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What The
CONDITION AND CHARACTER
FEMALES
SECOND EDITION.
~~
1831.
16
PAGAN AND MOHAMMEDAN COUNTRIES.
Boston:
PERKINS & MARVIN, 114, WASHINGTON STREET.
NEW YORK: JONATHAN LEAVITT.
cenal
BL
458
.C74
1831

32 2-B
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Gift
Tappan Press, Bar
1-23-1932
CONDITION AND CHARACTER
OF
FEMALES
IN PAGAN AND MOHAMMEDAN COUNTRIES.
[The following pages contain a simple statement of facts. Their truth is
attested by men of various characters and professions-by protestants,
catholics, infidels, and pagans-by geographers, travellers, and mission-
aries; who all agree in representing the condition of the female sex in
heathen countries as degraded and miserable in the extreme.]
It is difficult-perhaps impossible to describe the wretch-
odness of heathen females, without wounding the feelings of
the benevolent, or shocking the delicacy of the refined. But
the truth must be told. The remedy can never be applied, un-
less the disease is known. The sympathy, ever anxious to re-
lieve, cannot be felt before the misery is seen. The charity, that
kindles at the tale of wo, can never act with adequate efficiency,
till it is made to see the pollution and guilt of 600,000,000, now
buried in the death-shades of heathenism. Shall we then,
however painful the sight, shrink from the contemplation of
their real state? We shall only see what they endure.
I. THEIR CONDITION.
1. They are despised. The heathen female is viewed with
contempt from the morning of her existence. The birth of a
daughter, in most unevangelized countries, is an occasion of
sorrow. Frowned upon by her parents and relatives, her sex
is often a sufficient reason for putting an immediate end to her
existence.(1)* Born into the world with such unpropitious
omens, if permitted to live, it is only to witness the gathering
cloud of darkness and misery, which hangs over the whole
course of her life. Women in all Pagan and Mohammedan
countries are regarded as inferior to men, created only to be
A
M
*The figures refer to a list of most of the writers and books, on whose author-
ity these statements are made, which the reader will find on the last page.
1

2
CONDITION AND CHARACTER
this clear
Think
subservient to their wants and pleasures. In some they are
considered " a necessary evil," a disgrace to the world, un-
worthy the companionship of man. You cannot offer a greater
insult to a Mohammedan in Persia, than to inquire after the
female part of his family, even were they dangerously ill.(2)
Such contempt for the female character, and such opinions
respecting the design of woman's creation, are sanctioned by
the Koran, whose doctrines command the belief, and determine
the practice, of 120,000,000 of the human race.
The "sacred books" of Hindostan, whose precepts sway the
minds of 100,000,000, speak thus, "In every stage of life, woman
is created to obey. At first, she yields obedience to her father
and mother. When married, she submits to her husband. In
old age, she must be ruled by her children. During her life
she can never be under her own control."* "Women have no
business with the text of the Vedu. Having therefore no evi-
dence of law, and no knowledge of expiatory texts, sinful woman
must be as foul as falsehood itself."(3) Are such sentiments
confined to the pages of their "sacred books"? No. They live
in the heart, and govern the life of every Hindoo. Facts in
proof and illustration of this will appear in the sequel.
But are females less despised, where no "sacred books"
condemn them to perpetual disgrace and subjection? Con-
template their condition in the Society Islands, before the
introduction of Christianity. Men were considered "rah,"
sacred, while women were regarded as "noah," impure, or
common. Men were allowed to eat several kinds of meat,
cocoa nuts, plantains, and other articles of food offered to the
gods; which females were forbidden to touch under pain of
death. The fires also, at which the food of the men was cooked,
the baskets in which it was kept, and the houses in which they
ate, were sacred; females being forbidden to use the former, or
enter the latter, under the same fearful penalty.(4)
rot
2. Their education is neglected. This is true of every rank,
wherever the Bible has not rescued woman from degradation.
