The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1871-08-01

FOR WOMEN ONLY.
elizabeth Cady stanton on Mar
riage and Maternity.

From the San francisco Examiner July 14l
Mrs. Stanton delivered her lecture on
Marriage and Maternity" yesterday
afternoon, before an audience composed
exclusively of ladies, if we except the
Chronicle reporter, to whom we are in
debted for the extracts subjoined The
lecture has in it so many good points,
so much Of souad advice to female hu-
manity, that it would be wrong to con-
fine it to the small circle of those who
were SO fortunate as to he present at its
delivery. We willingly give space in
our columns to the most important sub:
jects treated, believing that the dissem-
ination of such information will work
great benefit to every one of our lady
subscribers. Mrs. Stanton says:
We must educate our daughters in
this order: First-To regard their own
lives aud bodies, and the laws which
govern them. Second Their duty as
parents Third-Their duties as citi-
zens. Fourth-To supply life with its
luxuries and fopperies. But now we
reverse this order. Our daughters learn
music and worsted, and silly arts and
accomplishments but not a thought or
word is given to their development as
wives. as mothers. or as citizens. We,
who have reached and passed middle
| life, cannot do much in this matter to
remedy it as concerns ourselves but we
can for our children-to train and teach
them that their coming lives will find
grand positions in their various spheres
| would have mothers feel that 1heir
daughters have full and equal rights in
all things with thef brother, and that
they are entitled to be so considered in
the worlds opinion. 1t is divine right
of woman that she may dc, and do
rightly, whatever it Is right that man
may do.
The idea that woman is weak inhE
rently is a grand mistake She is phys
ically weak because she ncglects her
baths-because she violates every law
of her nature and her God because she
dresses in waythat would kill man. l
feel it to be my mission to arouse every
woman to bring up her daughter with
out breaking her rp in doing SO. Our
female idea of dress is all wrong. My
girlhood was spent mostly in the open
air. | early emhibed the idea that girl
was just as good as boy, and 1 carried
it out. | would walk five miles before
breakfast, or ride ten on horseback. AT
ter l was married 1 wore my clothing
sensiblY. The weight hung alone on
my shoulders. | never compressed my
body out of its natural shape. My first
four children were born, and l suffered
very little. l then made up my mind
that it was totally unnecessary for me
to suffer at all, so | dressed lightly,
walked every day, lived rs much as pos
sible in the open air, ate no condiments
or spices, kept quiet, listened to music;
looked at pictures, read poetry. The
night before the birth of the child ]
walked three miles. The child YVES born
without a particle of pain. l bathed it
and dressed it; and it weighed ten and a
half pounds That same day I dined
with the family. Everybody said l would
surely die, but never had a-relapse or
a moments inconvenience from it.
I Another idea: 1t is of more impor-
tance what kind of child we raise than
how many. 1t is better to produce one
lion than twelve jackasses. We have
got jackasses enough let us go into the
lion business. Suppose our great states
men, Clay, Webster, ard others like
them, had had only the society of re-
fined and educated women, they would
not have, as they did, looked upon wo-
pen only in physical light. If men
have dolls for wives, they will seek the
society of intellectual courtesans. We
must have new type of womanhood.
We need it more than gold. Courte-
sans ruled France and brought her to
ruin. Courtesans will rule this country
unless woman rises to her true dignity.
The old idea of the oak and the vine is
pretty, but is mere poetry; the emer
gencies of life prove its falsity-the
| lightning strokes them both alike.