The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-02-13
Psychology of the Sexes---By Herbert
Spencer.

Some points in the article named .
above, regarding the psychology of /
women, call forth more than n passing /
comment Mr.. Spencer remarks, in /
substance, that the minds of women 4
have made rapid advances since men /
ceased to buy their wives and woman /
possessed the right of free choice in |
marriage; that she still prizes physical 1
strength higher in man than mental, /
and will cling to a strong physical na- /
ture in preference 10 one of inferior de- /
velOpment, no matter what the mental /
ity may be. II past subsection of wom- 1
an hae Ut such evil, and so warped /
her iuGs. .ent that she estimates more 1
highly mans lower nature, il is time !
she had better opportunity to develop I
the higher reasoning powers, that she 4
may be capable of training her chill 4
dren To a clear comprehension of alb I
stract Justice and right When any
faculty of mind attains too great pre-
pOnderance, it also shows an unbal 4
anced mind, especially II 1t lead TO a /
false estimate of right. SecTetiveness |
being brought into play by self-suppres-
sion, obscures the judgment, making 1
the higher faculties subserve the lower
suppression being continued in one sex,
making woman less capable of judging
of abstract right AS mental traits are
not the sure Inheritance of the immedi- 4
ate offspring of one parentage, aud chill .
dren sometimes inherit exclusively .
| from one parent, again from both, still I
again from neither, but further remove, /
it stands to reason that the above trait /
cannot be a continuous one in one sex /
alone. Every mother will bear me out I
in this truth, /. E., that she cannot gov
| ern her girls by one rule and her boys
| by another, or one rule for both, but /
must understand each individual nature .
to govern justly. Circumstances, edu-
cation and social usage make the most I
| perceptible difference up to the age of
maturity. According to evolution, the /
same tendencies are latent in both sexes l
/ from past ancestry, and can be aroused
at any time to activity in descendants
/ by appropriate circumstances. The
present crisis illustrates the course of
this in man. His disregard of the rights
of his fellows in speculation, i'm railroad
and other stocks, dishOnor in high
places, defalcatiOns, the passage of con-
tagiOus diseases acts cOudemning evil
i'm one sex and not in another; showing
clearly a notion to protect self for pres
eut benefit.
Abstract right and justice are lost
sight of by consent of men to protect
themselves, even to the ultimate injury
of women. Who shall say this is not
his inheritance from the want in his
mother of the development Of those
, higher perceptions Of abstract justice
which may be somewhat clOuded, but
not absent i'm her brain. Woman will
and must speak for herself before the
law by ballot, ere she attains her proper
dignity i'm this great human family.
The struggle for life hypothesis, to
! which appeal is made, will not apply to
} the mind as well as body, for the rea-
son that we have no absolute sex of
! mind. The natural interdependeuee of
man and woman will always hold them
together. Our best wOmanly natures
+ are those of strong wills and tempers;
they retain the affections of husband or
! friend, we all know, longer than those
? willOwy natures that men profess to ad-
, mire most. Nor is it generally the fact
, that mothers will allow present benefits
to their children and forget the evil ten
denotes. 1t is their especial province 10
: look to their children's future good;
therefore the necessity for an enlight-
ened judgment.
This can only be obtained by exercise
: of those attributes of wOmen's minds
that have received such constant repres-
sion in the past, by daily exercise,
> which will never be until they have du-
ties outside their present ones TO call
out the higher reasoning powers. 1t is
l true the sphere of woman of late has
= been enlarged, but not sufficiently to
. give her mind a proper comprehension
2 of the vital questions Of the hour, as
making virtue in man merit. Intem-
| perance, Mormonism, etc, would not
! flourish as a green bay tree, il she could
v speak by ballot. These things touch
e her more nearly, at least she feels the
= present strain, and would speak out on
e these questions. 1t is never abstract
d right that strikes the mind of man first,
e but something that touches him more
r nearly. When ie wishes to strengthen
o his case, he applies abstract right and
l Justice H. ARGUING his claim. Woman
S will hG .cupy an individually re-
y sponsibiu position before the law to at
h tain womanly maturity of mind.
e If woman il now only the fringe on
- the mantle Of justice and abstract right,
r. may she soon become part of the WARP
n and woof of the whole garment. Thai
e she may do her part in bringing man
st kind to a sense of justice that shall
3, reach every man, woman and child, j:
z the earnest wish Of one tUODldR, at least
e But know am not alone-their name
g is legion.-Hdgd', IN Toledo Journal.