Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1879-07-03


their lords, and live an idle, uuthinking
life. In Mahommedan countries, it is
doubted whether they have immortal souls,
and tho Koran, their Bible, makes no pro-
vision for thom in Paradise Their places
arc supplied in another world by "back--
eyed houris," who arc supposed to fill tho
Mohammedan HeavenI
Christianity and modern civilization
alone have given woman hor proper
status in society. 1t is true, that in Grecian
aud Roman history, we read OF many noblo
woman, and some of them highly educated.
But as general rule wives were tho yeriest
slaves Of their husbands. In early times
husbands had the power of life and death
over them, Us we'll as their chidrenl The
most illustrious Grccans and Romans were
in the habit Of divoroing their wives, and
the mothers of their children, without al
lcging any cause except that they were
tired Of them. aud wished another T;saI
Cicero did this, aud his divorced wife
boasted that sho had been married to three
of tho most ilustrous Romans, who were
oil three living. The lending of wife to
a friend, for few years, was no uncommon
circumstance with tho Romans! The Gre.
clans did worse and winked at community
of wives! Plato, tho great philosopher and
moralist, advocated in his ideal Republic,
that wives should be in common with ali
citizens! Cato, the younger, great
grandson of Cato, the Censor, lent his
wife to his friend Hortcntius, without con-
sultiug her, for the purpose of raising chill.
dren to him, and Strengthening tho bonds
of friendship between these two illustrious
Romano!
Can anything show a more utter degraded
state of woman than these Infamous histo-
rical facts! 1t must be borne in mind, too,
that the Grecians and Romans, at these
periods were the most enlightened nations
of the earth The one surpassed in clo-
quencc, sculpture, painting aud all the
aesthetic arts and literature every people
which had or have since existed on the face
of tho earth. The other were the conquer.
ors of the world, distinguished for their
patriotism and Roman virtues, enacting
and compiling codes of laws, which, after
the lapse of two thousand years, still
govern the grcntcr part of Europe, and
have even improved the laws of
England and America. How much,
oh, how much, is woman indebted to
Christianity and modern civilization!
The wives Of the Greciuns and
Romans wcro rarely considered and
treated as companions, with whom
to counsel and advise. There were
some exceptions. Aspasio, after being
the mistress Of Periclcs, became his wife,
and was his mentor aud counselor on ali
great occasions. She wrote somo of his
most eloquent orations. Socrates, Memo.
phon, Alcibiades aud many other illustrious
Grcciaus, sought her counsel and advice and
delighted in her conversation.
Education cnlargcs the human mind, en-
lightcns tho understanding, clevatcs our
feelings and brings new sources of pleasure
and happiness. 1t mikes us bottcr, more
virtuous, more honorable, moro patriotic
and more religious, loving God and all his
creation with more affection and moro sin
cerity. The highly cultivated mind has
innumcrabic sources of pleasure and enjoy
ment, which are unknown to the ignorant
and uncultivatcd For instance, the study
of astronomy opens to the mind interesting,
grand and sublime pleasures for thought
and reflection. The ancieDts believed that
this earth stood in the middle Of the world
and tho sun and stars rcvolvcd around it
The untutorcd mind still believe this theory
But science teaches us that tho earth turns
over every twenty-four hours and runs
round the sun once every year; that tho sun
is several hundred thousand times larger
than the earth; that every fixed star is sun,
like ours, aud sorc Of them much larger,
illuminating other worlds like this, and in
nl probability Inhabited by Gods living
creatures!
BY mathematical calculation we arc
taught the exact distance of the sun, moon,
planets and fixed stars from the earth. We
learn from science tho nature and substance
OF all these planets, suus and stars; the cause
of the convulsions of the earth and atmos
pherc, tho tornadoes, earthquakes, forkcd
lightning and "tho thunders of heavens
artillery" Is there any one, above tho
degree of an idiot, who would not feel
pleasure in knowing and investigating these
wonders of tho great Universc
The study Of history, too, unfolds to us
tho condition and action of past ages for six
thousand years, and the innum cradle nations
and peoples who have inhabited the earth, tho
great men who havc lived on it, the pro.
gross of the human mind, the wonderful
inventions and discoveries which genius
has made. We see in history how igno.
rant and bad the world has been, how en-
lightcncd some of tho nations of tho earth
became, and how powerful they were, and
how they relapsed again into ignorance and
barbarism.
| pity, from tho bottom of my heart, the
man or woman who fcols no interest in
learning and has no tosto for rnod;no or