Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1859-08-11
dinary line of her sex, from which she ought

, propr ieties, and restrictions, are. ] hav,
, ways the justest or most generous. have
: seen ladies', no longer either young or pret
; ty, shocked at the idea OF traversing
/, streets length at night, yet never hesitate
at being "fetched" by some female servant
, who was both yonng and pretty, and II
whom the danger OF the expedition, or o
the late return alone, was by far the greater
of the two. have known anxious mothers
who would not for worlds be guilty of the
indecorum of sending their daughters un-
chaperoned 10 the theatre or ball-and
very right, too!-yet send out some other
woman's young daughter, at eleven P. ,to
the stand for cab, or 10 the public house
for supply of beer. II never strikes them
that the doctrine of female dependence ex-
tends beyoad themselves, whom it suits SO
easily ,and 20 whom it saves so much trouble;
that either every woman. be she servant or
mistress. .seampstress or fine lady. should re-
ceive the "protection" suitable 20 her de-
gree; Or that each ought to be educated in.
to equal self dependence. Let US, at least,
hold the balance of justice even, nor allow
an over consideration for the delicacy of
our woman to trench on the rights, convent
ences, and honest feelings of another.
We must help ourselves. In this curious
phase of social history, when marriage is
apparently eeasing to become the common
lot, and happy marriage the most uncom-
mon lof of all, we must educate our maidens
into what is far better than any blind c.amor
for i'll defined "rights'-into what ought
always to be the foundation of rights-duties.
And there is one, the silent practice of
which will secure to them almost every
right they can fairly need--the duty of self
dependence. Not after any Amazonian
fashion; no mutilating of fair womanhood
men; but simply by the full exercise of every
faculty, physical, moral, and intellectual,
with which Heaven has endowed us all,
severalIy and collectively, in different de-
grees; allowing no one to rust or lie idle,
merely because their owner is woman
And, above all, let US lay the foundation of
all real womanliness by teaching our girls
frvm their cradle that the priceless pearl OF
decorous beauty, chastity of mind as well
as body, exists IN themselves alone; that a
single hearted and pure minded woman may
60 through the world, like Spenser's Una.
suffering, indeed, but never defenseless;
foot sore and sm;rched, but never tainted;
exposed, doubtless, to many trials. yet never
either degraded or humiiated, unless by her
own acts she humiliates herself.
For heavens sake-for the sake of "wo-4
manhede," the most heavenly thing ext to
angelhood, Gas men tell US when they are
courtng US, and which It depends upon
ourselves to make them believe in Ill their
lives)-young girls. trust yourselves; rely
on yourselves. Be assured that not outward
circumstances will harm you while you
keep the jewel of purity in your bosom, and
are ever ready with the steadfast. clean right
hand. Of which, till you use it, you never
know the strength. though it be only al
woman's hand.
Fear rot the world: it is often juster to us
than we are to ourselves. If in its harsh
jostings the ''weaker goes to the wall''-l
as SO many allege is sure to happen to e
woman-yon will almost always find that
this is not merely because o. her sex, but
from some inherent qualities in herself,
which, existing either in woman or man
would produce the result, pitiful and blam-
able, but usually more pitiful than blama Bile.
The world is hard enough, for two thirds of
it are struggling for the dear life-"each fori
l. ,,J - Jay oGa IL
bu, it has rough sense of moral justice
after ALL And whosoever denies that, spite
of hndrances from individual wickednesS,
the right shall not ultimafely prevail, ,impugns
not alone human justice, but the justice OF
God.
The age of chivalry, with all its benefits
and harmfulness, is gone by, for US women.
We cannot now have men for our knights
errant, expending blood and life for our sake
while we have nothing to do but sit idle on
balconies, and drop flowers on half dead
yctors at tilt and tourney. Nor, on the
other hand, are we dressed up dolls. pretty
p aythings, to be fought and scrambled for
--2etted, oaressed or flung out of the win
dow, as our several lords and masters NAV
please. Life is much more equslly divided
between us and them. We are neither
goddesses nor slaves; they are neither
heroes nor semidemons: we just plod on
together, men and women alike, on the same
road, where daily experience illustrates Hu-
dibras's keen truth, that
1.-THE va lue of thing
Is just as much as it will bring"
And our value is--exactly what we choose
to make it.
Perhaps at no age since Ewes, were wo
men rated so exclusively at their own per-
sonal worth, apart from poetic flat:ery or
tyrannical deprecistism; at no time in the
worlds history judged so entirely by their
individual merits and respected according to
the respect which they earned for themselves
And shall we value ourselves so meanly as
to consider this unjust! Shallwe not rather
accept our position, difficult indeed, ard re-
uuiring from us more than the world ever
required before, but from its very difficulty
rendered the more honorabel
Let us not be afraid Of men; for that,
suppose, lies at the root of all these amia-
BILE besi.a,ions. "Gentlemen don't like such
and such tliings." "GeDtlemen fancy so
and so unfeminine." NV dear little foolish
towards. Go you think man, good man,
in any relation of life, ever loves man
more for teverencing her less! or likes her
better for transferring al her burdens his
shoulders, and pinning her conscience to his