The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1858-04-24
Timothy Titoomb's Letters 20 Young
Women.
NUMBER EluHT,
Prom the Springfield Republican,

10 you. II Is my opinion that to a certain
extent, in certain directions God meant that
you should be dependent upon men, and that
IN this dependence should exist some Of your
profoundest and sweetest attractions and
your nobest characteristics, Your bodies
are smaller t9un those Of men, You were
not mude tb wfeslle with the rough forces Of
nature You were not made for war, nor
commerce. nor agriculture, In all these de
partments, the iron Wills aud the iron muscles
Of man arc alone az home, The bread you
eat and the fabrics you wear are to be gather
ed from the earth by.mor You are 20 be pro-
tected by men, They build your houses
they guard your persons, 1t Is entirely nat
ura, for you TO rely upon them for much that
YOU have You give, or may give, great re.
wards for all this, II is not meuial relation,
nor one which dotmcts from your dignity IN
the least, The circle of human duties Is on
j. complete by the union Of those Of man and
woman, Man has his sphero-woman, hers,
We cannot talk Of superiority among spheres
and duties that are alike essential Suffice IL
rhat, in the degree in which YOU are depend
ent upon man for support and protection
does he owe support and protection 20 you.
lie is bound to do foryou what you, through
the pccuiaritics Of your constitution, are un-
able to do for yourself You are never to
gu ,rrel with this arrangement You will on
ly make yourself unhappy 10y il, because, by
quarrclng with Gods plans, you essentially
unscx yourself and become discord. There.
fore, recognize your dependence gladly and
gracefully BE at home in il, for in it lies
your poSer for influence and for good.
This advances Us step towaId' the point
to which wish to lead you. Now, If you
will go with me into n circle of praying Chris
tans, or ir you will take up, with me, list
of the members of any church. will show
YOU fact which wish to connect with The
facts stated IN the. preceding paragraph
You will find, suppose, that at least two
thirds of the members of the prayer meeting
are women, and that the church register will
show a corresponding proportion Of female
names. WHY is this2 /, it because women
are weaker than men, simply /, II hccausc
women are subject to smaller temptations
less powerful than those Of men? Not at al
--or not in any important dcglee. II is be
cause fccling Of dependence Is native in
/ the female heart. 1t is because hc pride Of
Independence has little nr-nn ullcc there
1t is because the female mind has to undergo
comparatively small revolution TO become
religious. Rather, perhaps, | should say,
that one powerful barrier that stands before
the path of every man in his approach to the
valley Of humiliation does not oppose the
passage Of the true woman. l suppose il is
very rare that those who are denominatcd
"strong minded women" become religious
The pride of personal independence is built
before them bytheir own hands.
SO sweet and so natural n thing is picty
among women that men have come to regard
n woman without il as strange, ir notuu-
healthy. The coarscst and most goddess
see that pety softens and deepens and clcvatcs
every natural grace Of person. and every ac
complishmcnt of mind. Now my opinion i,
: that Heaven, seeing how important it is for
YOU to be its own children, in profession and
in spirit, has given special fayors to your sex
through this simple fact or principle of de-
pendeuce. 1t is your work to soften and re-
fine men. Men living without you, by them
selves, become savage and sinful. The purci
YOU are, the more are they restrained, and
: the more are they elevated. 1t is your work
! to form the young mind,--to give it direction
, : ,,l tpg IT, F,r Ia,
good and true. II is your work 10 max,
home happy-to noufish all the virtues, unt
nstill all the sentiments which build men ur
into good citizens. The foundation of oul
national character is laid by the mothers OF
the nation. ! say that Heaven, seeing the
e importance to the world Of pity in YOU, Ia,
so modified your relations to man that it shnl
, be comparatively easy for you to descend in
to that valley, over which all must walk he
fore their feet can stand upon the nights OF
, Christian experience, between which ant
Heavens door the ascent is easy.
For.my own part, | shrink with horro,
| from goddess woman. There seems to bt
l no light in her-no glory proceeding from
her. There is something monstrous about
her. cZn see why men do not become re
, ligious. 1t is a hard thing-it is, at least, if
experience and observation are to be relied
on--for n man whose will has been mad,
stern by encounters in the great battle Of life
, who is conscious of power and accustomed tc
have the minds around him bend to his, who
possesses the pride of manhood and the self
esteem that springs naturally in the mind OF
one in his position, to become "as n little
child" Woman has only to recognize hel
dependence upon One higher than man. and
in doing this, is obliged to do but little vio
lcnce to her habits ofthought, and no violence
at all to such sentiments of independence u,