Indeed, must not this naturally result from the contempt in
which she is held? Among rich and poor, in the families of
princes and peasants, she is alike ignorant. Probably through-
out the whole Pagan and Mohammedan world, there does
exist a single school for the education of females, except those
established by Christian benevolence. In Mohammedan coun-
tries they are sometimes instructed in embroidery, music, danc-
ing, and such other external accomplishments as render them.
fitter instruments for their master's pleasure; but not a thought
is bestowed upon the cultivation of the mind.. Reading and/
writing are to them unknown. The immortal soul is utterly
neglected.(5)


In Hindostan, not twenty in as many millions are blessed
with the common rudiments of Hindoo learning.
In Ceylon, when the American missionaries arrived, not one
in a district containing a population of 200,000 could read. The
* How different the precepts of Christianity. See Eph. v. 25, and 28–30; 1 Pe-
ter iii. 7, &c.
A
OF HEATHEN FEMALES.
3
cultivation of the female mind is thought to be not only vain,
but dangerous to the welfare of society; and the direst curses
are denounced against the woman, who may aspire to the
dangerous eminence of being able to read and write. It is
supposed that the employments proper for woman do not re-
quire education. For she can sweep the house, cook the food,
collect fuel, wait on her lord, and feed her children without it;
and having discharged these duties with fidelity, the whole
work of life is accomplished.(3)
A missionary, in conversation with some respectable natives,
who were anxious to have schools established for boys, remark-
ed that the Christian public were desirous of doing everything
in their power to establish schools for the instruction of girls.
The oldest and most intelligent of them replied, "What have
we to do with them? Let them remain as they are." The
missionary reminded him that females were passing into eter-
nity ignorant of the way of salvation, and in danger of perishing
forever. "They do not know how to go to heaven," replied
the native, "but they know how to go to hell, and let them
go."(6)
3. They are not at their own disposal in marriage. In some
unevangelized countries they are betrothed by their parents
in infancy, or childhood. In others, they are sold at a more
advanced age, at prices varying according to their beauty, or
rank. A Circassian female, fourteen years of age, who had
been captured by the Cossacs, being told she was to be set at
liberty, begged to remain their prisoner; because she feared
her parents would sell her, and she might fall into the hands of
masters less humane than the Cossacs.(7)
In some nations, custom, handed down from generation to
generation, till it has become as strong as law, forbids a woman
to reject proposals of marriage, from whatever man they come.
Pleased, or displeased, she must leave her parents, and the
companions of her early years, to drag out the remainder of her
earthly existence, in subjection to the authority of a tyrant,
whom she cannot but loathe and abhor.(5) In Hindostan, the
greatest disgrace is attached to the character of any female,
who remains unmarried after eleven years of age. So foul is
the stain, that in order to avoid it, several who had passed that
age, were married to an aged Brahmin, when his friends were
carrying him to the Ganges to die upon its banks.(3)
•
4. The practice of polygamy prevents them from enjoying the
affections of their husbands and the happiness of domestic life.
This practice, so destructive of all conjugal felicity, prevails
among the higher ranks in almost every Pagan and Moham-
medan country. It is authorized by the Koran, which permits
every man to marry four wives. But by the rich this limitation
is commonly disregarded. With them, the number varies from
the lawful four, to the three hundred, five hundred, fifteen hun-
dred, or two thousand of the Grand Seignior.(8)
In Hindostan, the Kooleen Brahmins, considered the most
holy of the whol Brahminical sect, claim as a privilege of their
order, the right to marry one hundred wives. Although they
:
4
CONDITION AND CHARACTER
do not often exercise this right to its full extent, the number of
their wives is frequently not less than forty or fifty.(9) As in
Mohammedan, so in Pagan countries, the number of a man's
wives is limited only by his income or inclination. The evils
resulting from this unhallowed practice can be better conceived
than described. Totally destructive of domestic peace, it ren-
ders every female, within its influence, an object of constant and
bitter persecution from the other wives of her husband, or a
prey to the devouring envy, hatred, and malice, which continu-
ally rankle in her own bosom.
