The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1874-03-21

II obedience was mans initiative step in life,
when he had emanated as Il perfect man,
from the hands of an Infinitely Perfect
Artizan, can it be less necessary for us
whose impertections are universally aeb1lowl
edged Assuredlv not So, obedience is a
condition of human existence. But, human
ity is not naturally inclined to obedience
and the fact is patent, that human nature is
rarely reconciled to its demands, save with
great and manifest reluctance. Hence there
must be laws to enforce it; and the laws
supply the restraint to which human life
even III its very first phase-in the domestic
circle-is obliged to submit.
g Liberty" " freedom" independence
had therefore per Sc, and could have no re-
c0gnizable status i'll soeiety's inepiency,
save under the qualifications assigned to
them by the domestic laws. And, how, in
those primitive times, were the domestic
laws understood and observed Did 6 the
young idea then, as it does now, in spite
of our boosted progress" defy parental
authority No Did the subordinate mem
bers of the household clamor for impossible
rights" (? No. Did our far away ancestry
rightly comprehend the import of the words
addressed to our maternal progenitor by the
Creator, when He informed her that the
man was to be the chief of the domestic
circle? Yes. He shall rule over thee
and thou shalt be subject to him." That
sentence settled then, and for ever settles
the question of domestic law. 1t, in short.
comprised the essential of all law, by invest
ing the father of the family with legislative.
Judicial, and executive function. And from
generation to generation, adown the patri-
afehal line to the grand eataelysm, not an
idea OF opposition to this established law of
subordlnatlon was entertained Outside of
the patriarchal tents, that is, outside of the
duties of the domestic circle, the absuriity
OF woman's rights was in no wise nar
81 Inv fIn 4oI,s -
tperhaps) as contradistinguished from the
8 children of God"
The distinction OF 't children of God and
"children Of men is not ours. It il found
Ia the Book of Genesis, in which Seth and
Cam arc designated as the Chiefs of their
respective followers. jew and Christian
alike, accept the Old Law (saye perhaps
some few cratic sectariesl; and, therefore,
we may, hereafter, without offense, examine
whether the divisions of the primitive
populations of the earth under Seth and
Cain, have not their counterpart in our own
day and generation; and whether the inn
practicable " liberty" whose elamors deafen
our ears at every street corner, may not
easily be traced backwards, step by step.
even past the deluge, to the antediluvian
deviations from rectitude.
This question will bear ample amplitica-
ton! We have but stepped on its threshold
The simple fact is that what was error in the
error HOW anu now as then,
erroneous views of freedom, liberty, and in
dependence. are clearly referrible to per
verslty, to indifference, orto thoughtlessness
10 whatsoever of these sources we NAV
refer the prevalence oferror, the consequences
are equally deplorable,
Evil is wrought
For want of thought"
The immemorially accepted laws of, g Chill
dren, obey your parents, y g Wives, he sub
jeet to your husbands" and Obey the con-
stitnted powers are, in not a few instances,
practically reversed; i'll many instances, ac-
lively conibated; aud, where the traditional
modesty of our better halves, still rules the
realm of social life, passively ignored
The liberty mania seems to have en-
tered the souls of every race and tribe, and
class and creed, and condition No one
thinks that old customs, old manners, old
traditions, old laws, have any validity: and
sthus is verified IN our self sufficient age, the
truism enumerated by the Wise Dan, " There
Is nothing new under the sun - and that also
to which another inspired writer gave ex-
preston, Is With desolation, the whole world
is made desolate, because no one thinks in
his heart"
Is it, then true, that we are an unthinking
people The answer to this question shall
be furnished when We again find half an
hours leisure. K.