The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1868-03-06
WOmdH's UrOHgS.

! Gail Hamilton's new book. WO-
mans Wrongs A counter Irritant, "
| just issued by Messrs. TicknOr & Fields.
| is destined, says the Boston AdrcrtiSer.
| to create great stir in the wOrldsas any
| of her former efforts.
| The work seems to be prompted by
| certain essays on WOman's Rights -
| by Rev. DIR. John Todd. which. with
sundry concentrations of them for " fe-
| Lefty of thought and expression have
excited Gail HamiltOn's honests wrath ::
and she tears their logic and rhetoric
| alike TO pieces with great deal of wit.
Perhaps the most notable specimen OF
| this Il her remark on DR.. TOdd's facul-
| ~ Of cOntradicting his own statements,
| a. follows:
Indeed his expertness in the latter
feat Is so great that he may be said to
have introduced a new form of PROPOSE
ton, the Kilkenny categorical, PROPOSE
tons which you have only to set side by
side and they Immediately set each 9TH
er up.n
The following paragraphs Will illus
trate Gail HamiltOn's slashing stvle of
dealing with an opponent. The words
IN quotation marks are cited from DR..
IOdd's essay:
on have seWlng-machines almost
hunlbelless, kn1ttlng-machines, wash
ing, ironing and churning machines
but never heard of one that was the
emanation of the female mind. Did
you? 1 suppose this power was denied
you, lest it should take you out of your
most important sphere, as l shall
show
g" suppose. So, then, DR.. Todd's
revelation was fragmentary as well as
that Of st. Paul who was obliged To in
terpolate, " to the rest speak l, not Othe
Lord
II might be said, if the question were
OF invention, that possibly one reason
why women have never been inventors
= that they have never been artisans,
but the matter l. truly irrelevant. Grant
ca that women cannot invent; granted
that the sparrow killed cock robin what
OF 1t? What connection is there between
the power of invention and wOman's
rights WOman's right means. perhaps
chiefly the right of suffrage. Does DR..
Todd maintain that inventive power il
necessary to the possession of the exer-
else Of that right? Does he mean to saw
that no man shall vote for town officers
TIL he has invented a sewing-machine?
vi ali the inventions Of our age-steam
ana telegraphlng and female nOn-appli-
cants-l never heard of one that was the
emancipation of Dr. TOdd's mind. Did
you? Shall DIR. Todd therefore be dis
franchised?
But, says DIR. Todd, with equal peril
nence. on cannot compete with
men IN a long course Of mental labor
Your delicate organization never has
and never can bear (anothcr happy
grammatical touch 1.-The study by which
you can become NewtOns. - and 80 forth.
No woman has ever stood by the side of
Phidias or Homer, and the girls best
training gives her less skill on the piano
than her brother attains with no train
ing at all.
Again what of it, When DR.. Todd
says so neatly, "And even in cooking
and IN millinery, a. is well known.
men must and do stand at the head o
these occupations We may infer that
millinery and cooking ought to be given
up to men-a proposition in which /
heartily concur when he asks. 'sDid
YOU ever know a woman who could en-
dure being a teacher till seventv-five. as
men often do - we may say under the
rose, 'and might in some cases till sew
enty-five thousand, for all the fatigue
their teaching need cause them - but
how does II all stand connected with
'woman's rights ?' Do Newtons and
and Raphaels alone choose rulers and
discern principles and pass Judgment
upon laws? How many Millions and
CanOvas does DR.. Todd reckon in his
congregation and how cheerfully do the
other members yield TO them a political
monopoly? If DR.. Todd should ever
come to the conclusion that he cannot
equal Shakespeare, Will he at once pro-
posestO give up One-third of his salary, /
and his whole right Of franchise?