The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-03-28
The shrlelsing si.terhOOd.

We by no means put it forward as On orl-
ginal remark when we say that Nature uoes
her grandest works Of construction In silence,
and that all great historical reforms have been
brought about either by long and quiet pre-
paration, or by sudden and authoritative
action. The inference from which is that no
great good has over been done by shrieking,
that much talking necessarily induces good
deal of dilution, and that fuss is never an
attribute of strength nor coincident Win
concentration. Whenever there has been
very deep and sincere desire on the part OF
a class or an individual to do thing, II mas
been done, not talked about where the uesHe
is only half heated, where the Judgment or
the conscience is not quite clear as to the de-
zirableness of the course proposed, whore the
chief NEGATIVE is love of notoriety and not
the intrinsic worth of the action itself
personal kudos, and not the good Of cause
or tbe advancement of humanity--tken there
has been talk, much talk, hysteriesl excite
ment, q long and prolonged cackle, and heaven
and earth called to witness that an egg
has been laid wherein lies the germ
of future chick--with proper incubation.
Necessarily there must be much verbal agita-
tion if any measure is to be carried the full
,crum of which is public opinion. If you have
to stir the dry bones you must prophesy to
them in loud voice, and not leave off till
they have begun to shake. Things which
can only be known by teaching must be
spoken Of, but things which have to be done
are always better done the less the fuss made
about them; and the more steadfast the action,
the less noisy the agent. Purpose is apt to
,exhaIe itself in protestations, and strength is
sure to exhaust itself by hux of words. But
at the present day what Mr.. Carlyle calls the
Silences are the least honored of all the minor
gods, and the babble of small beginnings
threatens to become intolerable. We all
- l.... NlNn 80
not conducive to mental vigor. 1t is as if we
were to set a plant to grow with its heels in
the air, and then look for roots, flowers, and
fruit, all by the same process of excitation
and disclosure.
One of our quarrels with the advanced
women of our generation is the hysterical
parade they make about their wants and their
Intentions. 1t never seems to occur to them
that the best means of getting what they
want is to take it, when not forbidden by the
law-to act not to talk; that all this running
hither and thither over the face of the earth,
and feverish unrest, and loud acclaim is but
the dilution of purpose through much speak
ing, and not the right way at all; and that to
hold their tongues and do would advance
them by as many leagues as babble puts
them back. small knot of women, 'ter-
ribly in earnest, could move multitudes by
the silent force of example. One woman
alone, quietly taking her life in her own
hands, and working out the great problem of
self-help and independence practically not
merely stating it theoretically, is worth
score of shrieking sisters frantically
calling on men and gods to see them make an
effort to stand upright without support, with
interludes of reproach to men for the want of
help in their attempt. The silent woman
who quietly calculates her chances and mea-
sures her powers with her difficulties SO as to
avoid the probability of idscO, and who
therefore achieves a success according to her
endeavor does more for the real emancipation
of her sex than any amount of pamphleteer-
ing, lecturing, or petitioning by the shrek
ing sisterhood can do. Hers is deed not
defamation, proof not theory and it carries
with it the respect always accorded to sue
cess.
And really if we think of it dispassionately,
and carefully dissect the great mosaic of hin
ORANGES which women say makes up the pave
ment of their lives, there is very little which
they may not do if they like-and can. They
have already succeeded to great extent in
opening to themselves the practice of medi-
cine, for one thing, and this is an immense
opening if they know how to use it, A few
pioneers, unhelped fort most part, steadily,
and without shrieking, stormed the barri-
cades of the hospitals and dissecting-rooms
heroically bearing the shower Of hard
mouthed missiles with which they
were pelIeu, ana successfully forcing
their way notwithstanding. But
the most successful of them are those who
held on with least excitement, and who strove
more than they declaimed while others, by
constitution belonging to the shrieking sis
terhood, have comparatively failed, and have
mainly succeeded in making themselves
ridiculous. After some pressure, but very
little cackle-for here, too, the work was
wanted, the desire real, and the workers in
earnest-female colleges on a liberal and ex-
tended system of education have been
established and young women have now an
opportunity of showing what they can do in
brain work. 1t is no longer by the
niggardliness of men and the fault
of an imperfect system if they
prove intellectually inferior to the
stronger sex; they have their dynamometer
set up for them, and all they have to do is to
register their relative strength, and abide the
issue. All commerce, outside the Stock Ex-
change, is open to them equally with men;
and there is nothing TO prevent their becom-
ing merchants as they are now petty traders,
or setting up as bill brokers, commission
agents. or even bankers which last profes-
sion, according to contemporary, they have
actually adopted in New York some ladies
there having established o bank, which, SO
lar as they have yet gone, they are said to
conduct with deftness and ready arithmetic
In literature they have competitors in men,
but no monopolists. Indeed, they themselves
have become almost the monoRolists of the
whole section of eight literature" and fic-
ton; while nothing but absolute physical
and mental incapacity prevents their taking
the charge of journal, and working it with
1eInale editor sub-editor, manager reporters.