Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-23

diil VI HOHHtSdiOli anu hiHb uhNt ~ -
my wife, madam
How old is your wlfe@
Seven years old
after this he was piled with ques-
lions until he left disturbed and an
gered. The child sat at his feet on
the curb during the conversation,
When ready to leave he spoke to her
She then took hold of his leg and
gradually drew herself up by this sup
port, until as erect as she could stand,
when she limped and hobbled after
him. lie was man of 40 years"
Is She the Better Half?
Bahia Bharati s. s.: 1T is useless
to try to reply to such reckless state
ments." Let us see what Manu- says:
Let the husband be choleric and
dssipated, irregular, a drunkard, a
gambler, a debaucher-suppose him
reckless Of domestic affairs, agitated
like a demon; let him live in the
world destitute of honor; let him be
deaf, or blind. his crimes and infirmi-
ties may weight him down, but never
shall his wife regard him but as her
god"
Again: LET the wife who wishes
to perform a sacred ablution wash the
feet of her lord and drink the water,
for a husband is to wife greater than
silva or Vishnu."
Her husband is her god and GOO
roo, teacher and guide, and religion
and it's services, wherefore, abandon
ing everything else she ought chiefly
to worship her husband" from Skanda
Parma.
Declares Husband Is God
According to the Code of Manu-, the
lawbook Of the Hindoo religion, 'Wo-
man is forbidden to read the sacred
books or to offer up prayers or sacri-
flee in her own name and person. She
may pray and worship, but only as
her teacher or husband directs. Wo-
man is regarded as having no soul,
differing from the beasts only in be-
ing more intelligent than they. More
over she is commanded to revere her
husband as a god"
1t is stated that only one person has
ever been permitted to get into the
inner life of the Zenana."
one investigator, sitting by us as we
write gives us a pencil sketch of The
interior of one zenana, and tells us of
visiting many. 1t is not at all d1tncutt
to enter, but it is rare that any one
wishes to prolong the visit
The Indian Mirror of Calcutta, while |
under the management of Keshub |
Chunder Sen, in reviewing lecture on
the subject by Mr.. Justice Phear, thus
gives the dark side of zenana life. We
quote only small part:
"The Bengalees home is a whited sep |
ulcher In it there'i is filth and stencil
outside, want Of peace and harmony |
within. 1t is unhealthy and overcrowd- |
ed as a bazaar and hardly less I'M |
selfish or more quiet. The best influ-
ences of education and enlightenment |
are dissipated in it, and the worst hab-
its, such as good people condemn, are
formed"
"Education" of Hindoo Women
AS to the statement that there are
Hindoo women who know the whole
code of ethics as contained in the Dhar- |
ma Shastras of Manu." let us read a |
few of the ethics of the code of Manu-
ITO teach a woman would be to give
a serpent milk, she would turn her
knowledge into venom" Keep |
women at what distance we may, it is |
hard to govern them, but did we make
them our equals, teaching them to read
and write, farewell to the hope of rul- |
ing our houses" How would |
It be if the women could send and re-
Ceive notes." THE female who
can read and write is branded as the
heir of misfortunes."
AS to the statement that if women
were not educated they could not quote
Manu- says: Women who are desti-
tute of the knowledge of the sacred
texts are considered as impure as raise
hood itself" Consequently they must
be drilled in these texts, which is Gull
tivation of the memory alone and not
of the mind. We quote one of the In
dian proverbs: Ignorance is an orna-
ment to women"
The late DR.. X NJ. Banarjea says:
oil who m have
been taught to read are the dancing
girls attached to the temple in South
India and some Vaishnara female devo-
tees in Bengal"
Sir A. W. Croft says: 1.-THE general
body of the Hindoo and Mohammedan
population have less than 1 per cent Of
their girls at school"
Hindoo Women's Degradation
Then the statement, There is no
degradation of Hindoo women" we
quote as follows from the national Or
ganizer of the Indo-American Restorl-
ton league: II met Miss Olive Christ
tan MalVery at the w. G. Y. U. con-
Vention held in Cincinnati in 1903. When
introduced to her she responded very
graciously as I extended my hand.
expressed my pleasure at meeting her,
for l thought l had come in touch with
subject deeply interesting me. So
still clasping her little hand 1 said I
have been in your country and left my
heart there Smiling radiantly, she re-
piled, % yes, a great many people have
done that l realized how little she
understood, so l answered, But my
heart has been left with the little child
wives of India The bright face be-
came clouded, my hand was quickly
dropped, and a silence fell between US.
This was broken by the lady who intro
duced us explaining that 1 was engaged
in the Indo-American Woman's Resto-
ration league, an organization formed
to espouse the cause of the unfortun-
ate little girls of India Miss Malvery
then looked up and said deprecatingly,
oh, but it is not so bad now as it used
to be- No. l answered, not to few
like yourself, who have been protected
and given much privilege unknown to
millions of your little sisters, distressed
and enslaved by the monstrous and
cruel custom of infant marriage An
other silence, and Miss Malvery excused
herself, and never again, although we