The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1873-09-04

TO Tepel on DOll =, \, \. !,
with hiGBpeciN Of dlgntg are 3 .sy e9S
the looRoUEfof aSSaultBi' and consequent
~ ore always thrusting their shield Of de
ionoc in YOUR face. You do not want to
tiroubIe them in their dignity; you are not
thinking OF invading that or this sacred
province; yet you arc suddenly met by an
assumption of offended majesty, which
makes you feel as II you had received q
blow. Some playful word, SONG laugh
ing and ridiculous accusStiOnTOH quito in-S
noCent AllusOn, and you are treated as Il
mtsdemeanant who has grievously offend
ed against good manners and womSnly
dignity. There are some women Consti.
tutionalIy incapable Of understanding any.
thing like plSyiulness, and who can make
no distinction between fun and imperti-
nence, q laughing hurnor and takinglib-,
critics, They wrap themselves upIin Q
robe OF majesty, and resent as rude
ness any homelY touch which ignores
their stately drapery. They are women
about whose affairs you know absolutely
nothing, though you may be their friend
of lifetime. You never hear them tell
the most harmless anecdOte frankly, but
always with a severe air Of mystery and
something hidden; you never hear them
discuss the least important subject freely.
You would not dare TO ask them, friends
as you arc, things which you would ask a
comparative stranger without hesitation,
and they never volunteer information.
They would consider II liberty II you
wanted particulars as 10 the treatment
they had pursued, say in such or such a
case OF illness; ard they are far too Dig
nifled TO help the inexperienced Of their
youngers by their own acquired store.
Ono often wonders what these women arc
as mothers with young daughters to in
strucl; and whether their dignity can uq-
bend so far as 10 give lessons to girls who
have everything TO learn. They are SO
grim, so lar removed from any Of The
kindly Iamiliarities, the maternal ten
derness of ordinary women, that It Is
hard to believe there can ever be moments
in which, or persons to whom, they can
condesCend TO be natural. Akin TO these,
but not identical, are the Coldly digi6ed
wOmCn-those who keep themselves apart
from their world for want oil warmth to
Coalesce. They are not so suggestive %
the grim ones, and not 30 apt 10 take
Ofiense or so keen TO see an insult, where
none was meant; but they are as impeDe.
trable, and imperViOus humor. The
difference between the two kinds lies In
temper; the dignity Of the grim being
dignity sourcd by ill-humor, that OF the
cold being dignity hardened by indlfer-
Cnce. Neither Ia admirable, and both are
common; and woe 10 the luCkless man,
most probably Of a jOVial, weak-baCked
nature, who has fallen into the power Of
either. He has 10 expiate by a lie Of
self-suppression for the one part, and Of
perpetual stumbling offences Tor the other,
The terrible mistake he made in early
youth, when q girls selt-possesiOn was
called by finer word, and no account
taken of the time when q just endurable
characteristic would have become exag-
gerated.
There is, again, another kind OF dignity
OF the R3thetic range; kind OF thing that
SAYS: mo- commOuJp am ]" and
that demands exceptional homage, tas
well as fepels rudeness with scorn. This
is a very iavorlte kind with the women
who hold the theory that women are OF q
divine order Of nature, and that men are
mot TO put 1t too strongly-brutes.
They exact different ordering OF cir
CumstanCcs altogether for themselves, and
especially that they should be protected
from the lower conditions oil lie. Ask
these women 10 do unpleasant work, and
see how their dignity takes arma at once
and how offended and indignant they are
ut your suggestion. They are OF the
Brahminical order, according to their
own estimation, and they are 10 be spared
what others have to endure. Have they
not their dignity to support, and Is not
their nature pSthetic and their right TO i'm
munity from the common lot undoubted!
These M,thetic women are eminently un'
practical, and their dignity Is. In general
tremendous nuisance. They areso fine, 80
very pure, they hold nature to be so gross,
humanity in It's reality so dreadful, and
all things, save their own womanly digni'
", so common, that there is no dealing
with them on anything like practical
basis; and Il you speak, of lie as i Is, and
not US 1t Is made to, appear-in q cloud Of
pink muslin and with an atmosphere oil
ottar OF rOses-they are revOlted, aud
think you IRE wanting in respect. Unreal
as well as aesthetic, they are both useless
and unsatisfactory. To be sure, tLey cul'
tivate art, and know the right color of o
ribbon, and how TO arrange drawing.
room piCLuresquely; but as all the cham.
bers inhabited by the human family ATE
not drawing rooms, as there are sick.
rooms and laZarettOs, the wOmanly dig.
nifty which must not be invaded by the
mention Of either is but n poor kind of
thing for working life, and its artistic spe'
cialiliCs are but mesgre compensation Tor
It's aesthetic absurdilies l-faih 'F
The fact Is, useful Us wOmanly dignity
Is as a womsnly possession, 1t can be car
ried TO excess, and from q virtue 10 . vice.
So long as 1t Is an honest defense. work
against the rough assaults OF superior
strength, It Is both good and fair; but
when II assumes 10 be more than this, It
becomes an eXaggeration, and, as such,
ridiculous. There Is no law by which
women can be exempt from share In
The troubles and sorrows Of human life;
and even their dignity cannot always
protect them from things that override
all but nature. Still 1t Is a valuable pos
session, and women had better have too
much oft than too little; for, though too
much OF il renders them absurd, Olitile
makes them contemplate, and between
tue two there Is no doubt as TO which Is
the worst. as.l -, - Z, Z. -, -
The Boy Who Wanted TO. Know
(st. Cloud (Ninn.l JournGl)- o. e "a
The following Is strictly true. A lady
coming to his State recently stopped q