5. They are liable to be divorced by their husbands at any mo-
ment, and left without means of support. In Hindostan, the hus-
band may divorce his wife at pleasure. Says the "divine
Munoo,"
""The woman who speaks unkindly to her husband,
may be superseded by another without delay." Let him ad-
dress her by the title "mother," and the marriage covenant is
dissolved. This is the only bill of divorce requisite.(3) When
thus cast out by her husband, the customs of society prevent
her from obtaining an honorable livelihood.(10) In other
countries, divorce is equally easy to the husband, and extremely
common.
6. Among the higher ranks in Mohammedan and partially
civilized Pagan countries, they are secluded from the society of men.
In Hindostan and China, the wife of a man of rank and wealth
is continually secluded, and closely guarded. She is not per-
mitted to eat with her husband. She never mixes with com-
pany, even at her own house; and is never seen abroad with
her husband, unless on a journey. A Hindoo female seeing an
European lady walking arm in arm with her husband, ex-
claimed in the utmost astonishment, "Oh! ma! what is this?
Do you see? They take their wives by the hand, and lead
them through the streets without the least shame!"(1)
In the houses of the higher class, the harem, or women's
apartment, is literally a prison. It is usually so situated and
constructed, that the inmates can neither be seen from without,
nor enjoy any prospect, but that of an adjoining garden, sur-
rounded with lofty walls. It is never entered by any male
except the husband. The wife is seldom permitted to go
abroad;―never without being concealed in a close carriage, or
having her face so enveloped that she could not be recognized
even by the most intimate friend. If she does, it is at her peril.
Says Col. Phipps, in an address before the Church Missionary
Society, "In Alexandria, [Egypt,] I have seen a Turk, at mid-
day, in the open street, cut off a woman's head for no other
reason, than because he saw her without a vail, and her person
was not concealed in her cloak."(6)
The strictness with which the inmates of the harem are guard-
ed, may be learned from the following particulars respecting
the women belonging to the seraglio of the Grand Seignior of
Turkey. "Whenever they go abroad, which is very seldom, a
troop of black eunuchs convey them to the boats, which are
enclosed with lattices and linen curtains; or, if their excursion
is on land, they are put into close chariots, and signals are made
31
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:
OF HEATHEN FEMALES.
10
at certain distances, that no one approach the road, through
which they pass, under pain of death. When the Sultan per-
mits them to walk in the gardens of the seraglio, they are
cleared of every thing human, and a guard of black eunuchs,
with drawn sabres, march on patrol. Any individual found in
the gardens, even through ignorance, or inadvertence, is in-
stantly sabred, and his head laid at the feet of the Grand
Seignior, who bestows a large reward upon the guard for his
fidelity."(8)
The same spirit of jealousy and dark suspicion, which dic-
tates the conduct of the Grand Seignior, haunts the minds of
husbands in Mohammedan countries generally. In some it is
common in the lower, as well as higher ranks, and the women's
apartment in the house of every poor man is a harein upon a
small scale.
This close confinement and seclusion places the wife entirely
in the husband's power. Whatever abuse she may suffer, who
shall redress her wrongs? Says a traveller, while residing at
Constantinople, "The body of a young woman, of surprising
beauty, was found one morning near my house. She had re-
ceived two wounds, one in her side, the other in her breast;
and was not quite cold. Many came to admire her beauty;
but no one could tell who she was, no woman's face being
known out of her own family. She was buried privately, and
little inquiry was made for the wretch, who had imbued his
hands in her blood."(11) The Pacha of Acre in Palestine, a
few years since, put to death seven of his wives at one time,
with his own hands.(7)
7. In the lower ranks, and in barbarous Pagan countries, they
are compelled to perform the most servile labors. In Ceylon a re-
cent traveller was surprised to see strong and healthy men
engaged in washing, ironing, preparing muslin dresses, and
other similar employments, while slender females were carrying
heavy burdens through the streets, or laboring in the fields.
