ADDRESSED TO
MARY S. PARKER,
PRESIDENT OF THE
Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society.
BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY ISAAC KNAPP,
25, CORNHILL.
1838.
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Amesbury, 7th Mo. 11th, 1837.
My Dear Friend,—In attempting to comply with thy request togive my views on the Province of Woman, I feel that I am venturingon nearly untrodden ground, and that I shall advance argumentsin opposition to a corrupt public opinion, and to the pervertedinterpretation of Holy Writ, which has so universally obtained. But Iam in search of truth; and no obstacle shall prevent my prosecutingthat search, because I believe the welfare of the world will bematerially advanced by every new discovery we make of the designs ofJehovah in the creation of woman. It is impossible that we can answerthe purpose of our being, unless we understand that purpose. It isimpossible that we should fulfil our duties, unless we comprehend them;or live up to our privileges, unless we know what they are.
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In examining this important subject, I shall depend solely on theBible to designate the sphere of woman, because I believe almost everything that has been written on this subject, has been the result ofa misconception of the simple truths revealed in the Scriptures, inconsequence of the false translation of many passages of Holy Writ. Mymind is entirely delivered from the superstitious reverence which isattached to the English version of the Bible. King James’s translatorscertainly were not inspired. I therefore claim the original as mystandard, believing that to have been inspired, and I alsoclaim to judge for myself what is the meaning of the inspired writers,because I believe it to be the solemn duty of every individual tosearch the Scriptures for themselves, with the aid of the Holy Spirit,and not be governed by the views of any man, or set of men.
We must first view woman at the period of her creation. ‘And God said,Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness; and let them havedominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, andover the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thingthat creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, inthe image of God created he him, male and female created he them.’In all this sublime description of the creation of man, (which is ageneric term including man and woman,) there is not one particle ofdifference intimated as existing between them. They were both made inthe image of God; dominion was given to both over every other creature,but not over each other. Created in perfect equality, they were[Pg 5]expected to exercise the vicegerence intrusted to them by their Maker,in harmony and love.
Let us pass on now to the recapitulation of the creation of man:—‘TheLord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into hisnostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the LordGod said, it is not good that man should be alone,