As already shown, the subjugation of woman has not been an incident of Western “civilisation” alone. Mrs. Eliza W. Farnham relates that “When a Chinese Mandarin in California was told that the women of America were nearly all taught to read and write, and that a majority of them were able to keep books for their husbands, if they chose to do so, he shook his head thoughtfully, and, with a foreboding sigh, replied, ‘If he readee, writee, by’n-by he lickee all the men.’ Was that a barbarian sentiment, or rather, perhaps, a presentiment of the higher sovereignty coming?”—(“Woman and Her Era,” Vol. II., p. 41.)
XXXIV.
5.—“... his servitude ...”
“Villeins were not protected by Magna Charta. “Nullus liber homo capiatur vel imprisonetur,” &c., was cautiously expressed to exclude the poor villein, for, as Lord Coke tells us, the lord may beat his villein, and, if it be without cause, he cannot have any remedy. What a degraded condition for a being endued with reason!”—Edward Christian (“Note to Blackstone’s Commentaries,” Book II., Chap. VI.)
Mr. Christian’s exclamation of concern is doubtless meant to apply to the serf, yet was not the lord’s position equally despicable?
6.—“... in turn was master to a slave.”
This was, in fact, simply extending the spirit of the feudal system (with its serfdom as just pictured), a little further. Buckle exemplifies in ancient French society the servility descending from one grade to another in man:—“By virtue of which each class exercising great power over the one below it, the subordination and subserviency of the whole were completely maintained.... This, indeed, is but part of the old scheme to create distinctions for which Nature has given no warrant, to substitute a superiority which is conventional for that which is real, and thus try to raise little minds above the level of great ones. The utter failure, and, as society advances, the eventual cessation of all such attempts is certain.” But, meanwhile, evil accompaniments are apparent, as Buckle further instances by saying: “Le Vassor, who wrote late in the reign of Louis XIV., bitterly says: ‘Les Français accoutumés à l’esclavage, ne sentent plus la pesanteur de leurs chaînes.’”—(“History of Civilisation in England,” Vol. II, Chaps III., IV.)
That the foregoing habits or foibles are human rather than simply masculine, or that the imitation of them very naturally spreads to the other sex, would seem to be shown by such evidence as Letourneau gives:—
“In primitive countries the married woman—that is to say, the woman belonging to a man—has herself the conscience of being a thing, a property (it is proved to her often and severely enough), but she does not think of retaliating, especially in what concerns the conjugal relations. Moreover, as her condition is oftenest that of a slave overburdened with work, not only does she not resent the introduction of other women in the house of the master, but she desires it, for the work will be so much the less for herself. Thus among the Zulus the wife first purchased strives and works with ardour in the hope of furnishing her husband with means to acquire a second wife, a companion in misery over whom, by right of seniority, she will have the upper hand.”—(“The Evolution of Marriage,” Chap. VIII.)
Yet, in point of fact, this is not woman seeking to establish her own dominion, but rather to secure somewhat more of freedom for herself. As Alexandre Dumas fils tells us, concerning the Mormon women:—