Oscar Chrisman

“ Restrain thyself, my son, as thou are yet young, and wait until the girl whom the gods destine for thy wife arrives at a suitable age; leave that to their care, as they know how to order these things properly. When the time for thy marriage is come, dare not to make it without the consent of thy parents, otherwise it will have an unhappy issue.
"Steal not nor give thyself up to gaming; otherwise, thou wilt be a disgrace to thy parents, whom thou ought rather to honor for the education they have given to thee. If thou wilt be virtuous, thy example will put the wicked to shame. ”

“ There was an abundance of outdoor sports among the Japanese children. Beginning with the New Year there came the great game with the girls of battledore and shuttlecock. The girls made a beautiful sight, of which, no doubt, they were aware. With their gayest dresses, hair arranged in a most pleasing way, faces powdered and lips painted, the graceful, rhythmic motion of their bodies, their bright eyes and laughing faces, all combined to make them and their sport a most attractive scene. Kite-flying was about as great an amusement in Japan as in China. ”

“ Old Greek religion was a worship of the beautiful—the ideal in nature and human life, and the gods were ideal expressions of human thought, portraying the divine in man. Religion influenced the old Greek in every way and on every side he was reminded of the gods by temples, altars, statues, sacred trees, etc. But with all his religion, strange to say, the Greek did not connect it closely with his moral life, for his religion was expressed in his attitude toward the gods, while his morality was determined by the laws of the land and the customs of society. ”

“ Strive always to be good; for otherwise who will have thee for a wife? Thou wilt be rejected by every one. Life is a thorny, laborious path, and it is necessary to exert all our powers to obtain the goods which the gods are willing to yield to us ”

“ What can be more pleasing to a wife than to hear of the welfare of her best beloved and how he is pleased with her poor endeavors! I blush to hear myself commended, knowing my own wants. But it is your love that conceives the best and makes all things seem better than they are. ”

“ The women wore a loose dress, trailing on the ground, with girdle round the waist, and a cloak over the dress. The men wore their hair long, sometimes curling it like women, but they wore no beard, shaving the face clean.
During the Middle Ages dress was a distinguishing mark of very great importance. The king needed to be arrayed in gorgeous robes of rich texture and color, as his dignity require such; the city officers, in keeping with the pride of the city, must be clothed in brilliant attire; the sign of power and greatness of the nobles was displayed in the showy livery of their retainers ”

“ She was endowed with a mind more beautiful than her beautiful form. Her genius drew around her all those who had a taste for the beautiful, or a desire to cultivate their minds. At her house, eloquence, politics and philosophy were daily discussed, and ladies of the highest rank resorted thither to acquire some of the accomplishments by which she was distinguished. ”

“ As long as Rome was in its full strength, education was wholly of a practical nature, its aim being to prepare its young that in manhood they might be of most service to the state. It was more of the Spartan idea than the Athenian, but unlike Sparta the Roman state did not undertake the education of the young but left that wholly to the home, and it was not till the time of the empire that education was taken up by the state, for before that time the state did not even assist in education, let alone control it. ”

“ Finally, the resistance of the father is overcome; he pardons his daughter, pardons the lover, and calls the latter his son. All at once, as if by magic, cups of saké circulate among the crowd; everyone takes his or her place on the matting of the room ”

“ The Code of Manu some three centuries before Christ set the status of woman thus, "During her childhood a woman depends on her father; during her youth, on her husband; her husband being dead, on her sons; if she has no sons, on the near relatives of her husband; or if in default of them, on those of her father; if she has no paternal relatives, on the [Pg 86] sovereign. A woman ought never to have her own way." So it is no wonder that the wife was treated by the husband in the harshest manner and she to respond with the greatest humility. ”

“ The Chinese boy at sixteen is as grave and staid as an American grandfather; and if he happens to be married soon after, he throws aside most games as being childish. At the best, he has nothing corresponding to baseball, football, cricket, bicycle-riding, skating, sliding, or tennis. Nor is he fond of exerting himself. He would rather sit for hours talking and joking than waste time in running and jumping. He thinks it work if his play entails much perspiration. His elders, too, frown upon boisterous games. ”

“ From a few mud huts on the bank of the Tiber river filled with savage or semi-civilized people there grew up one of the very greatest ruling forces the world has ever known, conquering the known world and controlling all from the center at Rome with power and wisdom that seem miraculous. ”

“ There were three classes of women at Rome—the citizen-woman, the alien, and the slave. Unlike as in Athens, the foreign woman never rose to prominence at Rome but it was the citizen-woman who took rank always before any other. Nor was a male citizen allowed to marry an alien woman, for citizens were wanted and, therefore, both parents needed to be citizens. But as citizenship was expanded to the parts of the world outside of Rome, the alien woman became a citizen, and so a Roman could marry her and still maintain his own and his offspring's rights. ”

“ As they advanced in years they were, while being instructed in martial exercises, also taught that everything in life depended on their valor—the praises of the bards, the favor of the great, and the applause of the people, and that happiness after death was the reward only of those who were daring in war. ”

