St. Cloud visiter [sic]. [volume] (St. Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1857-1858, 1858-05-13

JANE .lfsfse Z. sMi1ssHELM.
St. Cloud, N. T: March q, 1858.
Lecture. !
The following is our review Of Mr.. Shep-
ley's lecture, just as itappeared in the VS.
iter of March 18th, and as it is all we have
ever said on the subject it must be the arti-
Gle to which he refers in his letter to the
Pioneer and Democrat as Gan infamous
attack upon my wife. 81.
On the 10th the lecture was by j. G.
shepley, Esq, Subject Woman. Mr..
Shepley displayed more oratorich study
than any of his predecessors at the desk.
He classed women as cOquetts, flirts, old
maids, woman's rights and utterly depraved.
Upon the coquetts he lavished his highest
encomiums. In this character, woman,
more than in any other, ful6ls her proper
mission Of attracting, repeling, and finally
blessing man by choosing him as her SOW
ereign. We we're utterly surprised at the
extent and minutencss Of the gentleman s
knowledge of the divine art of coquettry.
We had no idea St. Cloud was so deserving
of her Partisan cognomen, in possessing a
man miliner Of the first water. There is
not a gentleman to-day occupied in cutting
and fitting dresses in any Partisan Shrine
Of fashion, who can possibly be more mi
mute III his knowledg &c or keen in his ap-
probation of the effects of drapery, than
our learned lecturer. We cannot see
why he should have wasted his talent by
seeming to devote his time to the law, and
Mr.. Shepley should yet reconsider his
choice Of profession and devote himself
entirely to the service of the ladies, by as
sisting them in the arts which he most ad-
mircs. He would, no doubt, have better
success in the business of selecting ribbons
and arranging crinoline, than he has ever
had in digesting Blackstone, and the pat
terms of that love Of man, Mons;eurS hep-
ley, would soon be the rage. His keen
appreciation Of the piscatory amuse-
ment Of fishing for husbands, savors
of the relish of q practical sportsman. So
vivid was his picture Of gudgeon caught
by the arts Of skillful angler and ioun-
dering on the hook, as his bewitching cap
tor played fast and loose with her .si)ken
line. that one was startled with the idea
that he had recently enjoyed, and was now
enjoying rich professional treat, and one
invc'"n,arily turned to see the struggling
captive. We are wholly at loss to &C.
count for the gcnt|eman's zest upon any
other hypothesis, than that Of his having
spent years in the shadow of some fair an
gler's crinoline, catching worms and batting
hooks for her, upon condition of sharing
the profits. Surely, the old maids whom
he SO commisserates, if anxious to "double
themselves" as he elegantly expresses it,
could not do better than take course Of
lectures from Professor Shepley. He gave
his views about the women who unsex
themselves by wishing to vote, by Shrek
ing, from the forum, for nigger's rights
and woman's rights: and of that distinct
class whose highest ambition it is to fill
the columns of a newspaper. His ideas On
this point presented nothing new, except
that high Aayoring Of double distilled ex-
tract Of gall, one might expect from bill
lious man. lie made an error in point of
fact when he stated that these women who
write politics care always higher law poll
ticians, and forget that that law requires
them to be "subject unto their own hus-
bands" So far as our knowledge extends,
the class of women who publicly appear
as political writer's, is confined to two indi-
vidnals, Mrs. Prcwet, Of the Yazoo CITY,
Miss, Wing and ourself: She maintains
the law Of chivalry which is not very high,
and has no husband While we,sa per-
feet model of wi1ely obedience, support the
Buchanan code. If there is any law be-
low this, one would require long line and
heavy lead to take its soundings. In his
classification of that remarkable production
called "woman," the learned lecturer over-
looked several varieties. to one of which
we beg leave to call his attention, viz:
the large, thick-skinned, coarse, sensual-fea-
tured, loud-mouthed, double listed danes,
whose entrance into room appears to take
ones breath, whose conversational tones
are audible at the furthest side of the next
square, whose gufahs resound across mile
wide river, and who talk with an energy
which makes the saliva fly like show
ers Of melted pearls. They deck their
portly persons in coarse prints, of bed
spread patterns and rainbow HUGS, made
into fousy rufaes and many frumblcs, as
they stand to perform their Office as high
priestess at the shrine of Uchre. Mr..
Shepley could hardly fail to admire this
class Of the genus woman, as each one of
them is can actress and has the parlor for
her theatre" and as the absorbing object
Of her life is to attract the attention and
admiration Of that magnificent animal
man. Her triumphs consist in card-tab]e
successes, displays of cheap incry, and in
catching manageable husbands for her
self and her poor relations. She may dis
play that grief, which Mr.. Shepley SO