comforter. In barbarous countries, she has been a public slave; in civilized ones, very generally a kind of private mistress. Her mind has been left untaught, as if incapable or unworthy of instruction. She has been not only imprisoned by jealousy in seclusion, but degraded and rendered vicious and miserable by polygamy—sometimes worshiped as a goddess, then fondled as a toy, then punished as a victim. She could never attain to dignity, and even with all her brightest charms, could rarely appear but with the beauty of a doll.
Exceptions to this, of some extent, may be made in favor of the polished Greeks and proud Romans; but only to some extent; for did time permit, and necessity require, it could be shown that even Athenian refinement and Roman virtue rarely gave to woman her just rank by the side of her husband, or her proper place in his affection, esteem, and confidence. The laws of Rome, it is true, gave to woman greater liberty and consideration than she had before received; still, she was so treated even there as to sink into degradation disgraceful to her purity, and destructive of her happiness. "No happy influence did she exert on the public or private welfare of the State. Politicians intrigued with her; ambition combined with passion to corrupt her; and her liberty degenerated into licentiousness. Through her influence, the streets of the capital were sometimes deluged with its best blood; and to such an extent was her profligacy carried, that among the decrees which passed the Senate
