The constantly broadening sphere of woman's influence is to me the
most hopeful and important sign of our times. The era of woman has
dawned, bearing the unmistakable prophecy of a far higher civilization
than humanity has ever known. It is an incontestable fact that woman
is ethically, infinitely superior to man; her moral perceptions are
firmer and stronger, her unselfishness far greater, her spiritual
nature deeper and richer than that of her brothers. She is to-day
foremost in the great social, philanthropic, humanitarian, and ethical
reforms, in which selfishness has no place. In her widening influence,
growing liberty, and freedom, I see impearled a prophecy of an
altruistic era--a civilization triumphant--rising against to-morrow's
purpling dawn.
In the fields of intellectual and scientific research she has grandly
won her way, and that despite the marshalled forces of conservatism,
which have stubbornly contested every step that has looked towards a
broader, more independent and purposeful life. For centuries relegated
to the rear, compelled to take thought second-hand, denied a healthful
freedom and the right of a liberal education, so highly prized by man,
her marvellous attainments since she has in a measure broken the bonds
of conservatism and trampled under foot the baleful heritage of
ancient thought, have been so splendid in their reality and so
pregnant with prophecies of future triumph, that I confidently expect
to find in her the one invincible ally of the forces warring for a
higher, purer, more just and humane condition of life. In her
epoch-marking victories she has lost none of her old-time charms, the
wonderful refinement of sentiment, the delicacy of thought, the rich
soul life, the deep emotional nature, the strong moral character, pure
as the glistening snow-clad peaks in the midst of the moral
degradation which taints manhood. These have remained in their
pristine beauty since she has emerged from her age-long retirement
into a more influential sphere; in truth they have been strengthened
and made more impressive by the fuller development of her nature.
It must not be supposed, however, that her struggles are over. Before
she can or will attain an influence commensurate with her work, she
must emancipate herself from the bondage of _fashion_, which as
seriously reflects on her good judgment as it wrecks her health and
menaces the life and happiness of her offsprings. She must also
repudiate the age-hallowed insult dwelt upon in the old Edenic legend
of the fall of man, which for centuries has been brandished in her
face to teach her humility, and make her feel degraded in the presence
of her "lords and masters." An essentially barbarous conception, born
of a cowardly and brutal childhood age, and as unworthy of our day and
generation as is the hideous, old-time conception of God, in which He
was pictured as an angry and jealous Being, counselling the wholesale
slaughter of men and little children, and the prostitution of
daughters, wives, and mothers, by hordes of brutal invaders, whom He
chose to designate his _peculiar people_.
Again, womanhood must refuse to heed the admonitions of Paul, which
have for almost two thousand years been thundered from the pulpit, and
persistently preached from the fireside as though they were oracles
from heaven, rather than the natural expressions of a mind imbued with
Grecian thought and ideals concerning womanhood. There is nothing
surprising in Paul's observations on the sphere of woman; they were
the reflex of the conservative and prevailing thought among the
civilizations _with which he was familiar_. But the world has outgrown
this ancient conception, and it is worse than folly to attempt to
fasten the corpse of the past to the living body of the present. The
evolution of society, a growing sense of justice in man, and the
exigencies of life are rapidly diminishing the old-time reverence for
the Pauline theory of woman's sphere. This is nowhere more
significantly illustrated than in the expressed declaration of tens of
thousands of pious, Christian women, and the active participation of a
smaller number in public affairs, who would indignantly resent any
intimation that they did not accept the plenary inspiration of the
Bible.[16] The declarations of Paul, while in harmony with accepted
ideas in his day, are absurd, and inapplicable to our age and
generation, and as such are being discarded by enlightened public
sentiment, as was the old theory of a flat earth finally given up
after science fully exposed its falsity. Another duty of woman is to
unitedly contend for the _right of suffrage for those who wish to
exercise it_. There may have been a time when there was no pressing
duty involved in this question, but that day has passed. Recent
statistics show that there are in the United States to-day millions of
women who earn a livelihood by their own individual exertions;[17]
tens of thousands of these women are working for starvation wages,
with the awful alternative ever before them "starve or sin." This
condition will remain until women have a voice in the government equal
to man's, and their numbers are so organized as to challenge the
consideration of law-makers. The infamous "_age of consent laws_"
which place the age of consent to her own ruin from seven to twelve
years for girls _could only be enacted in man-governed States_. A
noteworthy illustration of this is found in the fact that Wyoming, the
only State where woman enjoys full franchise, has placed the age of
consent at the legal age of majority, eighteen years, while Kansas,
the State which more than any other approaches Wyoming in bestowing on
women the rights of franchise, and where she exercises a greater
influence in politics than any other American commonwealth save her
younger sister, has also placed the age of consent at eighteen years.
