Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1872-03-20
For the Republican.
A Word for W0man's Pen.

heard few remarks not long since,
from one ofthe lords of creution, in regard
to woman's writing, which aroused feel
lngS antag0nistic in my breast and move
me to the expression thereof with nly pen,
deeming it more effectuaI to the removal of
certain prejudices which he, in common
! with many others entertain, that women
has 10 place il the world of letters. Wo-
man is not necessarily stroHg-miaded because
the finest emotions of her soul find ex-
preston in words, and give life to "thoughts
that breathe, and words that burn.n No
she may be the most W. manly of women
she may perform all the duties of wifehood
with loving precision; she may be to her
children the realization of all that is gentle
and good and fulfill all the tasks of dom es
tic life with systematic neatness and reg
ularity, and yet use the talents God has
given her to give expression to the beautl-
full thoughts that fit through her brain, and
move her heart to the performance of great
er deeds Of kin dness.
We are not as women were seyenty-f We
or even fifty years ago, when to be called
literary, conveyed the idea of asslatternly
woman, with ink-bedaubed fingers untidy
household and neglected husband and chill
dren No, thank God, the world is, as it
is said, "weaker and wiser - yes, thank
Him for the "wiser," let the s'weaker'' be
as it will. To be woman no longer sig
ni6es to grow to maturity, with only very
Indifferent mental attainments to become
a wife, and to devote all the strength and
energy of life to the cares of maternity;
but she may compete with her stronger bro
Their, in the halls of learning she may full
fill that most blessed prerogative of hers,
the domestic relations, and still have time
and energy for the pursuit of lntelle ctuai
things. God has given to some women tai
ents of the highest order, and the power to
portray in werd pictures the finer emotions
of the human heart; be cause their sensibil-
tiles are naturally finer, and their intuition
keener and clearer than those Of men, whose
forte lies more in the line of the practical
There are few of the sterner sex WHO
seem possessed of the gift of painting mi
nutely the passions and emotions of human
ity; the lamented Charles Dickens, was
one of these but they are exceptions, an d
say, if woman soul moves her to write,
it is Just and fitting that she should do so.
If she do not, will she not be accountable
to him, who tells US in the Bible-that best
Of books of the servants, one with the ten
talents, one with five, and another, one
Some have the power of moving the souls
of the mass with song, the Heavenly gift of
music is theirs ; another has Inner eye,
another an especial talent for the perform
anee of domestic duties, while another has
the gift of deep and earnest thought and
giving in words, Ell ther written or spoken,
what in one not thus gifted, may be burn
ing for utterance. II may not always give
her bread, nor clothe her-she may not
neel. this aid, but if she do, and her talen',
by patience and perseverance, be cultivated
and fostered, and enlarged, she will reap
benefits, even pecuniary if she desire it.
And, Oh you, my gifted brother, if your
wife or your daughter having desire,
hare but one talent, I beg of you to aid her,
to encourage her, for it may answer some
great need in her nature which you in the
vast recourses of your life, cannot com
prehend. ELSIE.