The New York herald., 1874-08-13
The Ina.s.es OF Womea.

The InAaenes OF W0mcn.
Beginning with tho fall of Adam and end
ing with the very latest event in history, the
influence Of women over the actions of men Is
something marvallous--almost beyond belief.
The Eastern Prince who, whenever he heard
Of any new offence. was accustomed to ask,
whats her nAmes" was led to- the inquiry
by the same experiences which have made 80
woman in the case q recognized phrase in
modern speech. History is full of the strug-
giles which women imposed upon nations and
on men. Achilles and Agamemnon quarrelled
ing to punish the abduction Of Helen. Hero
dotus, the father of history begins the worlds
annals with the two versions of the carrying
of of 10. Coming nearer to the verities of
history, we find the impassioned story Of
Pericles and Aspasia, and later still the won
dertul sacrifice of Demosthenes for Lais, the
model Even Julius Caesar, 'the foremost
man of oil this world, forgot everything, in
cluding ambition, in his dalliance with
Cleopatra, and Marc Antony, with C@sar's
example to warn him, is chiefly remembered
for his infatuation for the same woman. From
the reign OF Francis l. to the close Of the
career of the grand monarch Louis XIV.
French history is the history of noble ladies
whose actions were ignoble. 1t is charge
not wholly groundless that Luther brought
about the Reformation because he wished to
marry, and Henry Will, who ostentatiously
claimed to be the English reformer, was the
husband of six wives during his lifetime
Napoleon's downfall dates from the time he
divorced the wife Of his youth for the Austrian
princess who brought him son but not q sue
cessor History is succession Of episodes in
which the influence Of women marks the des-
TIMES of great men and powerful States.
Poetry is but the repetition in thousand dis
Fiction has no other purpose than to illus
trate the relations of mon and women, and the
modern stage must content itself with giving
life and form and color to the passions
with which the novelist or dramatist
has imbued his creations. And in prao-
tical, everyday life, we occasionally meet the
counterparts of the miscalled heroes and
heroines of history or the imagination We
have witnessed the remarkable spectacle Of q
wife and mother claiming Catherine Gaunt as
her ideal Even Hawthornes Scarlet Letter
seemed about to be reproduced scene by scene
and sorrow for sorrow. What is SO common
to history, to literature and to art must have a
very deep significance and be indeed the
groundwork of all social existence.
We have not cited these examples for an idle
purpose, but as illustrating the great lesson
of all human experience. In the earlier ages
of Greek civilization men captured the wives
and daughters Of their enemies, and States
warred with each other in consequence. Later
still Cleopatra lost throne and, it may be said,
| conquered a world by her destinations. From
that hour up to the beginning OF the eighteenth
century emperors and kings, despite the in
huence of the Christian religion, were little
better than this heathen queen and these
heathen soldiers. Even George I. carried the
''Maypole' and the Elephant into England
and was not ashamed to be as vicious in bis
dull German way as the vivacious Charles II.
The example of Louis XIV. corrupted
cNcIy COuIt IL AIuiOP0 oAN ooSiTsy WOO 90 WI
rupt as the courts which set the fashion.
Royalty has grown better since the last Gen.
tury, and society, as matter of course, has i'm
proved with royalty, while, strange to say, men
of letters, the leaders of thought, the brightest
examples of high dramatic and artistic culture,
| age That romance which savors Of vice and
in which kings we're once the principal figures
| is now sought in the domestic infelicities of
genius Byron has the reputation OF being
the most profligate man of his age. Scott was
unhappy in his domestic life. Lytton i'm
enemies say to be rid of her. Dickens turned
away from his home the mother of his chill
dren because she could not appreciate his
genius and minister to his vanity. These
things were due, however, to exceptional
causes, and society in the later ages of the
world had so purified itself that the latest
great scandal seems almost impossible SO
nearly impossible, to say the least of it, as TO
require the strongest and most unequivocal
proof before it can be accepted.
II there is always woman in the case now
as heretofore, the Aspasias and Cleopatras, the
false countesses and the ignoble ladies and the
whole army of women whose lives have been q
wrong to womanhood are fewer than ever be-
fore, while those whose work is high and pure
and great and goodwill whom charity is the
highest duty and bright example the noblest
ambition-have wonderfully increased in num-
bers and influence. But for false reform this
would be almost millennial epoch. 1t is those
who are protesting to seek new spheres for
women who are the worst foes of womanhood
II is a noble characteristic in man to take upon
6is,self the severe toll for the race-the surest
sign oi, the real influence of women--the bright
est thing n our modern civilization. II this
| natural dixisidn Of labor is 70 be disregarded