In China, where, on account of the vast number of rivers and
canals, more business is done upon the water than in any other
part of the world, women are obliged, in addition to what, in
other countries, are considered their proper employments, to
perform the duties of boatmen.(12) On land they may be seen
performing the various parts of agricultural labor, frequently
with an infant on their backs; while their husbands are gaming,
or otherwise idling away their time.(13) Barrows asserts that
he has frequently seen the wife dragging the light plough, or
harrow, while the husband was performing the easier task of
sowing the seed. A Jesuit missionary assures us, that he has
seen a woman and an ass yoked together to the same plough,
while the inhuman husband was guiding it and driving his
team.
What labors are exacted of the wife among uncivilized Pa
gans, let the reader learn from one of their number, who in
describing her own, has described the condition of millions of
her sex.
A missionary in South America, reproving an In-
dian mother for the destruction of her female infants, she
1*
6
CONDITION AND CHARACTEK
replied with tears, "I would to God, father, I would to God,
that my mother had by my death prevented the distresses I
endure, and have yet to endure, as long as I live. Consider,
father, our deplorable condition. Our husbands go out to
hunt, and trouble themselves no farther. We are dragged
along with one infant at the breast, and another in a basket.
They return in the evening without any burden. We return
with the burden of our children; and though tired with a long
march, must labor all night in grinding corn to make chica for
them. They get drunk, and in their drunkenness beat us,
draw us by the hair of the head, and tread us under foot. And
what have we to comfort us for slavery that has no end? A
young wife is brought in upon us, who is permitted to abuse us
and our children, because we are no longer regarded. Can
human nature endure such tyranny? What kindness can we
show to our female children equal to that of relieving them
from such oppression, more bitter a thousand times than death?
I say again, would to God my mother had put me under ground
the moment I was born."(14)
8. They are held in the most degrading subjection to their hus-
bands. From what has already been said, who can doubt that
the Mussulman female, immured in the harem, must acquiesce
in the will of her master? Especially when we recollect that
the precepts of the Koran direct the husband to chastise his
wife for any disobedience to his commands.
In Hindostan, women are required, not only by the enact-
ment of legislators, but by the still more binding precepts of
religion, to submit to the most degrading bondage. The Padma
Purana, a book regarded with greater reverence, and more
strictly obeyed by many a deluded Hindoo, than the Word of
the everlasting God by multitudes of nominal Christians, speaks
thus-"When in the presence of her husband, a woman must
keep her eyes upon her master, and be ready to receive his
commands. When he speaks, she must be quiet, and listen to
nothing besides. When he calls, she must leave every thing
else, and attend upon him alone. A woman has no other god
on earth than her husband. The most excellent of all good
works she can perform, is to gratify him with the strictest
obedience. This should be her only devotion. Though he be
aged, infirm, dissipated, a drunkard, or a debauchee, she must
still regard him as her god. She must serve him with all her
might, obeying him in all things, spying no defects in his
character, and giving him no cause for disquiet. If he laughs,
she must also laugh. If he weeps, she must also weep. If he
sings, she must be in an ecstacy. She must never eat, till her
husband is satisfied. If he abstains, she must surely fast; and
she must abstain from whatever food her husband dislikes.
When he goes abroad, if he bids her go with him, she must
follow. If he bids her stay, she must go nowhere during his
absence. Until he returns, she must not bathe, clean her teeth,
pare her nails, nor eat more than once a day."(10) By such
impious and barbarous precepts, the Hindoo husband is gov-
erned in the treatment of his wife. He never speaks her name,
}
:
F
1.
