The Portland daily press., 1869-10-05
DAILY PRESS.
Tuesday Morning, October 8, 1869.
"Wcnaan's Rights. ;,
PORTLAND

While "Woman's Rights are eareerine ON
the toDmOst wave, threatening annihilation
TO every precedent there Is imminent danger
of one fact being ignored, namely: the right
of every child to a good mother. III women
are so jealous for their countrys good let
them remember there are other and nobler
ways of securing it than by trailing thelr
skirts through the seething polluted maei-
strom of politics and the poll. Let the work
begin in the nursery, nav in the first throb OF
the mothers heart. ... o. .lIH lI
What the country needs is mothers, was
the cry wrnng by experience and observation
from the proud lips of Napoleon. Ali the
stern old warrior had caught at least one gleam
of true philosophy. He knew the fashionable
'mammas," with dwarted minds and feeble
bodies lacked the stamina requisite for the
perpetuatiOn of noble principles and good
government. Perhaps he saw that had there
been more mothers in the beginning OF the
eighteenth century, the ''reign OF terror. had
never cursed his country, or blackened the
page of history with the horrors OF the french
Revolution. -....... ..Ue- Yl.. -' .
Not less noao than when the above senti-
ment was uttered, does the world need moth
ers,-mothers who have quaffed richly from
the fountain of life, whose souls are imbued
with wisdom from the inexhaustible Fount,
who realize the glory and magnitude OF their
work and the capacity of the immortals COM
O. N
mitted to their e,-mOtheIs who VIII I'M
part strong physical natures and well-balanced
minds to their offspring. The world is iull OF
the unterfeit,-fashionabl ladies with hui
man dolls, which on state occasions are per-
mtted to grace the festivities on par with the
family plate and Bohemian glass, their little
figures reminding you of a walking advertise
ment for innumerable seamstresses. .r.,..-
Poor little motherless children, with pret-
ty Iddy for mamma, and hireing substitute
for the only good gift the world could ever of
fer you! Truly you need some companion 10
vindicate your long-abused rights, which,
amid the conflict of sexes, are alike forgotten
by'each. l 1i nr~e t'aaT t.
We think circumstances justify us in new
version of at least one passage OF Scripture,
and in ceasing to be anxious about the
"latheTs," (of whose whereabouts we have an
inllling), let the cry arise, "the mothers, where
are they?' As a class, they surely are not in
their true position,-mOuldiDg the plastic
mind into foims of nobleness and grace. Why
do we see so many sons and brothers straying
from the paths of rectitude,-so many the
slaves Of intemperance and RIGHTEOUSNESS?
Mothers, are your hands innocent OF the
blood of your sons? Did you imprint the
signet of purity upon the forming minds9
| Did you warn them against her wiles whose
| steps go down to death p Did you teach them
| to abhor the wine-cup, and all that could in
toxicate? Have you taught them the great
lesson of selfgoyernment, and obedience TO
God? .r.T fs.r. .aIF a...I....... I.......
Had every mother been faithful in the dis
charge of her maternal duties, the cry for
suffrage to redress her wrongs had never
arisen, nor the world turned upside down in
quest of ''woman's sphere" As she lost it
in Eeglecting her duties, she will find it only
by returning to them. The quickest, surest
way to reform society and the world is to re-
form the mothers. Let them instil pure
patriotic principles in the minds OF their sons,
If they would Danish corruption from the leg
| islative halls. Let them acknowledge and
| confer every right to which their children are
entitled, II they would enjoy the rights their
station requires and justice demands. Let
| the mothers take care of their sons and the
ballot-box will take care Of them and their
| rights, too. l 59n7.UH- 'HHi -.'.'' r''i
There are many, many noble mothers
| whom we venerate as visitants from purer
| clime,- ,-mothers who have given the world
| its best, wisest and most useful citizens
| mothers who have shrunk from none of the
| duties, and faithfully discharged the respon-
| sibilities of life. Surely their reward will be
great. Mothers, guard well the tender plants
| you are rearing. Let the expanding buds
| unfold their petals in pure atmosphere, re-
| dolent with love and kindness. Remember
| you are the sculptors OF statuary for eternity,
and no incision upon the statue can ever be
effaced-RNrdl Nelp Yorker. 1858 "nl "'t-'