Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-05-01

tloo'hk VI eho pohsi Pio'iuou ohe hou
changed her mind.
[Cries Of "Tea, tea,' and all the
tweaty three kinds drank at once.
Miss Stamford sat down amid enthu-
siastic whispers, and a general arrange
ment Of dresses before the mirrors.
Mrs. Elizabeth Virgins then offered
the following preamble and resolutions
WHEREAS, Ii has pleased Nature, and
Nature being feminine, we for the present
philosophically submit, to create us
women, we have such innumerable woes
we despair of their ever being healed.
But, being women, we protest against
the fact, and pledge ourselves to the re-
demption of the error on the part OF
Nature, no doubt kindly intended, but
still an error, at the earliest practicable
hour; be il therefore
Resolped, That we won't be women
any longer than we find it expedient
that we have borne the indignities and
burdens of our sex long enough, and that
we demand radical change.
Resolped, That we regard the apathy
OF man on the great subject of our wrongs
as the best evidence of his unlitness to
govern himself
Resolped, That we are the cause Of the
world, the origin of the race, and that we
will not be put down while pens can
write and tongues can wag
Resoiped, That we are Indignant, very
indignant, and intend to stay indignant,
until we feel inclined to be pleased.
A sweetfaced girl, of barely sixteen,
arose and requested permission to offer
another resolution, which was to this
effect:
Resolped, That we women, who have
knowledge of the world, and who UNDER
stand men thoroughly, must resist any
and all of their attempts to encroach
upon and tyrannize over us; that we will
withheld ourselves from public, az well
as private life, until men see fit to accord
to us, without the smallest curtailment
the rights we Inherited from our Mother
Eve.
A slight murmur of discomfort was
heard as the little lady read the resolu-
ton in very dramatic tone, with fash
ing eye and pouting lip, that strongly
reminded one of humming bird in fit
of choler. She then added: ~ see my
resolution does not meet with universal
approval; but the true women present
will support it, | know. 1t well enough
for school girls to look upon the condition
of woman sentimentally, and hope for a
poetic future that will never come 1t
bshooves us to act, not to indulge in pur-
pie ideas. / have suffered, and am
strong. | have found how selfish and
false and wicked men are. The man be-
trayed the first woman, because she loved
him, and so will all his race to the end Of
time. have made up my mind never to
bestow my woman's heart upon the son
of Adam. | shall devote myself to the
good of my much-wronged sex. | have
renounced love and happiness as re-
nounced the plaything of my childhood.
Henceforth and forever stand for prin-
ciple, and principle alone"
A vote was taken upon the first series
of resolutions, which we're passed with
one dissenting voice, that of the sage six
teen.
Mrs. Janette July then obtained the
floor, and stated that some difference of
opinion had arisen in regard to the pro-
priety of admitting men into the club.
She had no particular objection herself,
if her co.laborers were willing, for it
might be convenient to have men present
to escort them home if their meetings
should chance to be protractcd after dark.
She doomed it best to lay the subject
before the meeting and have it discussed.
Miss Luna Cory thought it would be
we'll enough to wait until the men ap-
piled for admission. Though man was
an Annie-mal, he was not Annie mated
before he married Anna at least, and
her opinion was he was more NAL than
anything else. Women had been hur,
ried before the juggernaut often enough,
but she was inclined not to be hurled
there, Jug or not This might be crisis
in their fate, but she was not cry sis
herself, let others of her sisters weep as
they might. She proposed that all action
in the matter be deferred until men ap-
plied formally for admission to the Blue
stocking Association. Probably those
who were members of hose companies
might be eligible, but she couldn't see
how others we're.
Mrs. Isabella Calbert said 1--WE are ena-
bled to report her verbatim): while
the simmer of the golden day leaves
untouched the amethystine borders of
the poetic evening, let us in sober coun-
sci reveal our inner lives of the precious
burthen of their mystery. Men are good
and noble in their way; but here they
have no place. The best and truest
women have no need of man. They
dwell like the beautiful wild flowers in
undiscovered lands, blooming and fra
grant for themselves alone, content to
catch the beams Of the silvery stars that
shine down like the eldest gods into the
soft depths of their isolated being. Wo-
man is a poem, beginning and ending |
with herself Her life is rounded like a |
perfect tune, and her only discords are
when man breathes on the soul-drawn |
chord of her sensitive being
"Women have been higher and lovelier
than the men from the beginning. AS
pasta, wondrous in her beauty, the
Pythoness of utterance and oracle OF
all speech, held classic by the heart until
it throbbed with grace and melody
the ancient globe. Even
Socrates sat at her divine feet, and the
sternest cynics longed for the faintest
odor Of her perfumed hair. Hypatia,
magnetic, miraculous, glorious, thrilled
Paganism with marvellous speech, and
subordinated gentle Christianity to the
power of her eloquence. She died, too,
for her Greek philosophy, and cruel men,
in the name Of God, tore the beautiful
priestess Of classicism TO pieces, lest her
ballowed lips should destroy their un-
picturesque creed forever. All history
Is filed with women, often the superiors
of men in life and art. Cleopatra con-
quered the conquerors Of the world;
Joanna Baillie wrote tragedies strong as
Shakespeare Elizabeth Barrett Brown