The Shasta courier., 1858-09-04
Woman.

spontaneously given at the semi-annual cee-
bration of the New York Historical Society, in
1854. by Theodore f. Tomlinson Esq. 1t was
delivered at the close of the feast, and after Mr.
Bancroft and the most celebrated orators had
spoken in reference to the most imposing regu-
lar toasts 1t was then that the President, Hon.
Luther Bradish, announced the last one thus -
Woman although last in our toasts, yet ever
first in our affections"
A smile passed over the faces of the grave
Swans, and with what might have been deemed
a sort of patronizing sneer, they looked towards
Mr.. Tomlnson, who was the youngest member
of them by many years, and called on him to
respond Mr. Tomlinson at once sprang to his
feet, and, it would seem, by the impassioned
vindication he made of the grandeur of his text,
that he Intended to administer a rebuke to the
sentiment which had waived the response to him
as a sort of Joke
WOMAN p if first in onr affections should
not Be last in our toasts She has fallen iuto my
arms, and will uphold her with all the chivalry
of the feudal ages Woman is Il theme worthy
of the poet or orator. Did not Homer, the
blind bard, sing of woman and when we read
of Hector, bearing thick battle on his sounding
shield, or holding aloft young Asiyanax, trem-
bling at his nodding plume, do we not revert to
the beauteous Heen-sad Androicache?
Did not our orator-historian to-day, from
pause to play celestial music to woman-did he
not say, that of all things beautiful of earth, the
vail of her spirit most beautiful that in
our hriery life she WAS the lily or-I forget, for
the flowers were all emnloGs; the gentle daisy
lifted up its head, the violet breathed newer
fragrance and the rose angrily blushed woman'S
pride, and womans loveliness. She is greater
than the historian; he but records the past she
makes history; her gentle hand bends the twig
hat rrir r1; fIa tbai inf,
brow she stamps the character oil the nation 1t
was only when luxury crept into the domestic
circle, and stained the fresiue, when there were
no Spartan mothers, no Roman matrons, that
Rome and Sparta fell.
Woman is the type of civilization in savage
life a slave in refined n queen What distin-
guishes this nation most, what impresses the
noble of other lands that the American is the
more delicate, the higher refinement, is, our
veneraton for woman. She can go, unharmed,
all through our vast country-her guardian an
gel, the spirit of the people.
cannot read the flture-the horizon is OBJ
scured-the armament is not clear. Who can
tell what will grow out of the conflicts of the
Old World and the anxieties of the New? This
/ believe, that as long rs the American People
preserve their respf ct for woman, and respect
follows worth, the American Republic will live.
This knor that if the mothers of the nation
are gOOu anu pure, tue Sons OF lue nation Will
be strong and free.
Woman Empire is thy hand. Lead forth
from beyond the mountains, from the far Pacific,
out of the virgin bosom of the peerless West the
young States, and they will come to our Union
as mighty as our own, without canker to con-
sumo their youth, without a cloud to larken
their destiny.
Power in arms, or song, or eloquence, has
made man immortal. His very origin enshrined
the music of Milton. Woman's is greater than
his. Man is made of the dust of the EARTH wo-
man of the image OF God She is supreme good
or evil. Did not Cleopatra lead captive, con-
querors Who but Eve could have DESTROYED
Paradise, where day was ecstatic joy, and night
came as the approach of gentle music where
the 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 angel of the De-
stroyer, still her name is stamped on the deca-
lcgue, Honor thy father and they mother
What eloquence so exquisite as Ruth's, Thy
people shall be my people, and thy God my
Godr
In song who more impassioned than Sappho?
in prophecy who more inspired than Miram
with harp and timbrel, by the shores of the
sounding sea?
Her destiny overshadows mans-his fate
lrempleS In nerS- Napoleon tore from Its heaN-
en- his morning star, Josephine and St. Helena,
in retributon. erose i'll the ocean.
Did not Mary, the mother of Washington
fashion his great mind and breathe her stainless
purity into his greater heart?
More eloquent than tongue can tell, more
glorious than pen write, are the simple
words: Mother, Daughter, Sister, Wife 'Mo-
ther'-how sweet from the lips of the geeful
girl how holy from the trembling voice of age
To the dying captive, to the bleeding soldier to
the great man, to the malefactor on the scaffold,
thy name Mother comes radiant with the
light of young Eden days!
Wife is thy better self; Sister, thy loveiest
peer; Daughter sunshine dancing on thy knee.
In teathen mythology Joye was the parent Of
wisdom, that sprang goddess, all create from
his immortal mind 10 Christian religion, the
Virgin was tie mother of our Lord
Woman has ever been divine With the an
clients, the symbol of plenty, of beauty. of purity
and wisdom. Minerva all perfect Ceres. with
her sheaf Of wheat, Diana with her bended bow.
Venus arising from the crowning foam of the
great sea- With us. of the New Testament. she
has been chosen as wife and diuehter for the
expression of miracle-at the marriage feast
when the water blushed 10 wine and when he
bade the daughter of Janus arise and walk
Faith, Hope and Charity abidetli most in her
who touched but the hem of His garment and
was made whole; and in the widow, who. with
her mite. gave most to her Lord
Yes, Woman is divine How many prisons
ascend to thee, Virgin Mary. Woman is divine
even in her fall. DO yoa not remember that our
holy Lord bowed TO the EARTH wrote upon the
sand, and would not look upon her shame, her
degradation, or her punishment