The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-07-23
THE WOMEN OF INDIA.
Block, I'm the WAY of Their Successful
and ,eful Education.

and Useful Education.
TAe plausible gentlemen from the East
who are seeking 10 interest the English
voter in quite impossible schemes for the
reform of the Indian government are accu--
toned t0 avoid all mention OF the socla.
problems that await solution I'm their c0un.
try. as they a-c pleased % call India. some
of these social problems. however, are ot
ar greater moment than crude projects for
The acclimatiZati0n OF vote by ballot. repre-
sentative Pariameuts and county councils
I'M India. and the efforts that are being
made by the National Indian Association
on behalf OF Indian women are worthy %
some attention.
Tine subject is beset with difficulties, not
the least beng the feeling that exists in all
classes Of native society against any attempt
I'm tine direction of female emancipation.
This feeling lind, frequent eXpressionln the
lprnacular literature Of India. i'm Bengal,
both I'm novels and dramas. the advanced
woman is Away, coming 20 grief. For M
stance. boz Bengalee novel called speak, Oh
Young Bride, GOpal. an educated native
with liberal views acquired at an
Auglo-lndian university, insists ON his
newly married wife speaking % his
friend Ganesh; which Of course is
quite contrary to llindO0 notions Of
pr0priety. At first the modest bride rc-
fuses. but her husband insists: and her
compliance with his wishes Is the begin
nin- Of troubles. G0pal takes his wife %
Calcutta where. in the society Of enamel
uated ladies' she throws Oh her bashtulness
and rapidly develops all the improper lncli-
nations the author can think Of. In the end
her husbands beats her 10 death and COM
mite suicide himself. In "A recent volume
I'll AT D
Women" the BengalCe author complains
that when women are educated they spend
their time in reading novels, neglectlng all
their household duties, and forgetting the
respect they owe tO their superlOrs.
n is never easy 20 get M the exact state
~ public opinion i'm India; butthere is good
reason 20 believe that objections Of this Kind
are very generally felt, if not expressed.
Even native gentlemen who are sufficiently
enlightened in AN ordldary matters look for
ward with alarm t0 the time when the
women Of the country will begin % bee edu-
Gated and 10 learn independence, when all
social tie, will De l00sened and the old ways
be- departed from. Nor. even If we call
these merely sentimental objections. are the
difficulties removed. The educated Indian
woman has no means OF livelihood; and the
"a stem Of child marriage, wherever 10 pre-
walls, necessitates the sccluslOn Of girls at
AN aye when their education has scarcely
begun. lnder these circumstances IL il
not wonderful that 30 far, female education
mas made little progress in India.
At the same time 10 is beyond doubt that
th. women Of India are quite as capable Of
reaching high level OF intellectual attain
ment a. their sisters in Europe. As an
lrishman would say, some Of the ablest men
in India have been women. The Rance Of
Jhansi. who gave Us such trouble during
the >epoy Mutiny; the BhOpal Begun. who
Is one II the most enlightened teudatorie- OF
the Empire; Ahlya Bal, the famous Mahratta
lady who ruled lnd0re a century ago; the
Begun Sumru. and many other eminent
women in Indian history, were born 10 rule.
sir John Malcolm described Ahlya Bal As
ian extraordinary picture; a female without
vanity. "A bigOt without intolerance, a mind
imbued with the deepest superstition, yet
receiving no Impressions except what pro-
NOTED the happiness 0fthOse underits infu-
ence-a being exercising. in the most active
and able manner. dcsp0tic power, not mere
IL with sincere humility, but under the sey-
cIcst moral restraint that a strict con-
science could impose on human action
In Bengal, at the present day, some Of
the largest landed estates are entirely In
female hands, and In commercial life many
large and lOurishing businesses are con
Quoted by women through their agents.
The Education Commission, in fact, had
GOOD reason for saving that 1.-THE intel
iectIal activity Of Indian women Is very
keen. and IL seems frequently Ia last longer
in life than the mental energies Of men,
II is certain. then, that there is good ma
teri POD eOgS on, even II we could not ill.,