I speak of this at length to bring out an important fact. On almost every sacred spot in Palestine, wherever Jesus lived or spent the night, wherever He preached a sermon, or wrought a miracle, there we find two convents—one Roman and one Greek. Each claims to stand upon the exact spot where such and such a thing occurred. Occasionally the two convents are some distance apart; again they stand hard by each other. As one might naturally suppose, this engenders strife, and provokes jealousy among the priests, and greatly perplexes most travelers. But all this confusion among the priests does not trouble me for a moment. What do I care whether the marriage occurred here or there? I know full well that I am in Cana. I know it is a sacred place. I know that Christ, with His presence, sanctioned in Cana what God, in His wisdom, instituted in Eden—the marriage relation, which has come along down the ages, elevating man, purifying society, strengthening the State and honoring God. The wisdom of this law strongly argues its divine origin. I have traveled in many countries, among many nations, kindreds, tribes and peoples; and I have never yet traveled in a country where the Bible was a sealed book, where God’s law of marriage was unknown or disregarded, but that the women of that country were in a low, vile, degraded and servile condition! In such places woman is regarded as man’s inferior; she is neglected, imposed upon and down-trodden; hers is a life of shame and drudgery; she is man’s burden-bearer and nothing more! In Palestine, and some other countries where I have traveled, it is considered a disgrace for a mother to give birth to a female child! and for this cause men frequently ill-treat and forsake their wives! And on the other hand, I have never been in any land where the Bible was known and read, where God was worshipped, and His law obeyed, but that woman was loved and honored and elevated to her true position in the family and in society. The Bible teaches that woman was taken, not from man’s heel that he might trample upon her, not from his head that she might rule him with a rod of iron, but from his side that she might walk beside him—that she might be his companion; perchance from his right side, that his strong right arm might lift her burdens and fight her battles; or, forsooth, from his left side, near his heart, that he might love and sympathize with her. Blessed Bible! thou hast shattered woman’s shackles; thou hast brought the aureole of glory, and placed it upon woman’s matronly brow!