The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1858-07-29
woman.

toricsl Society. in 1864, by Theodore E.
TOmlinson, Esq. It was delivered at the
close Of the feast, and after Mr.. Bsncroit
md the most celebrated orators had spoken
in reference to the most imposing regular
toasts. Il was then that the President, Hon.
Luther Brudish, announced the last one,
thus Woman oil huugh last In our
toasts, yet ever first in our affections"
A smile passed over the faces of the grave
savons, and with what might have been
deemed sort Of patronizing sneer, they
looked toward Mr.. Tomlinson, who was the
Youngest member OF them all by many
years, and called on him to respond. Mr..
Tomlinson at once sptang to his feet, and it
would seem, by the impassioned vindication
he made of the grandeur of his text, that be
intended to administer rebuko to the sen.
timent " hich had waived the response to him
as sort OF joke:
Z" WowAx = il first in our affections,
should not bs last in our toosts. She has
fallen into my arms, and will uphold her
with all the chivalry Of the ieudal ages
Woman is theme worthy Of the poet or
orator Did not Homer, the blind bard,
sing Of woman and when we read of Hec.
tor, bearing thick battle on his sounding
shield, or holding aloft young Astyanax,
trembling at his nodding plume, do we not
revert to the beauteous Helen~-sad Andro-
mache! .......
Did not our rator.hi torian to-day, from
whose hand centuries seemed to tiy--dld he
not pause to play celestial music to woman
did he not say that Of all things beautiful
Of earth, the vail OF her spirit was most
beautiful that in our briery life, she was
the lily, or--I forget, for the flowers were
all emuItus the gentle duisy lifted up its
head, the violet breathed newer fragrance,
and the rose angrily blushed woman 3 pride,
and woman's loveliness. She is greater
than the historian ; he but records the past,
she makes history her gentle hand bends
the twig that gives inclination to the oak ;
on the infant brow she stamps the character
of the nation. 1t was only when luxury
crept into the domestic circle, and stained
the fireeide, when there were no Spartan
mothers, no Roman niatrons, that Rome and
Sparta fell. .sa..
+" Woman is the type Of civilization Ia
savage life, slave in TT fined, q queen -
What distinguishes this nation must, what
impresses the noble of other lands that the
American is the more delicate, the higher
refine mcnt, lie, our veneralion for woman
She can 20, unharned, all through our vast
country--her guardian angel the spirit of the
people. .,e.e- IA
~ cannot read the future, the horizon is
obscured, the frmament is not clear. Who
can tell what will grow out of the conflicts
Of the Old World, and the anxietes of the
New This believe, that as long as the
American people preserve their respect for
woman, and respect follows worth, the
American Republic will live. This kno,O
that if the mothers Of the nation are goot
and pure, the sons of the nation will b,
strong and free. -r ..a.
Woman Empire is in thy hand
Lead forth from beyond the mountains, from
the far Pacific, out Of the virgin bosom o
the peerless West, the young States, ant
they will come TO our union as mighty Of
our own, without canker to consume thei
youth, without cloud to darken their des
tiny. ....-..., .......s....
Power in arms, or song, or eloquence
has made man immortal. His very origir
enshrined the muse OF Milton. Woman's
is greater than his. Man is made Of the
dust of the earth, woman out OF the image
Of God. She is supreme in good or evil
Did not Cleopatra lead captive conquerors
Who but Eve could have destroyed Paradise
where day was ecstutic joy, and night came
as the approach Of gentle music /; where ,h'
couch was the fragrant embrace of flowers
where the rich, luscious grape fell without
the wooing--where the very mountains
arose in their sublimity to extend their shade
over mans repose ! Though the chosen
8 angel' of the . Destroyer still her name
is stamped on the decalogue, Honor thy
father and thy mother d, gar...
What eloquenceso exquisite as Ruth's
. Thy people shall be my people, and thy
God my Godp fa s-t nit = "a
=" In song who more impussioned thar
Sopphof in prophecy who more inspiring
than Miriam, with harp and timbrel, by the
shores Of the sounding seal d -r5 s.. sd
Her destiny overehadows man's--hi.
fate trembles in hers. Napoleon tore frou
its heaven his morning star, Josephine; ans
ST. Helena, in retribution, arose in the
ocean. tf !@a iss
Did not Mary, the mother Of Wash
ington, fashion his great mind, and breathe
her stainless purity into his greater hearth
g More eloquent than tongue can tell
more glorious than pen can write, are tn
simple words: Mother -Daughter--Sister-.
Wife! Mother--How sweet from the lip
Of the gleefnl girl how holy from the srem
bling voice Of age! To the dying captive
to the bleeding soldier, to the great man, Il
the .malefactcr on the scaffold, thy name
8 Mother comes radiant with the light .
young Eden days!o. ' .ag = =
.tWifs is thy hestsEself; Sister, thy loVc
liest peer; Dapghter, sunshine dancing ol