"They're losing virtue fast enough," he observed, throwing the naked
ear into the bin and reaching for another. "Why, when I was young thar
warn't nothin' in the way of meanness that a good woman wouldn't put up
with. They'd shut thar eyes to Hagars, white or black, rather than lose
the respect of men by seemin' to be aware of any immodesty."
"Ah, the times have changed now!" sighed Solomon Hatch, "but thar's one
thing sho' to my mind, an' that is, that if a woman thinks she's goin'
to attract men by pryin' an' peekin' into immorality an' settin' it
straight ag'in, she's gone clean out of her head. Thar's got to be
indecency in the world because thar al'ays has been. But a man sets a
heap mo' sto' by his wife if she ain't too inquirin' upon the subject."
"True, true, Solomon," said old Adam, "I for one was al'ays set against
teachin' women to read for fear they'd come to know things. Thar's a
deal of evil that gits into print, an' if you ain't acquainted with yo'
letters thar's less temptation to nose arter it. Reuben Merryweather
would have his daughter Janet taught, though I urged strongly against
it--holdin' that she could learn about sins an' immoralities even in
Holy Writ.
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