The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1880-07-29
1.-THE EARTH WAITS FOR HER
QUEEN"
BY HESTER N. POOLE

NJ uEu u III ANNW ~
sentencing a man for cruelty beating his
wife, said, "By the law I can only give
you six months in prison, but had you
beaten your horse l could have given
you two years" he uttered the severest
satire on the law Of the land which lips
could frame. | grant that multitudes
OF US are cherished inmates Of happy
homes. But what Of those wretched,
struggling creatures who suffer In
silence the thousand ills which are the
Inheritance Of a weaker class? They
who feel the wrongs OF others as though
Inflicted upon themselves still more,
they who have risen from the personal
into a realization Of justice, that first
e-and principle Of spirit-cannot rest
until all human beings have an equal
right to life, liberty and development.
Liberty means more than we can
comprehend, save in rare, inspired mo-
ments. Freedom before the law is only
the first step toward freedom for the
soul. Following it must come freedom
from dogma, superstition, bigotry and
prejudice; freedom TO investigate, TO
reason aud TO labor In any field Of
thought or action; freedom 10 develop
from the SOULS own eenter-to reach
outward and upward toward the sun
shine Of Divine love and light, as the
tender plant unfolds leaf, bud aud bios
som in the warmth Of early Summer.
Unjust laws, the tyranny Of sex, and
ignorance, now chill aud blight the fair
unfolding of womanhood, as cold winds
and frosts destroy the promise of early
bloom; bat as surely as warmth fitfully
advances by the changeless laws Of the
seasons aud the full glory of Summer
comes apace, so certainly shall woman
develop new power aud grace under the
sunshine Of a better civilization. And
as in vegetation the power Of growth
lies within, it is the all-pOwerful, in
dwelling flame Of God which inhabiis
the soul, that immaneut and eternal
spirit which is one with all other spirit,
that glows aud burns and scars within
the heart Of us and leads us toward a
larger fre, dom aud a higher life. This
Interior growth has more than kept
pace with the removal of arbitrary aud
external restrictions. Unjust laws re-
main in the codes OF the General Gov
ernmeut aud the United States. We
have no representation, even whau sub
jected to taxation; the mother is denied
tue care of minor children upon the
death OF the father; she has but small
portion Of their joint earnings upon the
death Of her husband, and frequently
sees the fruits OF her own industry and
economy go to his relatives who have
no right to them. II during his lifetime
he he coarse aud brutal, her marriage
has been season Of prolonged misery.
II she falls into Offense of the law which
she had no part in making, man is her
indicier, her jury and ner judge. II she
be condemned, he is her jailer, her ply
scian, her priest, her adviser. She
cannot weep her sorrow or penitence
upon the bosom Of a sister. She is ex-
posed 10 the cuaTseness aud ferocity of
masculine keepers, aud becomes hard
eued by every experience. If her poor
brain becomes unbalanced, she is sent
to an insane asylum managed 10y men,
who are vainly supposed capable of re-
adjusting that delicate and tangled
mechanism which by no possibility can
they fully understand. If sine be the
victim Of foul crime, a coroner's jury Of
men is summoned. and no wOman's
presence is allowed 10 soften tie terrible
features Of the case or veil the SCARED
remains from the pitiless touch aud
gaze Of surgeon aud reporters.
Under all these drawbacks aud more,
woman drags her footsteps with halting
weariness up the mount Of progress.
What wonder il she sometimes stoOps
to vanities or yields to the allurements
Of pleasure The wonder is that 50
many cling to the substantial and en-
during aud win 10y dignity and sweet
I ness a consideration which legal enact
ments have not given. Only by com
pairing the present with the past, ouT
own land with benighted countries, the
wise and good with the weak aud rude
can We arrive, even approximately, at 8
conception of what the truly unfoldeC
woman will yet become.
More than a quarter Of q century ago
Margaret Fuller wrote the following
lines with that diamond pointed per
which sketched such broad, noble out
liues for this aud other generations Il
finish. The darkest shadows were al
ready there half-lights are appearing
when shall the high lights be added
s'The growth Of Man is two-fold, mas
culine aud feminine; man, in the order
Of time, was developed first, as energy
comes befure harmony. power before
beauty. Woman was therefore Under
his care as an elder. He might have
been her guardian and teacher; but, a.
human nature goes not straik htforward,
but 10 an unduIating course, be misun-
derstood and abused his advantages, and
became her temporal master instead oi
her tender sire. On himself came the
punishment He educated woman more
as q servant than daughter, aud found
himself king without queen.
"The children Of this unequal uniOr
showed UNEQUAL natures, aud, more ant