in our last chapter. "As the weather in the few first days after our arrival at Cattaro, was not sufficiently favorable for our intended visit to Montenegro, we employed them in making ourselves acquainted with such lions as the place afforded, amongst which must by no means be omitted the two rivers or rather mountain torrents which flow close past the gates of the town. The Fiumera is not more than a few hundred yards in length from its spring in the mountains, to where it falls into the Gulf of Cattaro-but is frequently above three hundred feet broad. The wild picturesque rocky chasm where it first makes its appearance is not more than a rifle shot from the town gates, and even there the channel is sometimes nearly dry; but after rain the water will suddenly fill it in a most astounding manner, not only pouring down with fury from above, but welling up through the rocks, and out of every conceivable corner and cranny, from below as well as from above, so that it seems as if all the mountains around must be as porous as so many sponges. It must be added that when it rains at Cattaro it does so in good earnest, sending down mostly what the people call 'pack-thread rain,' I believe because the large drops follow each other so closely as to form one line, but from what I saw, I think rope,' or 'cable rain,' might be a more appropriate designation. I ran out after one of these showers, to try and get to a sort of raised platform in the bazaar, but not only had the water flooded all the neighbouring streets, but every house door furnished a separate tributary brook, and the rocks above seemed to have opened a thousand mouths to pour forth a watery eruption, as if from so many main pipes just turned on. Many of these mountain streams fall into the gulf in beautiful and romantic cascades, and an obliging friend belonging to Čattaro took us in his gondola to visit them, as well as some of the picturesque villages and villas, with their vineyards and olive gardens, which lie along the shores of the gulf. I especially remember a place called Dobrota, which stretches six Italian miles, so close to the foot of the Montenegrin mountains, that the mountaineers could almost let themselves down from their rocky fortresses on the tempting booty below. It is amazing to see so much wealth and luxury displayed so unhesitatingly in such a dangerous neighbourhood. More than one of these Dobrota proprietors was pointed out to me as a millionaire, and certainly the Prince of Montenegro has no abode to compare with some of these. The occupants of these villas however are fully prepared to defend their posessions in case of need, and each of the houses can readily be turned into a little fortress. In one * These preliminary remarks should have been inserted last month. that I entered I noticed that the doorway was provided on each side with loopholes to fire through in case of an attack on the door, and the doors and windows were similarly furnished, though the house had not the slightest resemblance to a feudal castle, for it was embowered in vines, olives, and pomegranates, and the rooms were spacious, light, and airy. The master of the house, a rich ship owner, came to meet us in his handsome national costume of black silk and silver, and after having shewn us from a balcony the beautiful view over the 'Bocca,' took us to see his collection of arms, and especially a small cannon that he had planted in a handsome room at the back of the house. He had placed it there in the unquiet year, 1848, and had made a corresponding opening in the wall of the room, which lay on the side of the Montenegrin mountains; and he did not seem at all inclined to remove it. Besides this piece of artillery, he had in the house two dozen muskets, and abundance of swords and pistols, not put away in a corner, but hanging about on every wall, so as to be ready for use at a moment's warning. In the most ordinary times it is thought quite indispensable to have armed men in the house, and the owner generally takes care to be absent as little as possible, and may mostly be found either busy with his accounts and correspondence, or going in and out, and up and down, giving every part of his property in turn the benefit of "the master's eye.' In these villages there is, as may be supposed, little or nothing of what we call social recreation; nor is there any kind of club or casino, to vary the routine of daily life. Every member of the family must be within doors at an early hour, and soon after sunset, the streets are silent and desolate, and every door is made fast with large heavy bars. "When Montenegro is in a disturbed state, as it very frequently is, the inhabitants of the house are generally divided into two watches, one of which keeps guard till midnight, and the other till morning. In this martial condition of affairs even the women learn to defend themselves upon occasion, and we were told of a case in which a ship's Captain had made a desperate resistance, with no other help than that of his wife and daughters. He was sitting quietly with them one evening, when he thought he heard some noise in his garden, and going to the window asked who was there. The answer was the whistle of two or three bullets which shattered the panes of glass, and by the flash he caught a glimpse of a rather numerous troop of Montenegrins, who were making preparations to break open his door. He drew back instantly and informed the horror-struck women that there must be a fight for life, and that they too must arm themselves, and do what they could. "As the fire-arms in a Dobrota house are always kept loaded, there was no time lost in that way; so the lights were immediately extinguished, and the women posted themselves