Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-04-01
PUBLIC LEDGER.
FIRST DAY OF APRIL.

There is grave apprehension III the
minds of some weak people that our
sister woman is about to claim and en-
force her right to participate in the
struggles, rewards and punishments of
political parties We have no such
fears, nor do we sympathize with the
mental condition of these alarmists.
Women who possess the modest instincts
of the sex do not wish to govern men
except by the law Of kindness. Wnen
woman ceases to be gentle, she ceases
to be woman, and loses her influence
with men. We do not subscribe to the
doctrine often preached by example,
that nature has made mistakes, and that
men or women can repair them. 1t is
not alone from discipline that woman
is modest. 1t is mate. She cannot
help it without an effort that costs her
everything valuable and beautiful on
earth. Heaven endowed her with won
derful gifts-gifts that fascinate men as
well in heather as in Christian lands. "
There never yet lived a man, whether at
the topmost round of the human ladder
or at the base of it, who was not in some
way an idolater Of woman. The law OF
the organization of the sexes assigns
them their positions and duties. Man is
strong, that he may cut down forests and
construct fields and cities, and rell on
the ball of commerce. He must drive
the ploughshare into the earth, and that
requires strength. He must put ships
upon the sea, and that requires courage
Not to put too fine a point upon it, he
must run the rough machinery of the
world. Our dear sister, woman, has no
business in the clamors Of Distracted
society. Her place is among the roses,
the lilies, and her business is to smooth
down the wrinkled brow Of care, and
keep the affections and the kettles bright.
Contention is not her role. Smoke and
battle do not agree with her constitution.
But she is mistress Of the situation when
there is little blue eye in the cradle and
a pie in the cupboard. She graces the
dinner, and is diamond in the bosom
of supper. 1--WE omit breakfast on pur-
pose. 1t suggests halfopened eyelids
and uncombed heads.) We may be sell
fish. We should probably, in Judge
Flippins court, plead guilty to the
charge, and have that remorseless fune-
tiopary sentence us to some lonely re-
treat, never approved by philosophy nor
embalmed in song by the poet. Selfish
or not, we are free to maintain (see Bret
Harte) that woman the conqueror OF
man, is not a politician and can
never become one. Politician is in the
masculine gender, and nominative case
to corruption. In that grammar, woman
has no place. She is ignored. There
are, in the language of Samuel Kirk
ham, ten sorts of words, called parts
of speech" Granted; but you can't
find woman there She is neither
noun nor a verb. How then can she be
a politician2 This thing of chopping
up grammar to conciliate the strong
minded sisters of the North, is not to be
tolerated. Happily for us, of the South,
our women do not court politics. They
do not hirt with it. Their traditional
idea is, that they are to be courted.
(See Bonner's Ledger and the Last Days
of Pompeii.) They preserve the mod
esty, the refinement Of the ladies Of the
time of the Cavaliers II is blood
They know their sphere, know the men
who protect them, and never advance
into the arena where gladiators meet
TO make a holiday for the vulgar
and the corrupt. All honor to them.
Let those who fear that the Grecian
bend and the ehignon are to over
run the country, calm their fears.
Whatever the sisters of the North may
do, our immediate sisters win not drag
gle their skirts in the slough Of partisan
politics. No; man is the animal to play
the Heather Chinee." He is capable
Of the part, and walks the world with
dozen packs in his sleeve. Still among
the flowers, dear sisters of the South, re-
main; nor listen to the songs nor ser
mons that speak Of wonan's rights. Wo-
man has no right but the right to be the
comforter Of man and to be loved and
protected This is the first day Of April