The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1858-05-05
to YOUNG WOMEN
BY TIMOTHY TiTcoMB.

addressed specially to you; and as | take
your hand and give you my adieu, wish
to say few words which shall be worth
a great deal to you. 1t is my opinion
that to certain extent, in certain direc
tons, God meant that you should be de-
pendent upon men, and that in this de-
pendence should exist some of your pro-
| foundcst and sweetest attractions and your
noblest characterize les. Your bodies are
smaller than those of men. You were
not made to wrestle with the rough forces
of nature. You were not made for war,
/ nor commerce, nor agriculture. In all
these departments, the iron wills and the
/ iron muscles of man are alone at home.
The bread you eat and the fabrics you
wear are to be gathered from the earth
by men. You are to be protected by
men. They build your houses; they
guard your persons. 1t is entirely natu-
raj for you to rel upon them for much
that you have. You give, or may give,
! great rewards for all this. 1t is not a
mental relation, nor one which detracts
from your dignity in the least. The cir
Gle Of human duties is not only complete
| by the union of those of man and woman.
Man has his sphere--Yoma hers. We
cannot talk of superiority among spheres
and duties that are alike essential. Suf-
flee it that, in the degree in which you
arc dependent upon man for support and
| protection, does he owe support and pro
lection to you. He is bound to do for
you what You, through the peculiaritles of
your constitution, are unable to do for
yourself. You are never to quarrel with
this arrangement. You will only make
yourself unhappy BIZ it, because, by quar-
relling with Gods plans, you essentially
unsex yourself, and become discord.-
Therefore, recognize your dependence
gladly and gracefully. Be at home in it,
for in it lies your power for influence and
for good.
| This advances US a step towards the
| point to which I wish to lead you. Now,
if you will go with me into circle of
praying Christians, or if you will take up,
with me, list of the members of any
church, | will show you fact which l
wish to connect with the facts stated in
the proceeding paragraph. You will fn1,
suppose, that at least two-thirds of the
members of the prayer-rnecting are wo-
men, and that the church register will
show corresponding proportion Of fe-
male names. Why is this? Is it because
women are weaker than men, simply
Is it because their passions are less pow
erful than those of men? Is it because
women are subject to smaller temptations
than men? Not at all-or not in any
important degree. 1t because feeling
of dependence is native in the female
heart. 1t is because the pride of indie
pendenee has little or no place there. 1t
is because the female mind has TO undergo
comparatively small revolution to be-
come religious. Rather, perhaps, | should
say, that one powerful barrier that stands
I
before the path of every man in his ap-
proach to the valley of humiliation does
not oppose the passage of the true woman.
l suppose it is very rare that those who
are denominated " strong-nlinded wo-
men" become religious. The pride of
personal independence is built before them
I by their own hands.
/ So sweet and so natural thing IS piety
among women that men have come to
regard woman without it as strange, if
not unhealthy. The coarsest and most
goddess men often select pious wives, be-
cause they see that piety soft ms and
deepens and elevates every natural grace
of person, and every accomplishment of
mind. Now my opinion IS that Heaven,
seeing how important ii IS for You to be
its own children, in profession and in spi-
rit, has given special favors to your sex,
through this simple fact or principle of
dependence. 1t Is your work TO soften
and refine men. Men living without you,
bv themselves. become savage and sinful.
The purer you are. the more are they re-
strained, and the more are they elevated.
It IS your work to form the Young mind
Ito give it direction and instruction-to
develop It's love for the goodand the true.
1t is your woik to make home happy-to
nourish all the virtues, AMI instiIl all the
sentiments which build men up into good
citizens. The foundation Of oar national
character. is laid BY the mothers of the
nation. / say that Heaven, seeing the
Importance 70 the world Of piety in you,
hos 50 modified YOUR relstious 10 man