Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1861-01-09

The dispatches ireq quehtiy teseife itoHu
The various workers in this cause contain but
little in the aggregate save encouragement
and Indications Of decided progress. The
details are voluminous and Interesting but
it is needless to give them. The history Of
this effort can be read 10 an the struggles the
world has ever witnessed between despotic
and liberal principles-it Is the antagonism
between q mistaken conservatism, and the
progressive tendencies Of an enlightened age.
Il is always difficult to make the ruler un-
derstand that the rights Of the subject are as
sacred as his; and e s,ill more arduous task
to make him mprehend that they are equal,
and exactly like his own. He has not been
made to feel that bis position IS q false one
and the wrong he is doing may be attributed,
more perhaps, to want oI thought than
want Of heart
In this enterprise, however, there is but
little positive controversy. Planting our
selves upon the fundamental principles Of our
government those who think they are oP-
posed TO us, yield our claims with discretion,
There is no prejudice Of caste or color
against Us; there is neither mental nor social
inferiori,y on the part Of those who demand
justice, hence evsFy argument turns upon
'spheren is the only string left to play
upon.
Now the sphere Of every human being Is
the place that be or she can ilI. Napoleon
said sThe tools to him who can use theui.'
How absurd it would have been to have made
Queen Elizabeth a honsekeeper when sht
was every inch statesman; or to have tied
Maria Theresa to cooking stove, when shs
was born commander. L is quite refresh
ing to turn from the cowardice and imbecil.
ity OF a Chief Magistrate, who has evidently
mistaken bis sphere, TO the vigorous admin.
istration Of women. Macauley thought that
James II. would have made good clerk in
navy yard, but was wholly unfit for q
throne, Success is the test Of sphere, whetheI
/ It be in the kitchen, or in the Cabinet; on
the farm, or on the rOstrum; in the workshop,
or in diplomatic mission. Mrs. Browning
tested her sphere by writing the best poem
| according TO Ruskin, that has been pro.
duced within a century. Brs. Summervills
| indicates her sphere by teaching science Il
the sauans Of our age. So do Mss Mitchell,
and others. Rosa Bonheur puts TO fight all
eavil about her sphere, by painting animals
better than any other artist if we except
Landseer; while the sphere OF many WO.
man, no human being can doubt who sees
her enjoying that higher life in the bosom oi
her own family, infusing her moral percep-
lions, and her sense Of justice into the yonng
and plastic minds around her, that they
may 90 forth to bless coming generations.
From the days of Pluto down to the pres
e1t there have been learned professors
among women, in astronomy, medicine, tbs
classics, rhetoric, music poetry, and Other
Departments. Proofs of this are abundant in
the records of all nations. Il is said that thI
raresl minds in England and Germany now
yield the point that woman Is equal with
/ man in intellectual endoWmenis. But thG
question is not one Of intellect still equality
! in this particular aids US, for those who prae
ticallF adopt the principle that might makes
right have a shadow Of Justification, in theii
own minds, for expressing m inferior class
The osiy point, however, at ISSUE is this
Is one human being created equal in uatura
rights to Othlr human beings2 No Fu'
American viii deny il il theory at least, ant
this places those who have no sympathy witt
Us at a wonderful Disadvantage; and theT
onr social position is such that It leaves nC
ground for them to stand upon. Those who
ask for Justice are their wives and sisters
their neighbors and friends. They are wo-
men who stand up in the dignity OF woman.
hood, and cali upon them either to discard
the popular doctrine that :. he who digs ths
gold out of the earth is entitled to i, snd
that against the universe, or else secure tt
woman BY statute all she may acquire. They
are thoughtful, earnest women Of all classes
from the laundress IN her plain attire 10 those
Whe wear velvet and ermine-the very same
beings to whom these men make gallant
speeches, aud to whose influence they otter
yield as the weather-vaae to the wind. ThesG
women ask Tor a legal right to the custody
and guardianship of their own children
They beg that if the strong arms upon which
they now rely shall be laid low, that they bC
not east off with che widows dover; and
they demand for women everywhere tbe
avs'ils of their own industry.
Sba. 4 / be told that I oTerstate the case
tbat wom % themselves are the strongest op,
posers n onr doetrinef tits frightful carl
cature fbev con, 'sad ngainst and many have
net eoIraes ii inv. 'siigase and see what it is
Some, unfortunately, q l,'es not rid themsslEe'
yet Of the idea that kl % As.ss y AssS.ie
work and the composition q : Ps'9ellls
should constitute their chief glos an !, Alel- 4
est ambition, and hence tksg dismiss TIE sub
ject. But no one. can for moment believe
that any woman, in her senses, does not de-
sire to possess the fruits Of her own toll th. II
she discards the right to the children Of her
love, and is satisfied with the miserable pro-
vision made for the widow. It Is true, then,
that whether women complain Of the SINUS
tiee uleted ont 70 them, whether they take
time to think Of it; or whether, with caustie
criticism Of our measures, they. Try to please
the other sex, that they need, and in their
hearts desire, all that we claim for them.
]. ELlzkBEFH JOINS
In publishing q letter from Ex-GOv. Chase