“ The Peasantry. During feudal times there arose a great distinction between noble and ignoble service. The noble service was that performed by the knight in armor on horseback, that of the unpaid warrior, while ignoble service was that of the field laborer. Since feudal life was mainly agricultural, the artisan, the dweller in the town, counted but little, but there came a time when he did count much for the overthrow of feudalism. The mass of the laboring people were serfs and they were treated sternly by their masters, the noblemen, and they were not much more than slaves. ”

“ Now and then some country nymph has her hair flowing down behind her, braiding it with a piece of ribbon. Should they go out even though they be living in a hut, they throw a silk wrap about themselves, and put on gloves. They also put on some well made and stylish little sunbonnet, from beneath which their roguish eyes have a most fascinating way of meeting yours. In the English colonies the beauties have fallen in love with red silk or woolen wraps. The wives and daughters spend more than their incomes allow. The man must fish up the last penny he has in his pocket. ”

“ Such dolls are well dressed, and look so life-like,—little slanting eyes, shaven pates, smiles, and all!—that as seen from a short distance the best eyes might be deceived by them. Therefore, in those stock photographs of Japanese life, of which so many thousands are sold in the open ports, the conventional baby on the mother's back is most successfully represented by a doll. Even the camera does not betray the substitution. ”

“ When the vestal virgin, the Roman matron, and the young lady could find amusement in such scenes of human slaughter, it can certainly surprise no one that the Roman character, in its constituent elements, possessed so much hardihood, and could remain such firm proof against every tender feeling of humanity. ”

“ Nevertheless of this high esteem for education, there were no public schools in the sense as with us as the government did not establish schools, except, perhaps, for the most advanced students. Yet there were a great number of schools, taken care of in a private way, and although every village did not have a school, yet they would have liked such, but mostly on account of poverty could not, for everywhere was the most profound reverence for education. ”

“ Old age was not a burden or a fear among the Japanese women, nor was it something to be ashamed of. Old age was really welcome, and especially in the last centuries when woman's freedom was taken away and obedience to the men introduced, for old age brought freedom, as then the mother became a person of much consideration, to be waited upon and cared for by children and grandchildren, the burdens of life being turned over to them. ”

“ The sad and degrading side of the Aztec civilization was that of human sacrifice. The number of sacrifices was very great, estimated from twenty to fifty thousand annually, and on one occasion alone, the dedication of a great temple, no less than seventy thousand human beings were sacrificed to the gods. The great object of war, along with the desire for the extension of the kingdom, was to obtain victims for the sacrifices and hence an enemy was never slain in battle if there was a chance of taking him alive. Mostly the victims were prisoners of war but slaves also were used as sacrifices. ”

“ As wealth grew and there was leisure time, the desire for amusement and entertainment increased until there grew up in the Egyptian character a softness and inclination to luxurious living. Great banquets were given, where hosts vied with one another in entertaining lavishly and in furnishing amusement for the guests, till it would appear as if they devised every possible kind of amusement. Nor was the zest for amusement confined to the upper classes, for during the inundation of the Nile, when but little work could be done, the peasantry gave themselves up to pastime and sport. ”

“ The staple of a thousand novels, plays, and pictures in Japan is written in the life of a girl of gentle manners and tender heart, who hates her life and would gladly destroy it, but refrains because her purchase-money has enabled her father to pay his debts, and she is bound not to injure herself. ”

“ As with sculpture so with painting, the conventional forms were demanded of the painter so that although mechanical skill became great, there was not that high artistic effect that is attained where individuality is permitted to display itself. The walls of buildings were not broken by windows, as the brilliancy of light was such that few openings were necessary and the openings let in heat. The walls on the interior were covered with a coating of stucco, which was white or whitish, and then decorated with paintings displaying scenes and events in the life of the people and the nation. ”

“ The child was introduced into the religious life in the home, as each house had its own altar and its special household deities, to whom prayers were offered and sacrifices made, and on occasions of marriage, birth, death, and the like, special ceremonies occurred. He learned about both the good and the bad, as amulets were hung about his neck to ward off harm and he saw sacrifices made to appease the wrath of the evil ones. In public there were sacrifices and celebrations to the gods, in some of which the child took part. ”

“ Waiting long enough, perchance but a few minutes, there may be seen a passer-by who pauses, and, devoutly offering a prayer with the aid of his rosary, reverently dips a ladleful of water, pours it upon the cloth, and waits patiently until it has strained through, before moving on. ”

“ Marriage. In most cases Greek marriage was not an affair of the heart, for young people had but little opportunity to be with one another for love-making. Marriage for the man was rather a matter of convenience, for the purpose of the continuation of his family. This was a duty he owed to himself and to the state, for the state must have citizens for its perpetuation. To the Greek public life meant everything, the home counted but little. The wife's duties were considered to be the attending to household affairs and the bearing of children.
Marriage had to be with the consent of the parents. ”

“ Yet, as in the presence of nature's awful glories the reverent gazer is shocked by the noisy importunity of the beggar, so before this sad and touching memorial the proofs of sordid priestcraft chill the warm sympathy which the sight even from the heart of an alien, might evoke. ”

“ Remember that vice, like a poisonous herb, brings death to those who taste it; and when it once harbors in the mind it is difficult to dispel it. If in passing through the streets thou meetest with a froward youth who appears agreeable to thee, give him no correspondence, but dissemble and pass on. ”