Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-03-20
W0MEN'S INFLUENCES.


seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have
thou nothing to do with that just man: for
have suffered many this day in dream, be-
cause of him.--MATTHEw XVII: 10.
Women are among the most potent
factors EXISTENT in deciding the destinies
of not only individuals bat nations.
From time immemorialthei influence has
been felt most potently in the affairs of
the werld. Their beauty has led captive
the hearts of monarchs as well as peas
ants, and they have been able to sway the
destinies of empires by look or a nod
When sovereigns In their own right they
have proved as capable as men. Their
armies have been as indomitable as any
that the world has seen; their rule as
comprehensive rs that of the greatest
potentates of history. Zenobia and Cleo
patra ruled as wisely and as absolutely
as Alexander or Augustus C@ser Pompa-
dour was even o greater power in France
than Richelieu, while the women of the
revolution were its chief motive power
Josephine and Eugene kept back the
tide of revolution long after the people
had wearied Of the rule of their imperial
husbands. Madame dc Stael, Recamier
and Metternich have given direction to
thought and literature that has placed
France in the foremost rank among the
intellectual nations of the world. In the
domain of literature women have filled
no unimportant field Louise Muhlbach,
George Sand, Charlotte Bronte, George
Elliott, Harriet Martineau and many
others have left their stamp upon the
mental world that will prove.as ineffaoe-
able as the records of any of their mas
culine associates. In art they have shone
respondent, and by their genius have con-
tributed in no small degree to the aesthetic
in life.
But it is in the home and social life
that the influence of woman in the
present age is most felt. As wives they
either bless or curse their husbands. They
can win man from evil courses, and
mould him as they will-direct his am
billions. regulate his desires, restrain his
passions. Few men in this
country have risen to eminence with
out the active cooperation of their
wives. AS mothers they have work of
grave responsibility to perform. To them
their children look for counsel and
advice. The boy can have his thoughts
directed to pursuits in which he can be
of practicable benefit to mankind, or
permitted to go unrestrained to fall into
the many snares that vice has set for the
feet of the unwary. The girl can be
taught those qualities that make them
only attractive in the eyes Of men, but fit
them for the graver responsibilities that
are in store for them as wives and mothers,
or they can be reared as mere butterflies
of fashion, who in time will become mere
dead weights around the necks of their
husbands or fathers, dragging them down
into the abyss of ruin. A good daughter
will make a good wife-a helpmeet for
her husband in the best sense-and a
good wife will invariably prove good
mother and train up her children in the
way they should go.
Some women complain that they are
denied political privileges under our laws
to which they are justly entitled, The
facts do not bear them out. or else they
themselves are negligent Of their oppor-
| tunities. If women were allowed to vote
they would cast their ballots for the same
candidates and the same party that their
| b1cbopds fotbarc opd hrctbnyo VITO for
When great moral questions are at issue
the women, not the men, are the real
arbiters Of fate. No man who truly re-
CARDS his wife or his mother, or his daugh-
tiers, will vote for any measure that will
prove obnoxious to them or interfere in
the slightest degree with their honor or
pleasure. To guard those of his house
hold from reproach or degradation is the
handspring of a mans action in such
emergencies as these, and with or with
out solicitation he will pursue that course
which seems best for their protection.
Women would not be as jealousy guard
ed with the ballot ia their own hands as
they are to-day, with their sons, brothers
and husbands as their champions.
| In the church the influence of women
is far greater than anywhere else save in
the home. Woman's nature is more re-
ligious than mans, and she instinctively
pays more heed to the wants of the soul
than man, immersed as he is in the labors
of the world. More than two-thirds of
the members of the church are women,
and it is due to them to say that but for
their influence and support religion would
be nonentity and churches thing of
tradition. They have leisure for con-
temptation, and their natural spirituality
leads them to pay more attention to things
not of this world than men can give.
Next to their home concerns, therefore,
the church should command the best
efforts of woman kind. Through the
church they can extend their influence far
and wide. They can reach the weak and
erring and reclaim them from ways of sin
to paths of righteousness. They can
seek out those that are in distress and by
min1stering to their wants become agents
for the accomplishment Of great good,
and for the spread Of the gospel of