The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-03-02
1C8APTER ABOUT WOMEN.
And E.peeIanr, A ,n:.. American "o-
nm, u. pror.d<'.ae Or I, Journal.

IN its dealings with its members that il
is extremely unjust. Woman is capa-
BILE of judging impartially only when
criticising men.
Man in estimating woman is incapa-
bic Of doing her justice. In his ignor-
ence, his awkwardness and self-conceit,
he forever exaggerates, ignores and fall
sitiesiall that makes her woman. Mich
elet- physician, poet, and philosopher,
wholly fails in recognizing the higher,
sex he SO profoundly worships and so
I POLITICALLY analyses. To him she ap-
pears weak, wounded, and sensitive
| being, impreSsionable beyond measure,
/ but incapable of endurance, and want
| ing in mental strength. She is doll, a
/ pet, an idol, but not a woman,-not-
I spirit pure and bright
VIII something of an angel light,
no companion in the strife of life, no
help-meet for man who has to do a
\ mans work.
Proudhon makes women in all things
the Inferior; he will allow no equality,
no companionship.
On the other hand, the poets, the
| fools, and the tops have so without rea-
son, truth or good faith, exalted woman
that between the two extremes neither
man nor woman has fairly Judged her,
nor properly treated her. To come at
once TO the practical working of So
ciety, how does woman deal with
| woman, and how does man behave to-
4 wards her? Society, female influence,
that is to say, for in society woman
rules. sets up its temples with more
| courts than graced that of Solomon,
and enthroned in the holy of holies is
the Council of Ten, which does not dis
| pense justice, but promulgates edicts.
| And the password is fashion.
| We have said that above all Ameri-
can women are to be pitied. In the old
/ world, caste is so recognized that
woman has only 10 struggle against the
| peculiar temptations, trials and embar-
easements pertaining to a well defined
and usually narrow sphere; butin this
| country, where theoretically we have
| no ranks and no classes, but practically
the most senseless and tyrannical of all
castles, that of wealth, woman has to
fight not only those in her own condi-
ton in life, but is eternally tormented
/ with an insane ambition to climb into
a SO called higher circle. Almost
as the man possessing an income of
a thousand a year would be ashamed
of himself as he would be des-
4 pissed by others il he aped The expen-
ditures or style of man having an
income of five thousand, SO his wife
and daughter have only to seek and
only to maintain their righttul position
in that class to which they belong.
That even they find sufficient occasion
for the exercise OF pride, envy and all
uncharitableness, is only saying that
they are women, but at least they are
spared the tribulation of keeping up
appearances with those whose hus-
bands have got suddenly rich, or the
awkwardness and ridicule OF PRETEND
ing to be familiar with that politeness
which Is the result alone of high breed
ing and natural good sense. With us
on the contrary the almost entire alb
. samoa nf 6iGtinRF a -,
/ grades of society, and the constant
4 communication between the towns and
the country, render the life of woman
as unsettled as it is unsatisfactory. The
good housewife in the country or small
village, to whom, shut out from the
cities and the fashion plates, her half
yearly bonnet, and her black silk-dress,
with summer gown, would be all
sufficient for all social purposes, finds
In her visit to her city cousins, and in
the perusal of the town fashions, at
once an invitation and a snare. She
finds her appropriate, well-mada and
scrupulously neat dress, month be-
hind the mode, and-she were not wo-
man else-it becomes to her hideous, a
mark of inferiority, shame and dis
grace, and instead of wearing il boldly
and making the best of ii, she fancieS
AS did Hester Prynne in regard to the
Scarlet Letter, that it attracts all ewes
and is the symbol of her feminine de-
| grada ton.
All this arises from the fact that we
are in a transition state. We have lost
the simplicity of rural life, and we have
not reached the condition OF self-poised
culture. Women dress for tile streets
and for the cars as though thew were
going to the opera, and they have in
the matter of attire as little idea of the
fitness Of things as the graduates of
young ladies' boarding schools have of
making or mending their own gar
lnents, or of cooking a dinner
The Duchess of Athol, one of Queen
Victoria's favorite ladies of honor. and
one of the most beautiful ladies in Bri-
tain, was accustomed to receive the
compliments of the women in the VII
cinity of the ducal mansion, in the
simplest attire, and was quite compe-
tent to converse intelligently with them
about the affairs with which thew had
to deal. Indeed she rented a farm of
the Duke himself, and made no small
amount OF money yearly In carving il
| on. She had her grieve indeed, as did
other farmers, but the control was in
her hands and 1t was a real control.
| How manv of our fine ladies would be
able to make fifteen thousand dollars a
year by farming7 H -E.-la ..
Our women are not self-sufficient.
They are arrogant enough, more than
exacting enough, not proud, but vain,
and terribly eEigedHt, but thew are neil
Their self-dependent nor self.poised.
They depend for their supremacy, NOT
upon their ability to interest and in
struct men of sense, but upon the yeri-
est superficialities in conversation, and
the graees of costume. They can nei-
| ther cook a meal of vIctuals for their
husbands, nor talk to him about books:
their knowledge of the world is confin-
ed to the stories in the Led0eT and the
airs OF the operas which they have been
] IOl0 are DpAntifnl FHhay hax
strong opinions but no Judgment. and
as the witty Frenchman said that Eng
land had hundred religions and only
one sauce, SO we may say of American
women that they possess fifty petit
coats to one practical idea. = =.
In speaking thus roundly, we do not
forget nor fail to admire that class of
women, not yet wholly extinct, which
find in home its highest enjoyment,
and In industry and economy its great
est satisfaction. In the modest housa
\ of the mechanic and small trader. the
! wife is often as winning ana lovely as
she is prudent, sagacious and helpful.
With cheerful temper and an unflil-
ing hope, sheis the aid, the consolation
aup the joy of the husband, who is
amply repaid for his daily labor by the
light of her smile, and the encourage
| ment OF her words. Neat, tasteful and
industrious, her household is WELL
ordered, and her countenance as bright
| as the spring violets. Cheerful as the
early blossoming crocus, she invests the
humolest abode with radiance SPLEEN
dor never beStows; and her good uature
is richer Investment than damask
curtains, as her sterling integrity is a
surer resource for happiness than a
heavy balance in bank. 80
Nor do we say that in that upper
sphere of silver plate, and sparkling
CRYSTAL there are NOT to be found tbosS