In almost all the nations of antiquity, who had any marriage ceremony at
all, a woman's wedding-day was one of splendor and apparent honor, the
only day in which any of her wishes were deferred to during her whole
lifetime. Light was soon lost in darkness--anticipated pleasure in
disappointment, degradation, and despair. The day of her death was the
first day of her freedom.
CHAPTER IV.
The Sexes Equal at Creation.
From the arguments brought forward by the advocates of woman's
inferiority, it might be inferred that she was designed, from the very
dawn of creation, for man's servant, not for his companion; and, indeed,
it is not only inferred by the great mass of mankind, but broadly
asserted to be the fact by very many who, from their knowledge of the
history of creation, ought to know better.
Those who have striven to establish this doctrine have contrived to
bring the Scriptures to their aid by wresting them to suit their own
particular view of the question, and in this manner have endeavored to
silence any controversy respecting their dogma. The result has been--and
it is the legitimate result of such a pernicious course--that this
wresting of the Scriptures, and its having been allowed for a length of
time to go unchallenged by the Christian world, has produced scores of
infidels, who, not having examined the Word of God critically for
themselves, have accepted as true expositions of the doctrines contained
therein the statements of men, apparently supported by isolated texts,
separated from their contexts; and thus, having been led to believe that
the Scriptures sanctioned, if they did not enforce, manifest injustice,
they have repudiated the whole as unworthy of belief.
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