by the windows, while the man sprang down to the house door to meet his enemies, taking with him half a dozen pistols. Some of the assailants were now hammering at the door, and others dashing great stones against it to break it in, but as it was of considerable strengh it resisted for some time. At last however a hole was made, through which one, two, three Montenegrins burst in. But the Captain was now ready for them with his pistols, and instantly shot them one after another as they forced their way through the hole. This the rest of the party thought awkward, and drew back a little to consider, and at that moment the ladies sent down amongst them such a volley as they could muster, and the robbers seized with a panic took to flight just as the noise had aroused the village, and a strong military patrol was coming to their assistance. The Captain and his family were, however, obliged to leave their pretty country house, and go and live within the fortifications of Cattaro, as the mountaineers had sworn vengeance against them for their three slain companions. "The heroic qualities thus occasionally developed by the women of these districts, do not prevent their holding a very inferior position in society, and being almost as secluded and jealously watched as among their Oriental neighbours, the Turks,-and a man will not as much as mention his wife without a kind of apology for so doing. Even during the period of courtship, if such a term may be applied in this case, they are treated in a very cool and cavalier style. A pair of lovers have been seen proceeding from one village to another the gentleman comfortably seated on his horse, and, morcover, smoking his pipe, while the lady ran barefoot by his side, without his appearing to dream of dismounting or taking her up before him. Yet there was no mistake as to the relation in which they stood, for the lover would now and then cast very languishing looks at the fair one, and even draw her to his side occasionally and give her a kiss. "By way of companion to this picture, we find another of a great robust Montenegrin seated upon a small ass, and his wife running behind with a stick to drive it on, besides being laden with a part of the baggage, while the ass carried nothing but the portly figure of her lord and master. "As the weather had now cleared up, we all assembled one morning at an early hour at the bazaar before the Fiumera gate to set off on our long looked for excursion to Montenegro, and found our horses and our Montenegrin friends waiting for us, as well as a crowd of idle lookers on, who lent a hand now and then as they saw occasion, lengthened a stirrup for one, pulled at a cord for another, and so on. Our carpet bags were carried by a little pack horse, and a handsome Montenegrin girl, about twenty years of age, who travelled on foot. About a dozen of her countrymen on horseback accompanied us, and so our little caravan moved out of the bazaar, and began to ascend the mountain path, with the usual farewell salute of the firing of pistols on the top of the first rock we reached. It was certainly agreeable to travel in this large party, but for the mere sake of security I was told the company of the girl only would have been quite sufficient. No one is ever safer here than when in the company of a woman, young or old. I myself knew a German painter who went rambling all about Montenegro under the protection of an old woman, and considered himself more secure than with a pass from the Vladska himself. A woman may go in and out anywhere as she pleases; no one offers her the slightest offence, and if he did he would expose himself, not only to the vengeance of her kindred, but to universal contempt." It is not very easy to say whether this curious kind of inviolability rests on the high or low opinion entertained of the sex. The fair Johanna, the maid of Montenegro above mentioned, who trotted along laden with her two heavy carpet-bags, very nearly keeping up with horsemen, never experienced the smallest impertinence, though the only woman present, and both young and remarkably handsome. None of the party of twenty, mostly young and unmarried men, ventured on the smallest freedom towards her, or allowed himself the most innocent jest. On the other hand it must be added that they seemed to have forgotten too that she stood in need of mortal refreshments as well as her male companions,—a mode of treatment that reminds us a little of the complaint of an ill-used lover which we have somewhere heard :— "Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love, (To be continued.) LXII-OPEN COUNCIL. [As these pages are intended for general discussion, the Editors do not hold themselves responsible for the opinions expressed.] "Not enjoyment and not sorrow, LONGFELLOW. As wife of the Rector of a parish in the heart of the city of London, where the greatest wealth and the greatest poverty are to be found side by side, I am brought much into intercourse with all classes, and have therefore many opportunities of observing those around me. I find one chief difficulty in this field of labor, which I attribute, in great measure, to the defective education of our women. I allude to the difficulty I have in obtaining the personal assistance of ladies in visiting our poorer neighbours,—for though many have time at their disposal, they seem to be utterly without a sense of the responsibility which they incur by the misuse of it; when I ask for assistance in money, I am seldom refused; sometimes I have had it freely offered, and I know that a great deal is done for the poor, vastly more than is known of,--but I would fain see our elder daughters, and the yet unmarried earnest and tender women of this