}
OF HEATHEN FEMALES.
my
if he adhere strictly to his religion, but calls her, "my servant,”
or "my dog." Nor may the wife speak the name of her hus-
band, but must call him "my lord," or "the master of the
house." Liable to chastisement from her husband, she deems
that a happy day, in which she escapes his cruel scourge.(1)
A native convert to Christianity, speaking of the effect of the
gospel upon his conduct, stated as the most decisive evidence
of his conversion, that he had entirely ceased to beat his wife.
In Burmah, the wife and grown daughters are considered by
the husband and father, as much the subjects of discipline as
the younger children. Hence it is not uncommon for females
of every age and rank, to suffer under the tyrannical rod of
those who should be their kind protectors and affectionate
companions.(15)
9. Their lives are not valued. In Greenland, it is customary
to bury aged, helpless females alive. An Arab, in the north of
Africa, asked his wife for his knife. She replied that she had
lent it to a neighbor. "Do you not know," said he, "that you
have no business to meddle with any thing belonging to me?"
She acknowledged she had not, confessed her fault, expressed
her sorrow, and offered to go immediately and bring it back.
He replied, “I will see if I can't have a wife, who will obey
my commands better. I always told you not to meddle with
any thing of mine." Then levelling her to the ground with
one stroke of his club, he repeated his blows till she ceased to
breathe. Neither man nor woman went near them, though
her cries were heard through the whole tribe. In the evening
the neighboring women dug a grave scarcely of the size of her!
body, into which they laid the naked corpse sideways, trode it
down with their feet till it was level with the surface of the
earth, and covered it with a heap of stones. The only notice
taken of this inhuman deed was, that the council of the tribe
fined the murderer four sheep, which he was required to cook
for their supper. He paid the fine, and in two weeks mar-
ried again.(16)
Col. Phipps, whose name has been already mentioned, says
"The rich and powerful in Hindostan not unfrequently punish
the females of their families by causing them to be sown up in
a sack and thrown by night into a river, or well. I have seen
a rich Hindoo who was known to have destroyed several
women in this manner. When the magistrate attempted to
bring the wealthy culprit to punishment, he found that the very
parents and kindred of the victims had been bribed to depose
in a court of justice, that they had died a natural death. I
have seen taken out of large wells, several human skeletons,
the remains of murdered heathen females; and I wish it to be
distinctly understood, that what I relate are facts, which have
come under my own personal observation."(6)
Such is the state of woman in unenlightened countries. De-
graded in her condition ;-exposed to continual persecution and
insult ;-deprived of all that is delightful in domestic or social
life;-denied the blessings of education;-excluded from the
knowledge of God and the hopes of heaven;—she is, in short,
00
CONDITION AND CHARACTER
-
..
treated as a soulless being, whose highest aim should be to
gratify the caprice, and obey the commands of haughty and
unfeeling man. But where in all the Pagan and Mohammedan
world-where among the 600,000,000 of our race, to whom the
Bible is unknown, is woman the companion of man? Where,
the happy wife of the affectionate husband? Where, the
honored mother of grateful children? Ask the islands of the
sea, or the distant East. They cannot tell. Ask the native
female of America. You have heard her mourn her unhappy
fate. Ask the daughter of abused Africa. Her dying shrieks
have told her tale of wo. She is every where despised, neg-
lected, afflicted, oppressed.
II.
THEIR CHARACTER.
1. They are destitute of female delicacy. In many heathen
countries, females, as if it were not enough to be destitute of
those qualities of mind and heart, which are the peculiar glory
of their sex, disfigure their persons in such a manner as to
destroy their native beauty and grace. They seem not only
incapable of distinguishing between beauty and deformity, but
also to have lost all sense of female propriety. Proofs of this
are given in the writings of almost every traveller, who has
observed their customs. Among the multitude, which might
be adduced, let one or two suffice.
At the Society Islands it was formerly customary for every
female to provide herself immediately after marriage with an
instrument set with rows of shark's teeth, with which, upon
the death of any of the family, they cut and mangled them-
selves in a most horrible manner; striking the head, temples,
cheeks, and breast, till the blood flowed profusely, at the same
time uttering the most deafening and agonizing cries. This
was their mode of expressing intense joy, as well as grief.
