The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1859-04-07

have puzzled the philosophy of the
sages for an Interpretation. In the
plaintive melodies of Heman and a
Landon: in the. vivid fire-lines of Char
lotte- Bronte, Jane Porter and Mrs.
Stowe, We hear the restless futterings
of imprisoned spirits: we hear the
unquiet longings of woman's soul for
that freedom which the God of nature
intended should be the heritage of
every intelligent being. ure
Since our high schools and colleges
have been opened to females it has
been demonstrated that there is no
difference in the capacities of the sexes
for mastering the most obstruse
sciences; and many females who have
entered these institutions have devel-
oped special talents for the different
masculine professions. In spite of all
we have already female
physicians of the first celebrity: we
have female orators, artists and divines;
and just throw open the door to politics
and we will have states-qoonaen who
will rival the names of Clay and Web.
ster. This idea is very shocking,
know, to the delicate nerves of preju-
dice ) yet l insist that God has quail
fed women for just such offices as
these, and what right has man to say
that these things are beyond her
sphere? Did nature make blunder
in bestowing such faculties on woman I?
Can you find any use for these special
talents within the present prescribed
limits assigned to her. Are they aca,ated
in the kitchen, nursery or drawing
room? To be acife, mother, or a
lady, does not reqnire special talent
for ordtOry, art, or medicine. If it did,
these talents should have been given
to all females alike. But as there is
just as much diversity of talent among
women as among men, it is rational
influence that God designed that wo-
mans occupations, mental and physi-
cal labors, should be rs varied and as
unlimited as mans. Some women are
peculiarly adopted to housekeeping;
they excel in that and can do nothing
else. There are others who have no
tact or taste for it, but acould excel in
some OF the professions, and have a
strong bent to some one of them, thus
plainly indicating that nature saw no
impropriety in woman's participating
in all intellectual pursuits.
But there are other considerations
more important than this. A majority
of the white inhabitants of these Uni
ted States are females : Republican
government, sir, in which the naajority
has no representation : a Republican
government in which the minority
make laws for the majority.
Now, Iwould ask, is woman human?
Is she an intelligent responsible being
Is she equally interested with man in
all civil and political affairs? Is she
as capable of casting an iatelyigent
vote, as are the ten thousand ignorant
Doors and ruffians who 90 every year
to the ballot-box? If she IS, then /
appeal to the shade of Washington to
know by what right she is excluded!
Perhaps it will be said that man and
woman are identified in the marriage
relation, and therefore it is necessary
that both parties should be represented.
But would any living man be willing
to have this rule reversed, and trust all
his interests to the legislation of zoo
man? Has man always proved him
self so ,oise, and just, and generous,
that he can be safely trusted to make
laws for the silent half of the nation
Look at the past. What have our
legislators done for woman? Why,
they have made her wholly dependant
upon man-given him exclusive control
of her property and earnings - denied
her any right or title to the earnings Of
her children, and left her utterly help
less and wholly dependant upon the
generosity and justice of her liege lord.
The consequences have been Tin ma
jority of cases) tyranny and oppression
on the part of the husband, and sorrow,
dependency and despair on the part
of the wife. 1t is a pitiful excuse to
say that the law compels man to
proride to, has soife, since women uni
labor quite as hard as men
and if the husband has not pu enough
to make living or has not the dispo-
sition to allow his family the comforts
of life, she has no kind Of security for
being supported.
But have not vet touched the main
point in this question. For the last
ten years We have been surfeited with
essays, tales and fine-spun articles of
all kinds, designed to illustrate the
mighty influence Of sconaa'a. Self
gentlemen scribblers have
assigned to her an almost boundless
empire: the destinies of the world
(they say revolve beneath her magic
wand. As an equivalent for civil and
political rights, they tell her that she
rules over the realm of social life and
acts indirectly upon politics and every
thing else. They tell about men being
''led by the silken cords OF love"-of
their being guided, purified. refined,
and SO forth, by " woman's gentle in
h,uence"-they expatiate largely upon
tne duties and responsibilities of
and would fain make us be-
lleve that woman is invested with al
most omnipotent power. and that
morality and well-being of the race are
entirely in her hands.
This is really pretty theory and
quite complimentary to our sex; and 7
really wish that the facts of every day
life did not fatty contradict it. But
where does this magic influence ope-