metropolis, come as laborers into the vineyard, for the harvest is indeed plenty. The men of this city, the fathers of families, have seldom any time at their disposal; the wives too have, in most cases, their maternal and household duties, and much responsibility, for which their own previous education barely fits them; but there must be many unmarried women as well as married, who, like myself, are without the cares of a mother, who must have much time which is not spent in useful study or in necessary duty, and who must be able to devote to the solace and comfort of their fellow creatures those (miserably wasted in many cases) few hours daily, or even weekly, for which many a poor bed-ridden soul would be thankful. Could they see, as I have seen, the dim eye lighten with delight as the words of comfort fell on the ear-could they only know what it is to receive the blessing of the aged or dying poor, I am sure that I should not be able to say as I do now, with heartfelt regret and shame, that there is only one lady in this parish of 6,000 souls who will visit with me the haunts of misery and sickness, and two Sunday-school Teachers who visit casually. Why have we not more? They have been urged from the pulpit by my husband, and by myself in private, and yet there is but-one! I wish I could urge upon all, the great responsibility of time, wasted, frittered away, lost,-let them rather devote it to the suffering struggling poor, let them visit amongst them, and they will find the reward in their own hearts and consciences; and though after having done all, we are yet unprofitable servants, still let us go forth in our Master's service and in His name, and many a useful lesson we shall learn and useful hour shall we employ. Frequent objection is made to visiting in the courts and alleys of London, that it is disagreeable, difficult, and dangerous. I reply, that no duty is entirely for our own pleasure, we begin to do it as a duty, and the duty becomes a pleasure, and so it is with this, if you visit with a proper motive and in a proper spirit, in spite of some things which may (particularly at first) be offensive to a refined or delicate woman, you will like the work and take a pleasure in it, you will learn to feel lively interest in the welfare of your fellow creatures. Visiting does no good to our neighbours unless we can sympathise with them, for if they do not see that we care for their temporal affairs, how can they believe that we care for their 2G VOL I. eternal welfare? The work is easy, the burden is light, if the heart is with it; try it, and you will see that I am right-you cannot tell unless you try, earnestly, prayerfully, heartily,-you will be surprised yourself some day to find how much interest you take in Tommy Brown, or that poor old woman Molly Jones, who broke her leg and has not another friend upon earth except yourself. English women! I speak with the experience of several years personal trial, and can safely say that in the courts of the worst class, in the homes of the most depraved, I have been ever met with civility and even with a welcome; I have never met with an insult of any kind. Where is the difficulty then? In your own hearts it must be-you think it must be disagreeable, and so you shrink from it. If you do not like to go alone at first, I am sure that there are few of the Clergy of this City who would not be glad of your assistance in visiting; or if you prefer it, come to me. May the efforts which are being made for the better education of young people be attended with success, and by God's blessing there will yet be found English hearts, and English women to assist in the parochial visiting of manyA CLERGYMAN'S WIFE. MADAM, To the Editor of the English Woman's Journal. In a letter signed "One of the Prosperous" which appeared in your last number, I read the following passage:-"If ladies were to determine that they would not admit within their houses men who had been notoriously guilty of breaking God's laws, and of having cruelly oppressed a woman, they would greatly raise the standard of morality, and confer an immense benefit upon their own sex." There is more to the same purpose, and a very good one it is; I only wish to advert to the practical difficulty which stands in the way of so desirable an end. The difficulty is this:-that at home as elsewhere it is generally a man who rules. We may call women traitors and enemies to each other and the common cause; it is easily done and seems to settle the question; but how are they to act if their own husbands and fathers are no better than those whom they would willingly exclude? And even if these be leading decent lives themselves, are there many men who are disposed to look seriously on the "peccadillos," as they term them, of their own sex? Would not the greater number say, if a woman opposed them on such grounds, “I am master in my own house, and if you do not choose to conform to its rules, to the rules of society,-leave it! I offer this merely as a suggestion, but I know, unhappily, that there is truth in it. I am, Madam, Yours faithfully, A. H. D. MADAM, To the Editor of the English Woman's Journal. It is very important that any statement which appears in your Journal as to the laws relating to women, should be strictly accurate, and so clearly expressed that your readers may not gather mistaken information from pages which will, I hope, become the accredited exponent of the legislation, past, present or to come, affecting the condition of your sex. In your last number an article from the Daily News, on "the working of the new Divorce Bill" (by which of course is meant the new Divorce Act) is reprinted at length. This article, able and graphic as it may be, is |