In the preceding chapter it is mentioned that the intention is to
present to the reader, in as condensed a form as possible, some of the
indignities put upon women, both in the past and the present, so that
the reader may be able to form a candid judgment on the subject of
woman's rights and woman's wrongs. We will, therefore, first consider
the condition of the women of antiquity, and of those in heathen and
Mohammedan lands; and, afterward, her position in professedly civilized
and Christian countries.

After the dispersion of mankind at Babel, we behold, through the mists
of the surrounding gloom, the various tribes into which the race had by
that event become divided, subsisting at first by the spontaneous fruits
of the earth, and by the chase. Then they became herdsmen, tillers of
the soil, and traffickers, varying these occupations by predatory
warfare. They are all astir, passing to and fro through the wide extent
of the regions as yet inhabited. History, so far as it deals with the
earlier portion of this period, necessarily derives its material from
traditionary legends, more or less credible, as the case may be. These
recount the marvelous exploits--not unfrequently manifestly fabulous--of
their rude heroes; their deeds of might, their noble enterprises, their
indomitable courage, their persistent activity, and often their deeds of
most revolting cruelty.

Of the women of this period we obtain but slight glimpses, but
sufficient to show that, in their domestic arrangements, the ancients
early acted upon the principle, that "might makes right." Muscle
appears to have been at a premium during these eras.

Later, the nations are found still engaged in war, as if each esteemed
the slaughtering of its neighbors the grandest and noblest of human