Whatever may be
amiss in Christianized and civilized lands, the state of woman is
incomparably worse where the light of the Gospel does not shine.

Christianity and its attendant civilization have done much for the
amelioration of the condition of woman. Except in Turkey and in Utah,
the idea that a man is to have more than one wife at the same time is
not tolerated. In referring to the continents of Europe and America, it
will be understood that Turkey in the one, Utah in the other, are always
excepted. In neither Europe nor America are women subject to the
surveillance of the East; they are not bought and sold in the markets.
They are, if they do not marry before coming of age, mistresses of their
own personal actions. The halls of science, literature, and the arts,
have been partially opened to them. The doors have been set ajar, and
they allowed to peep in. They may now attend the house of God without
being railed in behind a lattice; and they may, without censure, move
about the streets without veils, if it is not the fashion, or it does
not please them to wear them. They are accorded a measure of liberty in
forming their own religious opinions; that is, the law does not prevent
them from doing so. They may, if they can, acquire property in their own
names, or they may inherit it. In such cases they, perhaps, if
unmarried, may be allowed to manage such property. Once married, it is
managed, or mismanaged, as the case may be, by the husband, except in
very special cases. They are not compelled by law to marry unless they
choose, and are supposed to have a choice with regard to those they do
marry, though outside pressure is very frequently brought to bear with
regard to both. And, finally, they are allowed a share of authority in
the joint government of their respective families. This is about the sum
total of the privileges accorded to them.

In the population of both continents, men and women are about equally
divided. It is not estimated that there are any more idiots or imbeciles
among women than there are among men. Here, then, one-half of this
mighty population are prohibited by law from having any voice in the
making of the laws by which they are governed, or the carrying of them
out after they are made. Where is justice in this case? One slight
exception may be made here: in some of the Western States women are
allowed to vote and to hold some few positions of profit and trust in
the State. It is only a tri