Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1872-11-19
Misfella,,eoits.
-.-2.
"NOMEN IN THE OLD TINE AND IN THE
NEW

Mr.. Geo. w. Curtis delivered the f,rsl
OF a series OF lectures, under the auspices
=, =. tle General Society of Mechanics and
ifaaesmen OF the City of New York. ~
'te,n"ay Hall, last week, before an un,,.
s,naily large and respectable audience
II. l,'s subject was, Women in the Old
lime and in the New" He said that the
oid"n time always appeared to us more
reVerent and romantic than cur day. We
ieei as II beauty was more beautiful and
'"iof more heroic, and it seems that We
we're iest on the lees of time and the
worlds fecrepitude. We deplore every
Nnhe III our own time, and the social NOR
aiist OF "'r day condemns the expensive
dresses OF our fashionable women. and
3'Ns why cannot they he like their pre-.
decessors OF a few hundred wears anop
ne iamenis that women have descended
TO French dolls. whose color is made ~.
OF pant, whose head is loaded with dye.i
mar and horse-har stuff, faughtar.
Nh"Se wa's' Is reduced to a cipher, an,i
wsln believe weakness grace. and affec.
TALON simplicity. But in Queen Eliza.
beth time that lady left three Thousand
dresses alter her, and the women of thai
time. like those of ours, were as fond Of
dress and display, and The same extraya
ganees and expenses that orr mora,is,s
deplore, Mr.. Curtis, in highly humor.
ote tone. related numerous instances NJ
the oldeh time, and said that the progr...
oi civilization WAS really the freedom from
HE theories otthose good old times. D,,e
OF the grandest results Of thi, prourS.
wa. HE evidence of the constantly in
etea-.ne position aud estimate of womer,
IN modern society. and great illustration.
OF this historical advance WAS the rapid
opening OF every opportunity Of educa
ton TO women. We point TO the DAYS of
feueles with regret at our degeneracy
but the idea pronounced bv that erea,
mind was that women, like children.
should be seen but not heard. Through
all ages and all countries, from that time
to this, III their dealings with women. the
Sole purpose of mankind seemed to be to
deprive women OF the means of knowl.
edge, under the belief that with educa.
iion she would acquire a contempt for her
husband and affection for every coxcomh
whose ideas in this respect corresponded
with her own. The wife of John Adams,
one OF the most accomplished women of
her age, wrote that in her day the female
education was confined to reading and
writing, and in some few instances music
and dancing.
i This movement for education among
woman found root in Boston forty wears
since, and created q profound sensation
| among male bipeds, because of the crowds
/ who sought intelligence. The more Ian.
suages Il man has, the more a man j. he
said the sage; and the more knowledge \
woman has, the better wife and mother /,
she, says the common sense of the avp
Applause. In this country there were
now 537 collegiate institutions. and il,
seventy seven OF them, including the Uni.
versity OF Michigan and Cornell Uniyersi.
ty, both sexes were taught together. The
great authorities of this country agree
that co-educalion is better for both sexes.
and upon the very points which seem a,
the tirst hearing the most Objectionable.
Socrates considered that women were in.
tended only for good housewives and fruit
iui mothers, and Chesterfield OF modern
times spoke OF them as children of large
growth, without comprehensive sense. and
whom it was mans duty TO flatter and
trtle with Fattery he described as the
inyariable companion of contempt. and
he who tattered women most scorned and
despised them deepest He condemned
the idea that women were intellectually
below men as return to the savage he
liei, and asserted that the toasting of a
womans health by maudlin festive seek.
ers at public banquets was not mnch diff.
erent from the drinking of their health in
her slipper. IS was done in England on
notable occasion in years past. Home,
he willingly admitted, was the sphere oil
woman, but education did not unspherc
her. 1t gave Nillson and Mott the power
and wish to benefit the world by the gen.
ius with which heaven inspired them. He
pointed 10 the characters and career OF
Joan OF Arc, Ida Lewis, Grace Darling,
Florence Nightingale, Mrs Stowe. and a
thousand others. rs evidence of the gen
ius, power, grace, and modesty of woman
hood, and concluding, eloquently declar-
ed that women graced home and render
ed life beautiful, bat they would be a
thousand times better fitted for their posi-
tions OF wives and mothers aud Christian
women, by educating the talents which
God gave them for His own great ends.
t.... a.