It is not difficult to
perceive the reason why the Greeks, who rule the realms of philosophy
and art and literature to-day, after the lapse of many centuries,
are the superior people. Well does that master-mind, Shakespeare,
characterise evil custom:
"That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat,
Of habits devil."
But a better day is coming for Chinese women. Wherever Christianity
has touched them in the past they have been uplifted and benefited.
The sun seems now to rise in greater effulgence on the Kingdom of the
Yellow Dragon. The wretched custom of dwarfing and destroying the feet
of a child whose misfortune, according to Confucius, it is to be
born a female, is giving way under pressure from contact with the
enlightened nations of the world. The teachings of the Christian
Church are having their salutary effect and Chinamen are beginning to
learn the value of a woman's life from the Biblical standpoint, and
the daughters of the Flowery Kingdom will, as time goes on, become
more and more like the polished corners of the Temple, or the
Caryatides supporting the entablature of the Erechtheum at Athens.
Pages:
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155