The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-04-22
w.-.. n. ..e nsAAsc Glasses.

Weusan In she msAAIe Glasses.
Leaving these classes--in which deh-
Gent education, habitual endurance, or an
hereditary low organization. may he SuPPo-
sed 10 deaden the sense OF isu0crins.--let US
80 step higher, to the classes immediately
above them; attorneys and aPothecaries,
tradesmen and shopkeepers, bankers and
merchants clerks, &c. La this class more
than two thirds Of the women are now obi. |
get to cam their bread. This is an obliga,
ton which the advance oil civilization, no
less than the pressure Of the times, has Tor
eed upon them; an obligation OF which wo-
mankind, in the long run, will not have
reason to complain. Meanwhile, it is not
Of her Just share Of hardship, in hard times,
thar the woman complains at present but
she, may well think it a peculiar hardship,
q cruel mcckery, that while such an obliga,
tioa is laid upon her, and the necessity and
the severity OF the labor increases every day,
her capabilities are Limited by law--or Gus
tom, strong as law--or prejudice stronger
than either-to one or two departments,
while, in every other, the door is shut against
her. Her education instructs her TO love
and adom her home-'the wOmaEfs proper
sphere, '--cultivates her affections refnes her
sensibiliiies, gives her no higher aim but to
please man, her protector and allows Der
no other ambition than to become good
wife and mother. Thus prepared, or rather
unprepared, her destiny sends her forth into
the world TO toll and endure as though she
had nerves Of iron. She must learn to pro-
tect herself, OF she is more likely 10 be the
victim and the prey Of her protector, man,
than his helpmate and companion. She
cannot soothe his tolls; for, like him. she
must toll to live, she mus work, but, by
working, can she live? .4..
II ought TO be no question whether those
who are able and willing 10 work can live
by their k,-but here it is question:
In these middle classes, the opportunities
afforded to men to gain living are, COM
pared with those Of the women, tvs ten to
one; yet the men tell us thai the competition
is SO great, they find il difficult to maintain
themselves, and TO maintain wife and chill
dren next to impossible. The increasing
number Of unmarried men, with their read
ing clubs, mechanics institutes--@e will
say nothing Of taverns, theatres, and other
places Of social resort-argues, Of course,
an increasing number Of unmarried females,
who not only have no opportunities Of mu.
tual improvement and social recreation, but
i if they be respectable women, cannot even
walk through the streets without being sub
liected to the insults of men, also called and
Esteemed respectable and who are des.
tined never to be either wives or mothers
though they have heard from their infancy
that such, by the appointment Of God, i:
their vocation in this world, and no other
Such may be their vocation, but such is no
their destiny; no, they must 90 forth to la
bor to encounter on every side strange iror
pre- udiceS, adverse institutions lomed AM
framed in social state. quite different from
that which exists at present-a state il
which the position Of women was altogethe
different from what it is now.
"And she sums up her illustrations by ex
claiming, with righteous womanly indig
nation :"
This, then, is what | mean when speal
Of the anomalous condition OF women il
these days. would point out rs a prims
~ source of incalculable mischief, the cor
tradiction bet Geen her assumed and her rea
position; between what is called her prop
er sphere by the laws Of God and nature
and what has become her real sphere by tn
laws Of necessity, and through The compile
relations Of artificial existence. In tn
strong language of Carlyle, | would say tina
here is LIE, standing up in the midst q
society ! would say, Down with it, eve
to the ground; for while this perplexed an
bsrbarous anomaly exists, fretting like a
ulcer at the very heart Of society. all mer
specifics and palliatives are in vain. Tn
question must be settled one way or anotf
er; either let the man in all the relation
Of life be held the natural guardian oil tn
wOman--constrained to fulfil that trust---r,
sponsible TO society for her well.being an
her maintenance; or il she be liable to b
: thrust from the sanctuary Of home to proyid
for herself through the exercise Of such ia,
ulties as God has given her, let her at lea
have fair play; let ii not be avowed in tn
same breath that protection is necessary I
her, and that it is refused to her and Will
we send her forth into the desert, and BIN
: the burthen on her back. and PUT the sta
into her hand, let not her steps be beset. hi
limbs fettered, and her eyes blindGolded.
Mrs. Jamesom's Essays, dc.