The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1869-08-06
Woman VS.. Ballot.

Woman Is not naturally n law maker.
Even In our homes she desires the head OF
the house to lay down the law. Never
shall forget the influence exerted by the
utterancc In convention Of Sabbath school
teachers. Apaper was read, complaining
that in certain Sabbath school there was
lady Superintendent, because no man
could be found to take the place. In con-
clusion, the writer said. 1--WE need a man
In our town. We have things that wear
pantaloons, but we need man. to give d.
rection to the school and to attract the no.
bier and better portion Of the community"
It was an honest declaration, and voiced q
truth. Every town, every Sabbath school,
every home, needs man. Women of
talent have tried to figure In politics and
In the pulpit, but sorry figure they have
made Of It.
1t is claimed that tho ballot will secure
for women social respect. The claim Is
not well founded. Those who seek It lose
social respect, because they step out Of the
path marked out for them by Providence
and by Nature. Woman, In her sphere, is
mans good angel and helpmeet; out of 1t,
she Is mans bitterest foe and heaviest
curse.
There Is q self.respect for woman In her
proper sphere, which Is Of itself power
superior to any that a woman can build up
for herself by her own hands, even through
the ballot.
How natural to see woman waited on by
man! Sir Walter Raleigh was praised be-
cause no cast his cloak into the mud to
save the foot of his queen from being
soiled. As noble dots have been performed
| by many men, times without number. The
uprising of gentlemen In the cars when q
tired woman enters with child; tho dis
position to tighten her cares and sweeten
her Joys, is everywhere considered manly.
Education Is essential for her. She Is
tho educator Of the home, for she Is Its
soul. II one must be ignorant, let It be
the man and not the woman. Many Of
our most intelligent men have had cul-
tured mothers. Very few sons ever grow
to be learned whose mothers cared not for
books. This fact Is appreciated, and leads
us naturally to conclude that II woman
lacks social respect It Is her own fault. II
woman prefers superfciality to thorough
ness; music. drawing. and dress, to the
knowledge of housework, an acquaintance
with literature, and the cndowments OF
common sense, simply because brainles,
men are disposed to seek out the frail and
efleminate In preference to the rugged and
wcll-endowed, then she must suffer the
consequences. Ifyoung ladies, compelled
to toll for support, will prefer the factory
and the store. with its hot air and deprcss-
ing associations, to the work In the home,
because she hopes in the store or factory
10 secure the hand and heart Of husband
sooner there than elsewhere, she must suf-
fer accordingly. But If women will unite
in securing reform In this dircction,-if
the pure and virtuous will say, such life
rs is offered me in the family Is in harmo-
ny with my future well-being, and will
scorn allurements elsewhere held out, and
fit myself, by study, for companionship
with the great and noble Of the land. she
will succeed. If woman will respect her.
self, she will be respected.
It's not by clamoring for rights that
have been conferred upon others; 1t Is not
by restless discomfort, by partisan appeals.
by stopping out Of her God-given sphere,
and by attempting to destroy the network
of holy influences by which he has ever
surrounded her; It is not by ridiculing
marriage and casting scorn on mother
hood. that she Is to obtain the blessings she
courts, but by TRANQUILITY laboring under
this heavcn-imposed law Of obedience.
Woman's weakness Is transmitted Into
strength when she opens her nature to tha
influence of love. and when she consccrnte
herself to the happiness Of others. Then
Il Is she obtains moral and spiritual pow
er to which man Is glad to do homage.
Ambition. pride, willfdlncss, or any earth
" passion will distort her being. She
struggles all In vain against divine ap-
pointment. It Is from the soul Of meek
ness that the true strength Of womanhood
/, derived, and II Is because II has It's root
In such soil that It has growth 50 majcs-
tic, showcring its blessings and fruits upon
The world.
Il was the sun and the rain that In the
fable that strove for tho mastery; and the
strife was for the travellers cloak. The
quiet moon had nought to do with such
ferco rivalry Of the burning or the blast;
but rs In her tranquil orbit she journeys
round the world. she gently sways the
lides Of tho ocean. Woman's influence TO
,embles tha. excrtcd by tho queen Of night
In the conflicts OF lise she has littis 70 90
but her influence Is felt from the o''''' va