Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1859-09-10
THE IN'TEI,I IGENCFR

E"Eee&Et, attended the Second ATlyerfiSFs C!oroI,
meeting, at Wilbraham, aud gives an account
OF sermon preached by Mrs. Mansfield. whom
ne describes as "a handsome young woman.
with short hair, bewitching bloomer dress,
Except the bloomer part) smart tongue and
strong voice.. Hereports that Mrs. Mansfield.
Sala she bad been urged, nay ttcascd, to speak
oy brethren who still did not believe women
ought to preach gor speak in meeting, and who
wouldn't compromise themselves so much as to
offer a prayer on her performance. She took
the bull by the horns, selecting as her text Paols
famous Corinthian COUNSEL
Let your women keep silence in the church
eS; Tor II is not permitted unto them IL speak:
out they are commanded to be under obedience
as a.SG sa1th the law:-And if they will learn
aahytnlng, let them ask their husbands at home;
church."
Mrs. Mansfield did not shield herself in the
plea that Paul was nervous old bachelor and
woman-hater, but met and overthrew him By
fair argument First, she offered the araunen.
tunl cd a6surdum and showed that if Paul
meant just what he said, and what modern
theology taught from this text, woman should
not sing and pray in the churches; that they
should not even go to the churches, but stav at
home and ask their husbands what was taught.
that those who hadn't any husbands, or whose
husbands were bockhcads, or wouldn't 90 to
meeting, would stand very poor chance FOR
religious knowledge and culture; and Curthcr,
that as Paul elsewhere instructs the women to
obey their husbands, those wives whose hus-
bands tell them TO prcachin the churches, as
hers did, were placed in an awkward predica-
ment, from which Paul himself had left no
escape. Then she followed him to his appeal
to "the law" and sowercd the audience with
cases and texts from the Ola aud New Testa-
ments, in Illustration or in favor of women
preaching After fairly Staying Paul on this
point, she said he didn't really mean what he
says, but was only giving some special counsel
to the Corinthian women, who were notorious
for asking questions in meeting, which led to
riots, to the great scandal ofthe church and of
Christianity. Mrs. Mansfield then branched off
on to the general subject of the equality of the
sexes. Her appeals for fair play for women
and to her sex to cease being the slaves and the
toys of the men, to eschew fashion aod fine
dressing (thcre was not a pretticr dressed wo-
man on the ground than the speaker, SAYS the
writer in the RepH6licna,l to cultivate physical
health, and elevate the sex, and thus the race
itself, to be in word the equal and the help
meet Of the man, were quite eloquent and circc.
tive. She thanked God her husband was not
one of those narrow, mean souls who want their
wives to be simply slaves in the kitchen or
ornaments in the parlor--(u (umcn,= shouted.he) =
but was willing to have her go along with. him
in the work oflifc;souletimes he led, then.agailr
she. did, and again they marched abreast, as
occasion and their capacities demanded Mrs.
Mansfield spoke extcmpore,. and her speech was
received with much apparent favor by the au-
diencc. The clergy broke in with frequent
''omens," and the shouters outside were not
modest in .testifying their approval The Re.
pu62ican's reporter thought big black Congo,
who stood up before the platform, shut his
eyes, and shouted in the deepest aud bas@st.or
double bass, in constant succession, such phrases
as "GOry to Cod" 90 the Lord is mighty"
''the good Lord is with us, and "This is Gods
trufe," while the sweat rolled off his Sface in
streams, took rather more than his share in the
services, and "put out'' the more modest re-
sponses.