, 1876-05-20
woMAN-sVrrRA0E N. ENGLAND,

The olango Of viewe Of JouN DnronT on
tbs wo1nan-audrage question, and bis speech
in Parliament agninst the bill enfranohiaing
womon, produced quite ecnsation in Eli
gland. Ills brother, JAoon Dn1oHr, Ind
spoken In support Of tho bill, aud must iavs
bccn surprised to listen to JonN's reply.
Hitherto he has supported tho bill on tho
ground that no mischief was likely to ariso
from ita passage aud in fact no diroct re-
suits Of any Importance, nnd consequently
voted for It because he did not like to oppose
II. When tue bill camc 10 vote, however,
no rose mud explained that lis views had
changed, aud he placed Lis negative vote
| upon the radical grounds TINT, whatever
| might DO tho immediate consequences OF tho
measure, 1t was prompted by false concep-
tion Of tho relative position Of men and
womon and Of tho nature Of women them.
selves, therefore howould oppose tho bill Us
boing nliachfovous In its tendency. The fol-
lowing e1trnot will explain hio position still
more olearly:
II has been duo to Tic gradual growth o! higher
standard Of manllncss tint The position Of women
has hccn 10 vastly Improved In Europe; nnl1 II VIII
1y tho strong instincts OF men, not by any formal
power Of women, that the principles Of chtva,ry
~ero established md maintained. IL Ii In Tho
strong arms Of good men TINT women have always
found their most ctTcctual protection, md conee-
ac9nentiy II il rllcntons tu represent women as
nccllpg Bomo special protcclon against tlsc1r hua.
bands, brothers, md sons In the House Of Conn
naous. Every man wlo ia worthy Ut tho natnc cur
res Bomc woman or other In his heart al a part Of
his domestic life, md her influence is thus directly
exeEtcd upon his political an1 social conduct. One
man with respect to another is an Independent and
often hoslc force; but, by the very nature OF the
ncxcs and Of family life. women alt purposes
Of action united with men.
The London Times, which has opposed
tho bill, emphasizes this position of hlr.
BntonT by showing that tho tendency of
tie measure would b to disintegsate tic
family life, and thcrc Is no doubt of the
truth Of this position. Tho whole organiza-
ton of life, Of society, Of good government,
Of law, order, and public security goes upon
the assumption that the family ia the unit Of
society, not the individual. 10 change this
order OF things nnd placs tho individual in
dependent, would not only mako marriage IN
: accident or incident OF life, aud eventually q
farce or something akin to it. but 1t would
work ir1etrievable injury to man, woman,
and child. Tho Times says very foroibIy:
A greater mora, injury than would be fnatctod by
any d!1nlnutlon Of that sensc Of responsibility could
hardty be conceived. II would not only destroy tho
grcatest charm III the relation Of the sexcs, but It
would undermine the strongest, because tho most
dclcats, motiyo for mnnly respect md gcntlcncss.
woman a. 4 dependent bung, appealing by llcr
trust and affection to every sentiment Of honor In
mans heart, Ia tho most powerful influence. prob.
ably, In the world. and tue ways aro tnnumcrab1c
In which she modlcs tho whole current Of his lifo
mud thought, But wpman rs m independent be-
ING, relying OIL her own energy, her own vote, and
her own Intellect 10 simply political forco which
would not In tho rough struggle Of lifo he found
very powerful.
Too much stress cannot be laid upon this
argument. It lies at tho very roots OF tho
matter. TIE principle TINT has obtained
since tho creation Of tho world, TINT is en-
joined In the Scriptures, TINT Is demonstrate
cd by the experiences OF thousands Of years,
cannot be disturbed without scrious danger
to society, and that principle is that upon
man rests tho responsibility, and that woman
is linked to man in subordination Of affcc-
ton and estoem. Tho most satisfactory
proof Of this general principle lies in the fact
that the rast majority Of women fael, md
know, and acknowledge II, aud that if tie
franchise were ever given to thom they
would express their belief in 1t at tho very
first opportunity.