Nor were their amusements more becoming the female char-
acter. One was wrestling; in which females, even of the high-
est rank, engaged in the presence of thousands of spectators
of both sexes, not only with one another, but also with men.(4)
Who can, without disgust, describe the intolerable filthiness
of their dwellings and food, and their want of personal clean-
liness ?*
2. They are superstitious. Is not this a natural consequence
of ignorance? In Hindostan nothing is more common than to
see females measuring the distance from temple to temple by
falling prostrate every six feet; suspending themselves by
hooks thrust through the muscular parts of their backs; and in
a thousand ways tormenting themselves to obtain the favor of
their gods.
"As I was walking out on a certain occasion,"
says an American missionary, "I saw two women in the mid-
dle of the road, rolling through the mud, which was then about
a foot deep. Upon my approaching them and inquiring their
object, they replied, 'we were sick, and vowed to our god that,
،
wide
* Let the reader who would know more of this, consult Stewart's Journal at
the Sandwich Islands, Harmon's, or Lewis and Clark's, among the North Ameri-
can Indians, &c.
1
*
1
1
:
“མ་ཐ། ཀ་
OF HEATHEN FEMALES.
9
if he would make us well, we would roll to his temple.' After
expostulating with them some time, I was obliged to leave
them, sick and weak as they were, to their infatuation, just at
night, with three fourths of their journey still before them, and
with a strong probability of their perishing before the night
should be far advanced. Proceeding a few steps I met a
Brahmin, and pointing to the scene, expostulated with him for
keeping the females in such ignorance and in the practice of
such superstitions, appealing to his conscience that he knew
better. He coldly replied, 'Ah, let them alone, let them alone,
that's worship just suited to their capacities.' "(1)
Their superstition and ignorance render them the dupes of
the most detestable and wicked impositions from the impious
Brahmins. Among them, as among the ancient Israelites, bar-
renness is regarded as a calamity, and deliverance from it is
often the subject of prayer to their gods; some of whom are
believed to have power to remove it. Applicants are told to
remain in the temple during the night, performing their devo-
tions; and, if their worship is accepted, they will be visited by
the god. They return home without the least suspicion of the
horrid deception practised upon them by the Brahmins, sup-
posing they have had intercourse with the deity of the temple.
At other temples the same boon is promised on conditions still
more degrading and monstrous. These present, during the festi-
val months, one vast scene of impurity and wickedness.(10)
3. They are GENERALLY guilty of iransgressing the seveniù
commandment. It is needless to dwell upon this topic.
To
assert the truth is scarcely tolerable to a mind of delicacy and
refinement. Yet listen for a moment to what candid men have
said upon the subject. "It is a fact," says Rev. Mr. Ward,
"which perplexes many of the well-informed Hindoos, that,
notwithstanding the wives of Europeans are seen in so many
mixed companies, they remain chaste; while their wives, though
continually secluded, watched, and veiled, are notoriously cor-
rupt. I recollect the observation of a gentleman, who had
resided twenty years in Bengal, and whose opinion on such a
subject is entitled to the highest regard, that the infidelity of
Hindoo women was so great that he scarcely thought there
was an individual among them, who had always been faithful
to her husband. A Brahmin, who would be far from disparag-
ing his country, affirmed that 'he did not believe there was a
single female in the large cities of Bengal, who had not violated
the laws of chastity."
<
799
But in violating the laws of morality, do they not act in per-
fect obedience to the dictates of their religion? Many of the
gods of India are gods of impurity. Their temples are brothels;
their worship, unbounded licentiousness.
