He said that they
were his daughters and that he wished to sell them. Mr. Doty refused to
buy them, as it was wicked to buy and sell children; but he told him,
that if he would commit them to him, he would take them home with him,
and educate them, and that they might return home after they had grown.
To this proposal he would not consent but said, that if he would buy
them, they should be his for ever. He could have bought them both for
about twenty-six dollars.
The Chinese have many schools, but none for their daughters, as they do
not teach them, to read. When they are about thirteen years old, they
shut them up in what are called "women's apartments," where they remain
until the time of their marriage. Then the parents sell them to those
who wish to have wives for their sons. In this way, they are frequently
married to persons whom they never before saw.
Many parents in China destroy their little girls soon after they are
born, or while they are very small. This they frequently do by throwing
them into rivers, or into the sea, after they have wrapped them up in
coarse mats. There is a little Chinese girl, named Ellen, now living in
Newark, New Jersey, whose father was about to kill her when she was
three weeks old.
Pages:
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141