_March 27, 1902._[1]
It is always said of the girls here that, "they are well provided for,
and comfortably taken care of." Have they a right to complain? Well
means, well-being, happiness, the opposite of misery; and misery is what
the women feel, and yet they have no right to complain--they are said to
act always of their own free will. But how about their children? What is
more wretched than a sad childhood, than children who too early have
learned to read the shadow side of life?
I once copied something from a speech by Prof. Max Müller, the great
German scholar who was so learned in Eastern tongues. It was almost as
follows: "Polygamy, as it is practiced by the Eastern people is of
benefit to women and girls, who could not live in their environment
without a man to take care of them and to protect them."
Max Müller is dead; we cannot call him here to show him the benefits of
that custom.
[1] To Mevrouw Abendanon.