The Republican journal., 1871-05-04
Woman's Rights EstheticaIIy.

Woman's Rights FstheticaIIy.
We copy the following article from the
Galaxy for May, to which it is contributed
| by Junius Henri Browne. The aesthetics
of woman's life, or her perceptions of the
| beautiful and enjoyable, form so large an
accessory Of her existence naturally, that
it is no wonder that q writer of fine per
ceptons and cultivated taste should con
| slider her rights in relation to Them We
are sure that our readers generally, and
the ladies especially, will be thankful fol
the privilege Of its perusal.
Woman's natural rights are to love and
to be loved. Having these, it is very
questionable if she would ask or feel the
need of any other. Because she is depriv-
ed Of her natural rights by ancestral er-
rors, by the opposition Of destiny, by the
unkindncss of circumstances, or by the
| folly Of custom, it would seem that she
seeks to reestablish herself in her own es-
| timation by demanding rights which are
at once political and social. 1t is doubt
full ii any womanly woman wishes to or
can live higher than her heart Her heart
| is her true sphere, and if that be full, her
whole being is rounded with sympathy,
| sweetness and peace. Among all the
worlds this little globe of ours contains,
| the world of the affections is the purest
and most beautiful; and to it every worn
| spirit sometimes turns with u longing
which, amid all the ambitions and excite
ment of the other worlds, can never be
| wholly repressed. If this be so with man,
! how much more is it with woman, to
whom home and love are the poles of cx-
| istencc.
| Man values freedom, woman values af-
| tection, above everything else and with
her to be bound scntmentally is the
largest liberty. That he demands too
| much, and she too little, is commonly the
disturbing element in the union of the
sexes, and is likely to be until the nature
| of both is changed. Man and woman,
| although equal, are so radically different
| IN organization and temperament that it
| is only in exceptional instances they
thoroughly understand each other. She
| is SO much finer that there is almost
| always u large part of her spiritual nature
which he is forced to accept on faith.
| Though she reaches l,y instinct what he
| cannot reach Ivy reason, yet one side of
| his life is usually to her either mysterious
OF unknown. Could the two once tully
| get en- rapport, the weaknesses of the one
| would not be so nearly measured by the
| blunders of the other. They are interde-
| pendent; their influence is reciprocal; Il
| flaw here presupposes u dcIcc. there. Man.
beng stronger and lrcer, ought to be supe-
| rior, and might be were he not more material
and selfish. Nature, fortune, society, and
custom give him the advantage over his
sister, to whom his relation is such that
he must always be considered responsible
for her. Her folly is usually traceable to
his stupidity, and her errors are the result
of his transgressons. If she is not lovely.
| it is because she is not loved; and thus
she is robbed of her natural rights by no
fault of her own.
| When women are young, they are sup
! posed to be lovely, and they are likely to
| be if their birth and circumstances are in
| any way favorable. Youth is usually ac-
| companied by health and freshness, hope
and chcertlllness, faith and scnsibility;
and out of these is fashioned the poetry
| of humanity. Youth and loveliness
coeXist rs cause and effect; but it is most
| desirable that the latter should outlast
the former, and be dependent, if not on
| the same qualities, on their equivalents
The real test of woman's attractyeness
| begins with her marriage or her maturer
| years, and how she may endure the test
| it is the purpose of this essay to show.
| A woman seldom speaks or even thinks
! of her rights while the dewy agrance of
youth is upon her. She does not then
| doubt her capacity to be loved any more
| than she doubts her capacity to love.
She is an idealist, and she tondly believes
all her ideals will be met The views
and theories of those of her own sex who
clamor for their rights have neither inter-
est nor significance to her If fate be
kind and life be fair, she never learns
how much she has been wronged. By
and by, however, when the delicate
machinery Of her affections gets out of
order-when, in other words, her natural
rights are either neglected or invaded
she discovers for the first time that she is
Il creature of politics, and that missions
are potential.
1t is frequently asserted that woman
is not truly q woman until she is a wife
and mother; that all her charms and
virtues are doubled by marriage and ma
turity. This may be true, though the
side of celibacy has stronger arguments
than is generally upposed-arguments
| let us hope, drawn from the abuse of
wedlock and its consequences. Whether
true or not, however, depends wholly
upon the character of the marriage
Matrimony may be u curse rs well Us a
blessing, and the fitness or the unfitness
of those entering upon its conditions is
pretty certain to make it one or the other
| Wives are for the most part wives; hus-
bands are prone to be something more
than husbands, or something less. They
begin as lovers, grow into egotists, and
end as Indifferent masters and mere pro-
viders. They are quick to perceive the
waning charms of their partners and
the deepening prose of home; but they
are the last to discover that for such
unwelcome changes they themselves are
mainly answerable
The misfortune of many marriages is
that the husband wearies of or grows in
different to the wife, while she preserves
all the fervor of her first affection; tha
with maternity comes bondage for thu
woman; and that, in the course of a few
years, she sinks from her radiant fresh
ness and fragrant bloom into superin
J tendent of the nursery and a household
drudge. Usually after the first year o
} marriage, the growth of the wife cease
mentally and spiritually, since she has M
leisure for culture, and the cares an
anxieties of her state expel the gentle in
l tiuences and graces which composed he
charm. The third year is worse than TIN
1 second, and before five-and-thirty sh
8 looks like the mother of the fresh, swee
s girl she was when she went to the altal
8 The husband sees and sorrows over thi:
: but makes no effort to have it otherwise
He never accuses himself as the cause