The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1877-04-26
IBy Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Herbert.l
CONVERSATION AGB CONVERSATION.
ALIS1s.

NUAh hno hiiUA AND IGNl h6SAIlUN'
ALISIs.
During the past weeks cur thoughts
has been directed toward the industrv
and industrial interests of women
also TO the women who have been
called from the charmed home circle
by stern necessity out into the trades
and professions. This morning, with
the restful, brooding sunshine so sug-
gestiye Of luxury and peace, let Us
turn 20 softer pictures, while our
thought reverts to the many noble
women who preside over elegant
homes, who, tenderly protected and
daiD4ily rObed, wear also the beauti-
ful mantle of Christian charity, and
with their elegant leisure and abun-
dant means are causing many dark
places TO blossom, and many OF the
eanker-spots OF society to disappear.
To this class of women is committed,
In q large measure the pleasant duty
Of elevAting the tone OF our society
life by reinstRting conversation
i'that conversation which becomes
the erOWning act and luxury of life,
when groups OF friends regularly meet
under the rules Of gracious breeding,
with no Jealous ambition, no intol-
Grant partisanship, but with catholic
purposes Of Improvement" Differ as
We may in regard to the proper
boundaries OF wOman's sphere, not
even the most conservative will deny
/ to woman the right to use her
| tongue and in view of all the mis-
chief in the world which has been at
tributed 10 this unruly member, would
it not be wise for Us to attempt a
reformation ? II the tongues of 3 WO.
man have wrought such dire evils in
the centuries past, what may we not
hope to accomplish in an opposite di-
rectIon. You remember EmersOn's
assertion "YOu cannot have one
well-bred man without 8 whole So
ciety OF such. They keep eseh other
up to any high point, especially wo-
men. 1t requires q great many eulti-
waited wOmen-salOOns of bright, ele-
CANT, reading women, accustomed to
ease and refinement, to speetacles, pic
lures, sculpture, poetry, aud to ele-
CANT society, In order that you should
have one Nine. de Stael." Possibly
Emerson Is right, and yet our eyes
have seen and our cara have heard, in
q certain village, conversations con-
Quoted by q group OF hve or six friends
which In the course OF lone summer"
developed such conversational powers
that Nine. de Stael ceased to be 3
phenomenon. Philip Gilbert Hamer-
ton gives us this insight into De Stael
method, and we discover again the
universal truth that there must be
laborous preparation for all genuine
success "Mme. de Stael obtained
her literary material almost exclu-
sively by means of conversation. She
directed, systematically, the talk OF
the learned and brilliant men among
whom she lived to the subject which
for the moment happened to occupy
her thoughts, Her literary process
(which ls known to US in detail
through the revelations of her friends)
was purposely invented to catch
everything that she heard, as q net
catches fish in 9 river. First, she
threw down Oh paper q very brief,
rough draft Of the intended literary
project. This she showed to few, but
from It she made q second slate {as
an engraver would say), which she
exhibited to some Of her trusted
friends, profiting by their hints and
suggestions. Her secretary copied
the corrected manuscript, incOrpOrat-
ing the new matter on paper with o
very broad margin for further addi.
tions. During all the time that it
took to carry her work through these
successive states, that ingenious wO-
man made the best possible use of her
ears, which were her natural. pro-
viders. She made everybody talk
who was likely to be of any use to
her, and then Immediately added
what she had caught on the wide
margin reserved for that purpose.
With native genius, thus developed
and disciplined, we cease to wonder
that this woman's tongue proved q
more formidable weapon than the
sword Of the mighty warrior NapO-
leagues from Paris, exclaiminR, Il
yield the rest OF the world to Nine. de
Stael. Paris, l reserve for myself"
The De Stsel OF our own country
was Margaret Fuller, who, despite
plain features, awkward address, and
poverty, reigned queen
OF Cambridge, ruling by her intellect
alone.
"In the autumn Of 1910 (being %
years of age) she Instituted that re-
marksble conversational class which
80 stimulated the minds OF the more
cultivated women of Boston that
even now the leaders of thought and
intellectual society date back their
first enlightenment TO her, and wish
that their daughters might have such
guidance" Says Higginson "The
very aim and motive OF these meet
ings showed her clear Judgment. She
held that women were at q disadvan.
tage as compared with men, because |
the former are not called upon to test, |
apply, or reproduce what they learned. |
While the pursuits OF life supplied |
this want to men, systematic cOnver- |
sations, controlled by q leading mind,
would train women TO definite state |
ment and continuous thought they |
would make blunders and gain by |
their modification they would seri- |
and discover where vague impress
sions ended and clear knowledge be- |
gan, she thus states her three es-
pecial aims. To pass Ia review the
Of thought and knowl-
edge, and endeavOr to place them in |
due relation to one another In our
minds. To systematiZe thought, and
give q precision and eIearness, in
which our sex are so deficient. To
ascertain what pursuits are best suit
ed to Us, in our time and stats of go
ciety, and how we may make best use
Of our means for building up the life
Of thought upon the life OF action
These conversations lasted during
several successive winters, with much
the same participants, numbering
rom twenty to thirty"
To all earnest women there is moth
ing which Is In more direful need Of
being lifted to higher plane than the
present habit of thought and tone Of
In our social life, and In
he hope Of again reverting to this
yrSnd home field for womsn's infiu-
,Dce we leave with you this morning
Alger's earnest thought: a: "There Is }
10 way In which those women who
re able to give the tone and set the
ashton In society can do so much
rood as by endeAvOring to Feinstate
auu W LcACu III every j
company the nobleness of leisure and
Ittention, that each one who speaks
hall be inspired TO the fullest train
ng Of his best powers by the listening
of the rest. That will be
J blessed day when we make our So
'ial parties not for the purpose of os-
or luxury, not to give din
lers in return for those to which we
AVE been invited, not to secure &C.
Iuaintanoes who will aid in Rratify-
ng our external ambition, but SIM
)ly to enjoy the society OF friends
whom we honor and love, and to en-.
lance our interior life by sincere spir-
tual intercourse, the reflection Of
minds and hearts,"
In an address st the meeting OF the
Michigan Pathological Society at
last winter, Mr.. Bateham,
4 Ohio, urged that farmers and 9TH
rs, especially those having families s
md children, would find great advan-
age in the matter of health by using ,
rdit as part Of every meal at all