The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1889-01-25

straint, need take but short course Of
reading in the Roman literature Ia dis
cover the baleful results OF keeping
young men and women apart and SUR
rounding their Intercourse with artifl-
cial difficulties.
There has never been period when
the relations OF the sexes were 80 false
and depraved rs during the first three
centuries of the Christian era. There
were women who had been married
aud divorced eight, nine. and ten
times.
From the most nagrant cNccssc.
many of the early Christians rccoilcd
TO the opposite extreme of fatal sever
anco from the opposite sex, Several
of the early fathers. in their sermons
and other writings, represented women
rs the devils chief ally in Turing mon
Ia eterral pcrdition. The historian
Lccky has IN interesting passage upon
this point:
The fathers regarded women ~ the door Of
hell. rs the mother ot all human Ills. Il should
bc ashamed OF the very thought that she IN "a
woman; she should 1--we In continual penaucc
on account OF the curses she has brought upon
the world.
Such opinions led TO the most de-
plorable consequences. In Germany
alone one hundred thousand witches
were burned at the stake, but very few
wizards; and when man and woman
committed IA murder jointly, and with
In .,,,1
the woman burned. Many OF those
proverbs adverse 10 women which fig
ure in the jest books OF Italy and Spain
come down from those dark ages. Here
are two or three of them:
There is one bad fe IN Spain, and every
man thinks he has her" "Womcn aud horses
must be beaten" Trust no woman, even
were She dead III YOU are too happy, take
wife" Women and n oney are the cause OF
all the cvil M the world "Women keep tho
secrets which they don't know. 80
This contemptuous feeling rendered
the position of an unprotected woman
intolcrabc. Tho criminal records
show that, In countries SO advanced as
England, France and Germany, no
woman was safe either In her person
or in her estate, who had not somo
adequate protective force behind her
Widows had no rights. which either
lord or clergy felt bound TO respect.
The institution OF knighthoOd rose to-
ward the end OF this period 10 soften
manners and TO introduce into the re.
lation OF men and women an element
Of the romantic and the ideal. Knight
hood was in many respects IA foolish,
fantastic thing, but It was bettcr than
the unrcdccmed brutality OF former
time, and prepared the way for that
respectful regard for all women. rs
women, which we hope will one day
become universal
The nations have much to learn
before they can enjoy the solid good
which will come Of free aud natural
friendship between men and women.
The remarkable popularity OF Amer
lean girls in Europe will probably have
some effect in showing the safety Of
greater freedom between the sexes.
An English lady, married 10 Ia Ger
man count, and long resident In Ger
many, reports that German girls to-
day have no. odt-Of-door fun such as
English and American girls enjoy; no
boating, nO riding, no archery, no
swimming, no tennis and not even tho
mild and harmless crOquct The girls
themselves say they do not want such
amusemcnts, dccming them bold,
coarse and unfcmininc. Moreover,
such pleasures can only be fully en-
ioycd in the society Of young men
Jamcg Parton, IN ~ y. Lcdqcr.