Washington sentinel. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1856, 1855-03-27

fecundations of progress by progress science
struggling with creation workshops always
open, whose doors poverty had only to push, in
order to become transformed into labor ;
shoots always open, whose doors ignorance had
only to push, in order to become transformed
to intelligence; gratuitous and obligatory aca
denies, where capacities only should mark the
limits Of instruction. and where the child Of
the poor should receive the same culture as
the child of the rich polls, where women
might vote as well as men, for the Old World
finds women equal to civil, commercial and
penal responsibilities; it finds woman equal to
Imprisonment to Clichy, to the bagnio to the
dungeon, to the scaffold. As for us, we shall
find women good enough for dignity and for
liberty; it finds woman good enough for slavery
and death, we shall find her good enough for
life it recognizes woman as public person
age for sufferings and pains and penalties we
shall recognize her as public parsonage for
justice and right We shall not say-soul of
the first quality, MAN soul of secondary quality,
woman! We shall proclaim woman as our
equal, with respect TIE more. Oh woman, wife,
mother, sister, companion, eternal minor, eter-
nal slave, eternal victim, eternal martyr, we
will raise you up!
We will not gravely discuss the subject of
women's rights, even with SO intellectual
man as the great Victor Hugo. 1t is beneath
his intellect, and to an Anglo-Saxon, beneath
contempt.
1t is by such extravagapces as this that
the French lose liberty and become subject to
despotisms. French philosophers are too often
sublimated poets, who expect, in this cold prac-
teal world, poetic justice. They confound
moral maxims with legal enactments, and
think that what they express in beautiful
phraseology, can be accomplished with the
same ease with which the words are spoken.
They confound words with things-ideas with
deeds-visions with realizations. What they
want is sound practical sense, and Anglo
Saxon conservatism.
The great Frenchman-for he is great
as an idealist, thus defines freedom:
"Freedom to go and come, freedom to asso
ciate, freedom to possess, freedom to speak and
to write, freedom to think, freedom to love,
freedom to believe-all these liberties would
form a panoply around the citizens sheltered by
them and become invioable."
Now, we enjoy all these privileges, fran
chises, and liberties in this country, and yet
women are not allowed to vote. But the
French poet and politician thinks that the
extension Of suffrage to women is essential to
liberty.
But there are other points in this address of
the great Frenchman that challenge severe
criticism. He is evidently more of the Poet
than the statesman. He dreams bright dreams
that he thinks may be realized-dreams to full
fill which, all the French Patriots in all the
French Revolutions have bathed France with
blood.
French Philosophers, the most learned OF
all, and French Patriots, the sincerest Of all,
have one thing to learn. 1t is that they have
to take human nature as it is. They cannot
accomplish impossibilities. They cannot pluck
the moon or the stars from the heavens. They
can no more extract rational freedom from
licentious liberty, than from grinding despot-
ism.
The address of Victor Hugo abounds in
eloqpence and poetry. We might quote many
sentiments Of that character. Wewill contents i
ourselves with one. He says:
Progress is the very stride of God"
But even here he commits what all his revo-
lutionary predecessors have committed. He
forgets that progress in the best cause has a
limit All human things have a limit If
Frenchmen would observe this law Of limit,
they would accomplish far more for the free
dom Of their country, than they ever have
accomplished.
revolution must be a sensible, well consid-
cred and conservative revolution-or it will
end in barren bloodshed, and fixed despotsm.
vunnu,n UnnN MN SnrU