The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1876-03-25
Women in America.

WoMibu III AmoElChs
Success is the rule, and failure the
exception, when ladies take interest in q
public enterprise, or lend their assistance
to an object of charity, utility or patriotism.
Whatever cause they aid is next to sure Of
ultimate prosperity. Failures, and even
repeated failures, seem to become but the
foundation of future success. There are
substantial reasons for this strength Of
female influence. That condition of socie-
ty is always the most satisfactory in which,
in serious fact, as well as in mere courtesy,
the maxim is recognized-Place for the
Ladies One source Of woman's power is
the Difference with which she is regarded
by the other sex. Foreign observers have
remarked with admiration the large pro-
portion Of female teachers in our public
schools, and the perfect discipline which
they maintain over lads, many Of whom
are accustomed to obedience nowhere else.
The secret of this is that the ruder the boy
the more perfect his submission to a young
lady placed over him as teacher. He re-
CARDS it as fact that needs no demonstra-
tion, that he could set her at defiance, if he
chose; and, therefore, there exists no oc-
casion for him to try such an issue. With
u young man as his teacher he might be
rebellious. With young woman, as
young, perhaps, almost as himself, he is
bound by rude but just idea of magnan.
unity, to be quiet, and even respectful.
Probably female pupils are not quite so we'll
inclined towards female teachers. But
girls have natural sense Of order which
does not stand in need Of forced control.
At any rate, and for girls as well as boys,
women, as teachers, are eminently success.
full.
The power which woman has, as teach
er, over boys, is only marked illustration
Of the control which every true woman has
over men. The exertion Of authority Is
not Extensively displayed, and in the exer-
else of it woman herself is almost uncon-
scious Of her rule. She avoids instinc-
lively the parade of power as something
unfeminine, and her requests have the
greater force, for being presented as re-
quests and not as demands. Thus the
wise woman rules her household. And
her authority has this farther element Of
strength, that it is seldom, of her own
choice, exerted in wrong direction. A
woman's judgment may be wrong and her
knowledge imperfect, but her motives are
usually good, for the reason that they are
unsel6sh. The welfare of her husband,
her children, her parents and other objects
of her affection are, with her, superior to
all personal considerations. There are, Of
course, conditions in which women fall
below this standard, but generally speak
ing it is the standard of the sex.
In the work of religion and charity, in
the formation Of public opinion in great
crises, and in the support of the tagging
spirits of men who meet the actual brunts
Of life's battles, women are the ''power
behind the throne" In their retirement
and freedom from observation they control
and to great degree supply the strength
which averts social disaster and promotes
social improvement.
In Sponsors beautiful fable Of Una and
the Lion, and in Moores pretty fancy,
erich and rare were the gems she wore,"
an ancient poet and modern, have pre-
sented in verse the idea which we are Ia
boring to set forth in prose. And when
occasion requires that woman should
emerge from the family shelter the success
of Una is hers over difficulties, and she
enjoys tho guerdon Of "safe conduct" as
certainly as Moore's maiden. These ma.
tural immunities and pledges of success
are woman's 80 long as she preserves her
natural character and trusts to the defen.
ces with which her sex surrounds her.
The position Of woman in America Is hon
orable, both to woman and to man. The
callings and pursuits which are open to
woman, without derogation to her sex,
mark the advance in true civilization which
has grown out of freedom of thought and
of action, unimpeded by the conventional
isms Of past ages. In the old time, and
not so rery long ago, woman trusting
herself abroad with no man in her COM
pany was wonder. Moore's maiden
might now take through ticket from
Philadelphia to San Francisco, or from
Portland to New Orleans, and find herself
"all right" at the end Of her journey, and
her baggage ito the fore" on presenta-
tion of her achecks. .r-Phila. Ledger.
Tha siunla unathod Of nm. rd,nf, /. .,x.;,,.t