Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-05-21
How Woman Ruled.

Ceutury.l
Tn thc eighteenth, nineteenth and TWEEN
ticth centuries men were born ohiy 10
mass n few brief vcars-scllom more than
twcn.y-fivc-in comparative peace. AT
thc end of this time they were taken pos
session of by women who used them for
their own purposes, compelling them to
drudge dav in and day out in order that
they. the females of our species, might
live at ease and i'll luxury. From the
..lord." that is the ''bread-@ivcr, of the
so-calcd Dark Ages man had dcgener'tcd
into mere ''brcad-winner, whose sole
Office it was 10 supply these
..crcaturcs all 10, bright and ganl
With grwsaws rare and daily food.
So barbarouslv were the laws constructed
that they compelled the ''husband nd-that
is to say, '.onc who is bound to his house
moi only to support his wife but even
her children. and as seven was the aver
age number of the woman's offspring, the
unhappy drudge was legally bound to do
the whole work of nine persons without
assistance. Ii his nature rose up III re
volt against this mholy tyranny and he
left his family to take care of itself. he
was presently clappcd into Jall to mrdl-
tate upon the inhumanity of man and the
scliishncss and greed of society. BESIDES
this. the husband whose mind was 50 free
from prejudice thai he could leave his
wife and children To fight their own bat
ties was placed under Il social ban SO
called gentlemen would moi associate
with him. while the women pointed nj
him the up-turned nose of sc"rn. and be
tween the pressure of the law ami moral
pressure the poor slave had very hard
time of it.
In another chapter I have spoken OF
the trouble which WAS brought about III
Ireland under the ''ahScntcc landlords.
who cnioyed the fruits of their estates,
towards the production Of which they
never lifted n hand. The principal ot
nbsentccism WAS odious enough IN all
conscience. but worse and far more m
humane, thuu%h in prlncipi" identical,
were some of the customs nf that time
having relation tu divorce. For the most
triiling causes a woman might SUE for
separation from her husband mark the
sense Of full possession in the word
her" and at the very opening Of the
courts would compel the man to grant an
allowance" io the wife whercwlth To pay
granted the female absentee would re-
ceiyc an ..nlimonv" from Il man who
hcncefurh cnuld have no possiblcor even
conceivable interest in the welfare "f her
and her children. \ worse or more un-
inst state of society cannot well he mag
med. and the impassioncd cry of the hui
man heart might well have been, us it
WIS
Il have planted b,,nnrts The frJits OF Nh,c !iIil
never >ce.
or. seeing. shan in them take nu delight
The causes which led Ia this lamcnta-
BILE state OF affairs are not far To seek.
The evolution of the passions and emo
tiuns of the primitive man were attended
with heterogeneous phenomena which
can he fully understood only 10y Il pro
longcd consideration of the special char
acteristics of mental evolution as di'tin
gnishcd from evolution in general. We
shall, therefore, but briefly conno,c n few
of them. Early in life the boy was
taught hy his cunning and far-siEht"d
mother To exercise II ''polItc and gen
tlemanly" care over his little sister. He
was instructed always to defer to her
whims and WISHES. to give her the greater
part of his swcetmeats and toys, To drag
her carriage and on no occasion To admin
iet,r cornnr"l ,,ui.i-L------. -. i.'-.. Al
her battles he must fight and bear the
blows that were meant for her. Through
this process he came to look upon wo-
men as superior beings, and Il naughty,
ovcrbcarinG spirit was fostered IN the
girl. As time wore on the results became
frightiully apparent, and 1t was no I'M
common thing to see II youth patiently
turning the leaves on which the score OF
some twanging symphony by Schumann
or Beethoven was written merely To save
some Young mink the trouble of doing it
herself. In other words. the absurd and
exploded system of chivalry yet exerted
n baneful influence in social ethics. The
false standards of tho Dark Ages were
still half unconsciouslv held as valid. and
even the old symbol Of subiection to re-
cognizc authority was daily to he noticed
by the thoughtful mind while observing
how man actually doilcd his hat Ill the
presence Of Il woman, the penalty for amy
neglect Of the scnsclcss ceremony being
social os,racism. And when We. remcm
Der that toi-worn men were forced to
Weld their seats i'll public convcyances to
women. we see that man indeed had fallen
low. Let us draw Il veil over til" SORROW
full picture Of mans degradation and wo-
mans tyranny.
The last straw was laid on the camcls
back when women, who were physically
incapable of enforcing the laws, insisted
On making them, and men were found SO
lost Ia every feeling Of dignity and sense
of shame as la support such pretenslons.
AT last, AS usual, the women carried the
day and, powcrlcss to engage III battle
and therefore reckless of danger. made
war on every hand till man was nearly
e1tcrminatcd from the earth. Vast hordes
OF men were sent from North America 10
pillage Japan for its tca-cups and Satsu-
ma ware to France for its gowns, bon
nets and novel;, costly expeditions We're
sent out To the North Pole for It's sables
and furs of all sorts, and to the Pacific
Islands for birds feathers, and, III short,
everything went to rack and ruin. Only
then did the trodLcn worm turn when it
was evident that man was to he no more
if woman WIS longer to have her will.
The happy results of the revolt are now
matters Of history and Of daily life, and
are visible ON every land. U'orid.
A., =, r,,, ~.