In consequence of their being married in childhood, thousands
of Hindoo females are left in widowhood at an early age. Both
law and public opinion take from them all means of supporting
themselves in respectability. Driven to desperation by the
miseries that overwhelmed them, hundreds have heretofore
thrown themselves upon the funeral piles of their deceaseď
10
CONDITION AND CHARACTER
husbands. The fate of the surviving widow is often worse than
death. She can never marry, although her husband may have
died, when she was a mere child; but must remain in cruel bon-
dage to her sons, or her husband's relations. Many, rather
than endure the obloquy and servitude of widowhood among
their friends, resort to the only means in their power of pro-
curing support, and obtain a miserable subsistence by prostitu-
tion. Among these blinded, degraded beings, this mode of life
is honorable compared with widowhood; and widows gene-
rally give themselves up to it, in order to avoid disgrace! (1)
4. They are "avithout natural affection." "The very periods,"
says a well known missionary, "when the infant of the Chris-
tian mother is to her an object of intense solicitude, and of the
deepest anxiety,-times of sickness and distress,-are those
when the heathen mother feels that in her child she has a care
and a trouble, which she will not endure. She stifles its cries
for a moment with her hand, hurries it into a grave already
prepared, and tramples to a level the earth under which the
offspring of her bosom is struggling in the agonies of death."(17)
At the Society Islands two thirds of the children were mur-
dered in infancy. Some mothers had thus consigned to the
grave five, six, eight, or even more of their offspring. "I do
not recollect," says Rev. Mr. Ellis, "meeting with a female in
the islands during the whole of my residence there, who had
been a mother while idolatry prevailed, and had not embrued
her hands in the blood of her offspring." A similar statement
is made by another missionary, who had spent thirty years on
the islands.(4)
In India, frequent transgressions of the sixth commandment
result from the disregard of the seventh. Mothers add to the
sins already mentioned, that of destroying in the bud the fruit
of their crimes. Not only the numerous widows in that country,
but wives also procure abortion. Some are accustomed to do
it annually. "The Pundit," [teacher,] says Mr. Ward, "who
gave me this information, supposes that 10,000 infants are thus
murdered in the province of Bengal every month; appealing
in support of his opinion to the fact that many females are
tried for these offences in the courts of justice in every zillah of
Bengal, and that it was so common an event that every child
knew it." Infants are also destroyed by offering them to the
Ganges; burying them alive; suspending them in baskets on
trees, to be devoured by ants, and birds of prey; or exposing
them to be torn in pieces by crocodiles, jackals, and tigers.
In China this practice is scarcely less common.
In the city
of Pekin, so great is the number of infants exposed by their
unnatural mothers, that a person is employed by government
to go through the streets every morning with a cart, and gather
up the children thus exposed, and cast them, the living and the
dead without distinction, into a large pit appropriated to this
purpose.
Pause now for a moment, and reflect upon the condition of
300,000,000 of fellow beings, designed by their Creator to belong
to the fairest and loveliest portion of the human race. Behold
OF HEATHEN FEMALES.
""
them despised,-oppressed, sunk in pollution and guilt. Com-
pare their situation with the happy lot of the Christian female;
and while you rejoice in the superior character and privileges
of the latter, remember "it is only by the prevalence of the gos-
pel, that man learns that woman has a soul of an origin as high,
a value as precious, a destination as lofty, and a duration as
lasting as his own.' The respect, the intelligence, the purity,
the every blessing of the Christian female, the gospel has
power to bestow upon her sister in heathen lands. Is not this
evident from its effects in times past? Look at the females of
Greece and Rome 1800 years ago. Were they not as wretched
and degraded as those of Hindostan and Turkey at the present
day? were impurity and infanticide less common among them?
(18) Heathenism in every age and every country is essentially
the same. But wherever the elevating, purifying influence of
Christianity has been diffused, it has rescued woman from her
degradation and wickedness, making her blessed and a blessing.
Mark upon the map of the world those countries where the
Bible is known, and you mark at the same time the only
nations in which the rights of woman are regarded.
