Middletown transcript., 1869-08-28

John Stuart Mill,-J. B. Lippincott x
Co. publishers, philadelphia. I
We have received, from the publishers,
copy Of this work, which treats Of a sub
ject which is entering largely into the po-.
litieal discussions Of the times, and takes
hold upon The very foundations and frame
work Of socief The author is man
whose netoriety for one.ideaism, will prob
ably prevent his views from having that
weight which the subject treasd deserves,
The reformatory movement commonly des-
ignated as !. Woman's Rights" has been
90 indiscrcetly managed by those in charge
of il, that ridicule and disgust are the feel
ings chiefly inspired and generally UPPER
most, whenever the subject is mentioned.
But the inquiring mind of the searcher
after truth will approach the iBscstigation
oft for truths sake, discarding everything
like prejudice, and examining it upon its
merits alone. The subject began to be
considered b.lf a century ago, and the first
public meeting in reference to it took place
rs far back us 1920 From that period
until the present, meetings have annually
been held in fartheranee of its objects. but
the insane babblings of notoriety seekers
and hobby-riders among the "strong-
minded" as they have been contemptu-
sously termed, have thrown so much dis
credit upon the subject, that neither men
nor women, without the circle of these
takers for notoriety's sake, would bestow
any serious thought on it. Hence little
advancement has been made in the inves-
tigation to which the public mind has been
90 pcrsistently invited Nor will Mr..
Mills book do more than awaken addition
81 reelection upon the subject. His logic
10 not of that convincing kind which
carries conviction in its train He treats
the question entirely from British stand
point, and his arguments were evidently
written exclusively for the British public.
For instance, he speaks of man, through
cut. ss the ''master" of woman Now
the correlative of master, is servant ar
idea totally repugnant to the American
mind, where woman is concerned. Here
woman is loved and revered and no mat
ter what her legal status, she is enshrinet
in our heart of hearts. Society is so con
stituted, with us, that she is all that sh
could be, were she not only invested wit
the suffrage, but sole maker of the law
for her own government. True. she lives
whether as femme sole. or femme coatsertt
under what Mr.. Mill calls certain q disa
bilities." legally considered; but publ
opinion is such, that there is thrown a
round her. in all situations; and in all th
relations of life, sure ward and protection
Nevertheless. we would 60 so far with MI
Mill as to make her the equal of man befo,
the law, in SO far as the rights of perso
and property are concerned. This much
dueto justice, as wellas to guard against IL
possibility of wrong to woman through th
delinquency of men who are beneath th
ordinary moral standard. And there al
such cases. occasionally, with all our re-
erenee for woman, although society inv
riably makes outcasts of such as offend,
this particular, against its plainest rcquir
mcnts. But, it is not necessary to gi
her the suffrage, to make her mans equ
before the law That can be done, a,
rM be done, through legal enactment.
mans own yolition We would not wi
10 sec her WELD the ballot, because
would not see her standard of cxeellen
and ioycliness lowered, or her purity s,
lied. by participation in public affail
We would not have our idol thrown do,
and desecrated, or its beauty marred,
the sake of an abstraction. The idea
thc equality Of the sexes is fallacy M
is physically stronger, and by parity
reasoning, mentally stronger also. B
this detracts nothing from woman, who
mans superior in the strength of her
fections, her intuition, the tenderness
her scnsibilities, and her purer and nj
refined nature. These more than comp,
safe her for the absence of the strony
but coarser and grosser qualities of m
culinity. The sticklers for the equality
the sexes, and for woman's rights" :"
understood and claimed by their blat
advocates. would do her most egregi
mreag. il their logic were carried out
its legitimate conclusions. 1t would
dow bsr With the same physical and M
81 foreo as man. and impose upon her
ssme duties. She would be required
sisld the axe. the spade. the plane, and
nloW. to do military duty. to serve