Man, in a state of barbarity, equally cruel and indolent, active by
necessity, but naturally inclined to repose, is acquainted with little
more than the physical effects of love; and having none of those moral
ideas which only can soften the empire of force, he is led to consider
it as his supreme law, subjecting to his despotism those whom reason had
made his equals, but whose imbecility betrayed them to his strength.
Cast in the lap of naked nature, and exposed to every hardship, the
forms of women, in savage life, are but little engaging. With nothing
that deserves the name of culture, their latent qualities, if they have
any, are like the diamond, while enclosed in the rough flint, incapable
of shewing any lustre. Thus destitute of every thing by which they can
excite love, or acquire esteem; destitute of beauty to charm, or art to
soothe, the tyrant man; they are by him destined to perform every mean
and servile office. In this the American and other savage women differ
widely from those of Asia, who, if they are destitute of the
qualifications necessary for gaining esteem, have beauty, ornaments, and
the art of exciting love.
In civilized countries a woman acquires some power by being the mother
of a numerous family, who obey her maternal authority, and defends her
honor and her life. But, even as a mother, a female savage has not much
advantage. Her children, daily accustomed to see their father treat her
nearly as a slave, soon begin to imitate his example, and either pay
little regard to her authority or shake it off altogether.
Of this the Hottentot boys afford a remarkable proof. They are brought
up by the women, till they are about fourteen years of age. Then, with
several ceremonies they are initiated into the society of men. After
this initiation is over it is reckoned manly for a boy to take the
earliest opportunity of returning to the hut of his mother, and beating
her in the most barbarous manner, to show that he is now out of her
jurisdiction. Should the mother complain to the men, they would only
applaud the boy for showing so laudable a contempt for the society and
authority of women.
In the Brazils, the females are obliged to follow their husbands to war,
to supply the place of beasts of burden, and to carry on their backs
their children, provisions, hammocks, and every thing wanted in the
field.
In the Isthmus of Darien, they are sent along with warriors and
travellers, as we do baggage horses. Even their Queen appeared before
some English gentlemen, carrying her sucking child, wrapt in a red
blanket.
The women among the Indians of America are what the Helots were among
the Spartans, a vanquished people obliged to toil for their conquerors.
Hence on the banks of the Oroonoko we have heard of mothers slaying
their daughters out of compassion, and smothering them in the hour of
their birth. They consider this barbarous pity as a virtue.
Father Joseph Gumilla, reproving one of them for this inhuman crime,
received the following answer:--"I wish to God, Father, I wish to God,
that my mother had, by my death, prevented the manifold distresses I
have endured, and have yet to endure as long as I live. Had she kindly
stilled me in my birth, I should not have felt the pain of death, nor
the numberless other pains to which life has subjected me. Consider,
Father, our deplorable condition. Our husbands go to hunt with their
bows and arrows, and trouble themselves no farther: we are dragged along
with one infant at our breast, and another in a basket. They return in
the evening without any burden; we return with the burden of our
children. Though tired with long walking, we are not allowed to sleep,
but must labor the whole night, in grinding maize 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. A young wife is brought upon
us and permitted to abuse us and our children. What kindness can we show
to our female children, equal to that of relieving them from such
servitude, more bitter a thousand times than death? I repeat again,
would to God my mother had put me under ground, the moment I was born."
"The men," says Commodore Byron, in his account of the inhabitants of
South America, "exercise a most despotic authority over their wives whom
they consider in the same view they do any other part of their property,
and dispose of them accordingly. Even their common treatment of them is
cruel. For, though the toil and hazard of procuring food lies entirely
on the women, yet they are not suffered to touch any part of it, until
the husband is satisfied; and then he assign them their portion, which
is generally very scanty, and such as he has not a stomach for himself."
The Greenlanders, who live mostly upon seals, think it sufficient to
catch and bring them on shore; and would rather submit to starve than
assist their women in skinning, dressing, or dragging home the cumbrous
animals to their huts.
In some parts of America, when the men kill any game in the woods, they
lay it at the root of a tree, fix a mark there, and travelling until
they arrive at their habitation, send their women to fetch it, a task
which their own laziness and pride equally forbid.
Among many of the tribes of wandering Arabs, the women are not only
obliged to do every domestic and every rural work, but also to feed, to
dress, and saddle the horses, for the use of their husbands.
The Moorish women, besides doing all the same kinds of drudgery, are
also obliged to cultivate the fields, while their husbands stand idle
spectators of the toil, or sleep inglorious beneath a neighboring shade.
In Madura the husband generally speaks to his wife in the most imperious
tone; while she with fear and trembling approaches him, waits upon him
while at meals, and pronounces not his name, but with the addition of
every dignifying title she can devise. In return for all this submission
he frequently beats and abuses her in the most barbarous manner. Being
asked the reason of such a behavior, one of them answered, "As our wives
are so much our inferiors why should we allow them to eat and drink with
us? Why should they not serve us with whatever we call for, and
afterwards sit down and eat up what we leave? If they commit faults, why
should they not suffer correction? It is their business only to bring up
our children, pound our rice, make our oil, and do every other kind of
drudgery, purposes to which only their low and inferior natures are
adapted."
The Circassian custom of breeding young girls, on purpose to be sold in
the public market to the highest bidder, is generally known. Perhaps,
however, upon minute examination, we shall find that women are, in some
degree, bought and sold in every country, whether savage or civilized.