_All the other States trail the banner of morality in the dust before
the dictates of man's bestiality._
[16] The hundreds of earnest organizers in the great reform
movements of to-day; the sincere and profoundly religious
women who preach the Christian gospel every Sunday; the
leaders in the great temperance organizations who are also
leaders in various Orthodox churches, have, in spite of
their prejudices and the old-time faith which is often more
a legacy from the past than the result of a many-sided
investigation, yielded to the demands of their age, the
crying needs of the hour, and in defiance of the dogmatic
injunctions of Paul, have entered the vineyard of practical
reform, while still maintaining the anomalous position of
defending the verbal inspiration of the New Testament. This
singularly illogical position, however, is always met with
in a transition period, when a larger and more purposeful
life is struggling with time-hallowed traditions and the
memories and teachings made almost sacred by the childlike
acceptation, of loved parents, and teachers who have
vanished down the vale.
[17] It has been variously estimated by careful statisticians
that we have from 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 girls and women in
the United States who are making their own livings. The
Commissioner of Labor, in his report for 1885, estimated
that in New York City alone, there are over 200,000
employed in various wage-earning vocations. Mr. Carroll D.
Wright's fourth annual report in the U. S. Bureau of Labor
gives the results of statistics gathered from twenty-two
cities of women engaged in manual labor, not including the
great army engaged in professional and semi-professional
vocations, as something near 300,000, but the glaring
discrepancy in the figures as they relate to the Empire
City, shown by Helen Campbell, discredits the report.
Certain it is that in the cities mentioned if one begins at
the scrub women and passes through the various occupations,
such as boarding-house keepers, millinery, dressmaking,
cash girls, clerks, sales-women, stenographers,
type-writers, book-keepers, teachers, factory girls, and
slaves of the clothing trade, as well as the artists,
musicians, actresses, public speakers, physicians, lawyers,
and the many other professions or vocations filled by
women, that the number would be swelled to the millions.
The last census returns for New York City reveal the fact
that there are twenty-seven thousand married men in New
York who are supported by their wives, who are mainly
dressmakers, milliners, boarding-house keepers, artists,
teachers, musicians, and actresses. Here we have an army of
shiftless, dependent men, more than a quarter of one
hundred thousand strong, having each a vote to cast or
perchance to sell to the highest bidder, while the real
bread-winners, the actual wealth-producers, in this case
have no voice in the legislative halls.
In the various spheres of activity in which woman has engaged, her
influence has been that of a purifying, refining, and ennobling power,
and barring rare instances where the spirit of intolerance has flashed
forth,[18] her presence in public affairs has been uniformly
beneficent.
[18] At times woman has shown a spirit of intolerance born
of the intensity of her conviction which has led many
thoughtful men and women to seriously question whether the
right of suffrage might not prove a curse rather than a
blessing, ending in repressive legislation and religious
persecutions. I do not, however, fear these evils. The
intensity of convictions is a compliment to her heart; and
her innate love of justice and fair-play, would, I think,
in a reasonably short time, expand the intellectual vision
which prejudice and ancient thought has long obscured. Let
the outcome, however, be it what it may, we have no right
to argue on lines of policy, when a question of right or
justice is involved. It is simple justice for every woman
to exercise the right of franchise who desires to so enjoy
it, and this should be sufficient to settle the question in
the minds of those who believe in according to others what
is demanded for themselves.
For womanhood I cherish the deepest love and reverence. Her exaltation
means the elevation of the race. A broader liberty and more liberal
meed of justice for her mean a higher civilization, and the solution
of weighty and fundamental problems which will never be equitably
adjusted until we have brought into political and social life more of
the splendid spirit of altruism, which is one of her most conspicuous
characteristics. I believe that morality, education, practical reform,
and enduring progress wait upon her complete emancipation from the
bondage of fashion, prejudice, superstition, and conservatism.
* * * * *
[Transcriber's Notes:
Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as
possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other
inconsistencies. The transcriber made the following changes to the
text to correct obvious errors by the publisher:
1. p. 263, "attempts of the Saxon minister, M. de Beust,*"
original has footnote marker but no footnote text
2. p. 287, "republicaan" changed to "republican"
3. p. 325, "dulness" changed to "dullness"
4. p. 340, "pased" changed to "passed"
5. p. 383, In Footnote 16, "predjudices" changed to "prejudices"