Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1867-09-20
WOlllan'S Rights.


per some extracts from articles by Rev. John
Todd. ID. d., in which he expresses consider
.ble concern lest women should get out 0i
their sphere into the proper sphere of meii
should become :. independent and sef-sup-
porting should become the :. head "i
human society," and not the :. heart of the
world The Reverend Doctor grows quite
warm in his discussion. and seems t. have
worked himself into a fever of apprehension
lest the dear, helpless creiture>-ss IL: ~ =
IDENTIFY holds they ought To be-sh"uid forget
all about their sphere" should neglect II
he 50 good wives mothers aud crowns Of their
families and all that sDrt of thing. aud
should 80 unscx themseIse, IT. to become
= independent and self-supporting- T..rr-
are not many women. we imagine. wlIv " III
he obliged t. the Doctor for thus insisting.
that they remain always dependent and help
less MANY of the noble women VIII" hH, t
contributed largely and successfully To the
hest litcra tur, of this generation. ought not
- be hastily denounced for doing unlady
like an action a. q count their incomes by
thousand. or suffer their husbands to count
it for them In millions of homes the l,rn-
dence thoughtfulness care and constant Ia
Dor of wives and mothers and daughters
have accomplished scarcely less than the
work of the - lords Of creation. to secure,
and adorn the home, and save little of the
small annual profits To add To the slow accu-
mutations Of wears which constitute much
If he II he t.lrm .,nI -
Of the country What has DIR. Todd accom-
pIshed with the brains and muscle of Il man
i'll influencing or mastering the world, or in
independence and self-support, in comparison
with what Mrs. Stowe has wrought with her
woman's brain and hand? Art, science, lit
erature learning, all bear witness that wom-
an is capable of the highest achievements
Of cultivated intellect and taste, and achieve
Inents which make her abundantly :. indie
pendent and self-supporting- and will this
reverend writer denounce all such being
what - God never designed them to be -
We have now thousands of women teach
er. in the schools of the country. most of
them among the very best instructors we
have. and every year the doors of other
school-hOuses are opening to them are all
these teachers working contrary to Gods de-
sign. and endeavoring to defeat the providen-
tial order of the universe?
DIR. Todd seems to forget that W oman .
Rights have been in all ages much a matter
of custom 1t is the boast of our civilization
that it has raised woman from the position
Of a servant into that of companion and
equal whose wishes and opinions and tastes
and happiness 10 he consulted a. well as
our own. Some nations and tribes still hold
10 the contrary notion. and still make wom-
an Il plaything or slave but the general
sentiment. in our country at least, counts
her as having equal rights although the
laws which thus far men have the monopoly
IF manufacturing. have not quite reckOned
this as her legal status. Progress is, how
ever. being daily made in the right direction
Legislators have been persuaded to enact
statutes by which wife has secured 10 her
certain rights of property and home which
the husband cannot ALLEVIATE. The law does
not shut her out of the professions, vet, I'M
fortunately. the preiudice- Of the DR.. Todds
of this generation have not been yet sufh-
GENTLY softened to generously welcome her
into every department Of labor whose duties
she is willing to undertake. \ few have be-
come skillfsl physicians, and have been joy
fully received into many homes where their
tender and delicate ministrations have proved
their peculiar fitness for many of the offices
Of healing and saving those smtten with
disease The right of woman to teach is no
longer questioned by anybody. and she does
great part of this work--and it Will
he acknowledged as by no means the least
important work Of our times. The good
sense Of the age is gradually approaching d
comprehension of the fact that there is
scarcely any field of intelligent labor for
which woman is not naturally lifted, and
women are employed in Il hundred avOcatons
where not many years ago they We're restrict
ed mainly to domestic service.
And what if woman is not fitted for much
of the rough drudgerv of life-are all men
fitted for it? Would DIR. Todd he exactly
equal to CARRYING nod with a stout Irish
man? And because he cannot, is that any
Todd should not? Because Dr. Todd takes
up the profession Of minister must he also
fit himself To - stick swiae?" Must every
one who writes for newspaper be able TO
KNOCK down oxen = or = 90 to the Arctic
Ocean? = or - drive logs ~ - or he a g soap
boiler?" or any of the other things which
the Doctor asserts a woman must lie IL she
tries to be anything else than crown of her
family? All men not fitted for the same
business any more than women are fitted for
the most laborious employments of life, but
nobody thinks of resting mans right to vote
upon his muscular strength, his lack Of
delicacy. Mans right TO vote, if he has any
such right naturally-and those who have
been claiming that right for negroes believe
there is such natural right rests upon the
fact that he must have the ballot OF he has
security for anything which governments
can give or take away. And the rig ht of
woman to vote, when she seriously asks that
right, can not be refused without greater
injustice than that which refuses the ballot
to uninstructed negroes.
TwOXoarsS Md otter