11
Look also at what is now doing among some, lately sunk in
the deepest degradation and wickedness. Tahiti, one of the
Society Islands, affords an instance. The commencement of
the year 1815, was distinguished in the annals of that island by
changes in society affecting the intellectual, religious, and
domestic character of its inhabitants generally, but especially
of the females. The withering influence of idolatry began to
decline and give way to the humanizing, elevating power of
Christianity. The food was no longer regarded as sacred, nor
the fires, as hallowed. In sickness and distress, the mother, the
wife, the sister, the daughter, were no longer neglected. The
social circle, the family board, the domestic altar, began to dif-
fuse their life-giving joys. Instead of cruelty and contempt,
the utmost tenderness is now manifested by the husband and
father towards his wife and children. When the family carry
their produce to trade with vessels, the first choice among arti-
cles purchased is given to the children, the next to the wife,
and the husband takes for his portion whatever may remain.
The female now enjoys the pleasure resulting from culture of
mind, ability to read the sacred Scriptures, and write her native
language. Having become a proficient in needle work, she
has laid aside the native dress, consisting merely of a piece of
cloth loosely thrown about the waist, and adopted the European
style. Barbarous and masculine amusements are exchanged
for visits of mercy to the sick and dying. The cruel mangling,
dishevelled hair, and savage yell, are superseded by the solemn
prayer, and the funeral procession. The mild influence of
Christianity has effected the entire abolition of infanticide, and
revived the parental affection and tenderness originally im-
planted in the human bosom. The mother, formerly guilty of
destroying her helpless offspring, may now be seen coming into
the place of public worship with her little babe in her arms,
gazing with evident tenderness upon its smiling countenance;
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12
CONDITION AND CHARACTER, &c.
or reading the Word of God, and kneeling in prayer with those
children, who but for the gospel would have been ushered into
eternity, ere their playful smiles had won the affections of the
parent's heart.(4)
Does not this instance, in common with many others, satis-
factorily prove that the gospel is to the heathen female "glad
tidings of salvation" for two worlds? It delivers her from
present oppression and coming wrath.
**
Such is a faint outline of the condition and character of
heathen females. What ought the Christian, who contemplates
it, to do? The sickly sentimentalist may turn away from the
sight with disgust: the careless worldling may look on with
indifference: but no heart, that glows with heaven-born benevo-
lence, will be willing to sit down without an effort to relieve
their wretchedness. What then must be done? What, to rescue
Pagan woman from bondage? what, to light up in her soul the
consciousness that she possesses an immortal mind? what, to
inspire her with the hopes of heaven? All past experience-
the history of woman in every age-gives but one answer.
There is but one sun, whose rays can penetrate the darkness
that envelopes these unhappy beings, and pour the light of life
into their benighted souls. It is the Sun of righteousness. Is
there not healing in his beams for every nation? But these
beams have never shone upon the heathen female.
CHRISTIANS! she now appeals to you; she points to her
wickedness, her ignorance, her superstition;-to her degraded
condition in this life, her hopeless prospects for the life to
come; and pleads with you, by these thrilling motives, for
the light you enjoy. She appeals to your sympathy, your
charity, your benevolence. She urges upon you the question,
upon the decision of which is pending her happiness for time
and eternity,
WILL YOU GIVE ME THE GOSPEL?
listers
Vistus what you can do do
- 44
12
do quickly
[AUTHORITIES. 1. Rev. Mr. Bardwell. 2. Sir R. K. Porter.
3. Rev. Mr.
Ward. 4. Rev. Mr. Ellis. 5. Shobert. 6. Lond. Miss. Register. 7. Rev. Dr.
Clarke. 8. Edin. Encycl. 9. Rev. Dr. Buchanan. 10. Abbe Dubois. 11. Lady
Montague. 12. Mr. Wood. 13. Sir G. Staunton. 14. Cecil's Miss. Sermon. 15.
Mrs. Judson. 16. Capt. Paddoch. 17. Rev. Mr. Stewart. 18. Rev. Dr. Ryan.
19. Barrows.]
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PERKINS & MARVIN, 114, Washington Street, Boston.
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