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    86 WOMEN IN ITALY.

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    - A And Very That Striking Of Land Diffe...

    millions subjected to tyranny either passive , or writhing impotentl _^ r under the oppressor's grasp , we must pry into their homes , raise up

    the veil that hangs over private life , observe the mother , contemplate the wife , and watch the young girlas she springs up from infancy

    , to maturity . It is a trite remark that children are apt to resemble their mother

    in mind , and their father in features . This remark verified by daily experience shews how essential is the cultivation of the . mental

    qualities and moral feelings of women in every community . By this ordinance of nature—that children shall resemble their mothers

    in mental constitution—Providence seems visibly to interpose in behalf of the weaker sex , and claim for them respect , education ,

    consideration , for it says practically to men— " if you desire that your sons should be goodcleverand wisedevelop as much as

    j ) ossible these qualities in , "women . , " But that , voice speaks to man- _> kind for the most part unheeded , and , in the degraded Turk , and

    the abject Hindoo , and throughout the East , where woman is kept as a toy and treated as a slave , one sees how terribly the injuries of

    the inmates of the Harem and the Zenana have been avenged . Ignorant , oppressed , and weak , the women of the East have brought

    or kept down the community amidst which they live to nearly the same low level of humanity they occupy themselves .

    To any one who mixes in the slightest degree in Italian society _, or converses with the inhabitants of different grades in Italy , it will

    / soon become very , apparent , that domestic life in that country , partakes in its essential elements of the Oriental type . Though not

    secluded in the interior of her house , or muffled up from observation when she walks or drives , the Italian lady has but little

    real liberty of action , and in all that concerns the practical affairs and most important interests of life , she may be looked upon

    as a mere cipher , a perfect nonentity . As girl , as wife , as mother , as widow , if we follow her through the successive stages of her

    history , we shall find unmistakeable indications of the existence of a code of opinion denying her the attributes of a rational being , the

    power of thinking and acting for herself . Nothing exercises so baneful an effect upon the characteras the

    , destruction of self respect . A despised race will almost invariably shew despicable qualities . The evidence of mistrust will often make

    a man a thief , and errors harden into sin and guilt , when society puts an indelible stigma upon the offender . As with the moral , so

    with the mental qualities . Weak in intellect , frivolous in tastes , dependent in character , I believe women become for the most part ,

    particularly amongst the higher classes of society , the contemptible beings that society deems them ; creatures of feebleness of will , of

    instability of purpose , of defective powers of reasoning ; devoid of judgmentprudenceand discretion ; incapable of resisting

    tempta-, , tion , —beings , in short , unfit for self-guidance and self-government ,

    in every stage and relation of their lives .

    86 Women In Italy.

    86 WOMEN IN ITALY .

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Sept. 1, 1858, page 36, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01091858/page/36/