The Alhambra and the Kremlin: The South and the North of EuropePrime, Samuel Irenæus
History
The Alhambra and the Kremlin: The South and the North of Europe
Prime, Samuel Irenæus
Europe -- Description and travel
I mention these pleasant incidents to show the interest which teachers,
parents, and pupils must take in the business of education, when the
school is thus made a part of the pleasure, as well as the labor, of the
young. Nor is the moral culture of the young neglected. Far, very far
from it. These schools are not godless schools. Religious instruction is
not legislated out of education in this country. In this canton they are
nearly all Protestants. But in St. Gall, where they are nearly equally
divided, the Romanists have their own schools, and the Protestants have
theirs, both supported by the same system, and working harmoniously, so
far as any co-operation is required, but kept distinct in the matter of
instruction.
If the treatment of women, of the higher or lower order of creation, is
a fair test of the civilization of a country, this Switzerland will rank
very low. Good roads are considered an evidence of a high standard of
civilization, and very justly; yet there must be some exceptions, for
here in Switzerland, where they harness the cows and make them draw
heavy loads, the roads are first-rate, smooth as a floor, and solid in
all weathers.
Probably this glorious land that I am now rejoicing in, can find some
excuse for the sin and shame of making the cows and women do so much of
the hard and heavy work; and they may pretend that the women like it,
and the cows are all the better for it. But it strikes me that nature
has required certain duties of the gentler sex, that are so incompatible
with the severer labors of the country, that they may be fairly excused
from a service that requires the greater strength which God has given to
men and oxen. In the beautiful city of Zurich, the most enlightened,
cultivated, and refined city in the interior of Switzerland, where the
most learned of her sons are educated, the city of Zuingle and Lavater
and Pestalozzi,—and that boasts a monument to Nagel, a university, and
polytechnic institute,—in that fair city I met a team, composed of a
horse and cow, harnessed side by side, drawing a heavy load, the driver
walking by the side of the cow, whose side was in welts, raised by the
stout whip which he carried, and used mainly on her to make her keep up
with the horse. It is more common still to see a single cow in harness
drawing a load, and a yoke of oxen is a sight that I have very rarely
seen in travelling here. Whether the males are more generally sold for
beef or not I cannot learn; but it does not appear to any one here that
it is out of the way to make this use of the cows. And I was rather
pleased than otherwise, in conversation with a great and good
_philanthropist_ and reformer, to find that he professed to be ignorant
of the fact that cows were put to such service, and when I assured him
that I saw one in harness going by his door that day, he said it must
have been an ox!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account