New-York daily tribune., 1843-06-03

ciaton to be located ta, vicinity; ia called ihs " 4'
tsnsw PiialanI.7
We extract the following article upon the Posi-
ton of Women, from work entitled ourlef
and his svstem" by Madame GAr~rI d. GAnoND
a French lady of high ability and noble ieeiings
who has devoted her labors to the cause oil asso-
ciation. A translation of the work may DC mao
at Redfeld's Bookstore, corner beekman aii'
Nassau streets. vol. l04 pages. Pnce, % cei'F'
The Position Of Woman.
E,,,-;or ernrcsses the greatest socltude iof 'he
c,rd;,;nn of icomen in them he sees al once 'hc
cl,ss tho most oppressed, and the most powerful
,s,r,,roent of social regeneration. his system Of
,.,r.c,;vc industry dignfes labor and elevates l;
to them. securing independence by their Efforts
and raising them from degradation, Ioerates thcfR
from their misery
No class is so interested as that OF women IN
the realization of his system. 1t solves all the
difficulties of their position, and assures them the
sole emancipation which they need. What is this
omsncinat;on This is word which has been
80 much abused, that it requires some explana-
ton.
Bv the emancipation OF woman DO VIC Only
wish to express modification, arnelioratlon pro-
gress Who can deny that the condition OF wo.
man is susceptible of Improvement as well as al!
human institutions
Woman in the savage state, whose destiny is
often so sad that when she brings INTO the Woiid
child of the weaker sex, will destroy ne newborn
babe, that it may be spared painful existence,
must she not desire to advance step IN social
progress II is from this excess Of degradation
and misery that woman, IN passing throueh 'lic
verious social phases from complete barbarlsm TO
s ALWAYS
released from servitudc, and raised to ccgree oi
dignity. Since, then her condition has been al
ready modified, what may she not desire, what
may shc not hope for
Let us glance at the present condition OF many
wives and daughters amongst the peoplc-thc
one condemned to the hardest labor, enduring
every kind OF privation, their feelings tortured by
anxiety: the other sunk in vice and namy, the
consequences of misery and bad cducaton-thcn
say, if you will, that society has done all 1t can
for woman, that she ought to be content with
her lot that there remains nothing ior her to de
sire or to hope for The most immediate cause
of womans misery is poverty. Ii she asks 1or
emancipation, she docs but ask, as the first condi
ton towards her melioration, reform III the So
cial economy, efIcctual in removing distress, al
fording TO all some education, the necessarles o!
life, and the right to labor
1t is not only the wives of the people, but wo-
men of all classes, whose evils result from the pre-
sent social state. The great majority possess but
- moderate portion, insufficient for their support
those who have a competency are IN danger OF
losing it from msmanagement. They have not,
like men. opportunities for earning an ndepend
ence, and thev are every where surrounded by
dangers and difficulties. Marriage and the cares
of family arc their destination; the laws, the
customs, education, permit woman only to form
her social position by marriage. Unmarried she
is solitary, dependent, and subject to perpetual
humiliations. And yet, though society offers TO
woman marriage as her exclusive destiny, educa-
ted for this one end taught to consider II a duty.
and their happiness dependent upon 1t, marriage
is not in their own power. Men who have a pro-
fession, independence and many occupations, do
not deem it absolutely necessary; their set-love
is not concerned IN it as that OF woman's IS; and
they profess not to wish to marry, I'LL they find
one in whom the advantages OF fortune and all
desirable qualifications are united. tnportioncd
Young women are in danger of vegctatlng III lso-
iation those who possess fortunes dare not be
very scrupulous nor delay their choice, iii the
fear Of their youth passing, and opportunities be
coming less frequent. Hence ii is SO many wo-
men marry unfortunately, and find in marriage
but disgust and sorrow.
Fouricr's system gives independence and opens
a career to woman; 1t reconclies her household
cares, and the duties OF maternity, with intellect
nal deve,opement and ar, and general employ
men,s. 1t does even morc-it gives her high
place in general estimation, dlgniticd and pure
position favorable TO her own Improvement and
socictv's regeneration.
Strange, indeed, 10 our error with respect TO
woman We have feared that in promoting her
education and elevation, there would he an IN
crease of depravity and vice. This is indeed sad.
ly misconceiving her very nature; vice Is hateful
to her-shc does not voluntarily consent 10 1t :
even in Welding to 1t she detests 1t, she struggles
against It and the conditions that cause it, and
she ceases not to blame unjust and cruel society
which condemns and degradcs her, offering her
no means of escape. Among the daughters of
the poor, misery aud wretchcdness drive the sex
into the abyss of degradation; amongst the nde-
pendent class ennui, disgust, the soul's void, re,
sulting from isolation, ana the unhappy marriages
which have been contracted from necessity, pro-
duce misery, subsection and ldlcness. We must
then understand, by moral emancipation for
man, an independent position, conducive 10 the
free exercise of her affections and her talents,
without the necessity of making engagements
contrary to her inchnationS.
The subsection of woman, her state of miscra-
bic and precarious dependence, is the first cause
of her moral degradation. Though she nav in
manners and appearance, be more polished ana
refined than in the past century, vet all the old
evils exist, frightful depravity has nsinua,ed
itself into all classes, Illicit connexions for young
girls, adulrerouS ones for married women--corrup
ton, which, being tolerated neither by morals, nor
by custom, nor by legislation, gives birth to hy-
pocrSy, ialSehood cunning, to vices the most
shameful, crimes the most horrible. Society has
actually filed up the measure of its iniqut!es, and
corruption, like a cankeT is DESTROYING its vitals
The evil is so vast, SO dark, so deep, that hvpoc-
risy, fasehood, all that can mask or disguise it,
is regarded as necessary paha,on. FalsehooG