Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1851-12-12
IahiRa' DEpartmRut.
AN ADDRESS,
Read before The Grand Union Daughters Of
Temperance, of Illinois.

N oNOJOSS III CNCulAA VIII NC W PICOCuJ1
briefly as possible, the claims of the D. of 7.
upon community. 1t is | believe generally
admitted, that woman is not qualified to oc-
cupy her proper position as the mover and
director of the moral influences of Society.
We all know that where the leading Ladies
in any community are what woman should
be, you will always find that community par
take of the same spirit and where they are
not thus, the community will he filled with
envy ings and jealousy, backbiting and immor-
atty. How important then that she receive
an education to tit her for SO important an
Office. | have often heard of giving women
office in our body polite. 1t seems to me to
be almost an insult to her as a wife and moth
er. There is a higher Office, one more ar
duous, and more difficult to perform. Think
you any other woman but a mother of Wash
ington, could have given a Washington to
the world? Did Benedict Arnold or Aaron
Burr possess such mothers ? l boldly an
swer no! Nor do | believe a noble minded,
rightly educated woman was ever a mother
to a thoroughly depraved man, if she had
charge of his educatior<&p the age of twelve
oadcated a good noble hearted son, who
became an ornament to society. There isno
such precedent on record. How important
then she should be fitted for a station she is
designed by natures God to fill. Then do
not, | beg Of you, think to honor woman by
giving her a paltry office which every politi-
cal demagogue in the land is scrambIing for.
Do not so degrade her!! We are willing to
give up the direction Of public political af-
fairs to those better qualified to perform them,
trusting, that when our noble band Of cadets
shall become our statesmen, that such things
shall be done soberIy, decently, and Justly !;
and that then, if not before, the rights of wo-
man las to holding property at least) shall
be recognized.
The organization of the d. of t. is peculiarly
adapted to give a new and healthier tone to
pursuits-to give us higher and holier aims
to make lis better wives, mothers, and
daughters, than we were before. We here
by gain strength to perform the various du-
ties Of life. Our intellect is called into ac-
tion-and instead of being the help-eat of
man and sink into mere household drudees
upon our marriage; we become his helpmeet,
his guide and companion. Take for instance
the professional man; he is constantly cultiva-
ting his mind by reading and reflection, while
his wife educated fashionabIy to catch a
husband but not to keep one) spends all her
leisure time in dress perhaps, or the common
amusements of the day. There is therefore no
c~ongeniaEity Oftaste-no communion of intel
Iect. That such is the case in many instan-
ces, no observing person will deny. And this
| presume is one great cause of the well
known unsociability of literary men. The
contact of mind with mind, and intellect with
intellect, that is to be met with in our Union,
i sse calculated to mitigate tlsat;yil to some ez-
1t has been but a few years since the or
ganization of our Order, and IT'S success has
been unparalleled. Unions are organized in
every State, and many of the towns in the
United States and Canada and England
have received the blessing,and have now seven
or more Unions in operation, which in con.
%nection with the Sons of Temperance, are
d%ifflsing virtue, love, temperance, and hap.
plness throughout our land.
Who would not work for such institutions
as these. Institutions so we'll calculated tc
teach us to know and reform ourselves. Then
d. Of T. be encouraged for nations yet I'm.
born shall rise up and call you blessed and
thousands are daily PRAYING for your success.
Then why should you not press onward and
let Excelsior be your motto. And d. of T.
endeavor to promote the good and ~happines;
OF your various Unions, and let no envy OF
jealousy intrude upon your deliberations
Keep your constitutions and bylaws ever II
mind, and remember that the path of duty i
the path of safety.
What shall l say to you Cadets. You arr
just entering upon the battlefield of life
You have commenced right-go on-dc
your duty to your section, and by that mean
you will become qualified to do your duty t.
society and the woodland remember the lit
tie Cadets of to-day, may another day, be
come the highest officers in our glorious re
pubIic-then let no obstacle hinder you from
pressing on in the good cause in which yol
5 have so nobly and early embarked. Son
and daughters sustain them, for be assured
; that just as the twig is bent the trees in
clined,' and all our hopes of perfect success
centre in them.
One word to my Sisters of the Grand U
r Mon and | have done. Sisters, our meetin.
has been pleasant and agreeable. Not
g cloud has been permitted TO cast its shadov
over our deliberations. We have been a u
Mon indeed. We may never meet again Of
| earth-ifso, may we so live as to be a pei
= feet Union in Heaven.
GoING SIX MILES TO SEE WHAT A Sur
: DAY School LOOKED LIKE.-A superir
tendcnt ola Sunday School in Alabama says
"Early this spring, a boy came to tn
: schooLroom, who lived six miles off. II
: was badly fixed, as is very common with th
children about here. | went to him an
j asked him if he would become a scholar
He lived too far off, and hadonly com owe
to see what a Sunday School looked lik,
and if he liked it he would come again. o
the next Sabbath he came again, and was
l. monU tho fret tbero ond bo bo5 bro,oL3