Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1875-06-24
ADDRESS.


To the Young Ladies of the Elkana Lit
erary Society
In yielding to your solicita-
tons and overcoming serious
apprehensions, springing from
the position | occupy, in order
to comply with your request,
L cannot entirely divest myself
of full consciousness of the
responsibilities surrounding my
situation tonight. Putting IL
side all thought of entertaining
you witha profound dissertation
on any of the various themes
the occasion might suggest, |
will content myself, by eudeav-
oring to engage your attention
with only random thoughts that
have, now and then, occurred to
me, and, which doubtless have
often presented themselves TO
you. AS a matter of course,
woman must be the prominent
object and subject Of my few
words, and in speaking of her
past it is needless to trace her
gradual, social elevation through
all the conflicting events and
causes Of her barbaric state and
her more civilized position. We
may truthfully say, that woman
has been denied her rightful
portion Of fame in the great
scheme Of civilization; rcstric-
ted theoretically to the quiet
and perfectly passive sphere Of
home. Too little power was
attributed to her influence, the
moral element was omitted and
disregarded in government,
which under a more enlightened
craftsmanship has been dis
covered to be the base Of all
power, and is it not well, indeed,
that the scales have fallen from
the eyes of our political seers,
ere, by a despotic conservatism,
this surer and better element
had delayed its appearance, and
intimately have been shorn Of
its sampson locks? Our age, the
10Th century, is as remarkable
for innovation, as the individual
Boston yankee is for ingenuity.
We have made a mighty leap
backward to the Greek mode
of study, and the higher mind
Of the race has gone to question
Natures Sphinx Of the here
after. We have reached, also,
that period, when government
itself is a Fomierite, vascillat-
ing in everything and changing
its policy as often as its Execu-
tive changes his coat or takes a
fresh cigar. Yet changing as
is the political tide, there is a
changeless mora! undercGrrent,
which silently but irrcsistibly
is bearing on its mighty way,
and this, indeed, is the great
est vein in the body polite
When woman is connected with
our complicated, social condi-
ton things relative to her lave
assumed a phase different from
any to be found in any preced-
ing civilization in any nation.
While our age stands in awed
wonder, as bubble after bubble
rises and burst from the cruel
bic Of science, revealing more
than ''our philosophy ever
dreamt of" and of which the
Bacons and Platos with eagle
sighted genius gazing from in
tectual eninence could not
catch the faintest beam, our
age is not unmindful, nor neg
lectful of the more practical
surroundings Of the time. Man
has lorded long enough, and,
under the new order of things
a very anomalous parsonage
steps upon the stage. What a
"queen" of creationl And think,
in the wide sweeping moral de-
velopments and outbursts, this
wonderful age of great men and
mediocre talent does both itself
and us the justice to think that
we are neither socially nor 9TH
erwise, nonentities. Allow me
to digrcss for moment. Oil