St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1882-11-10
Social Power Of Woman.

Mrs. Julia Ward Howe read lecture
on wv oman as a Social Power" before
select audience at private residence
in New York on Thursday evening.
Among the auditors were +. c. Sted-
man. The following is the lecture,
in part have been asked to speak to
this company of "'WOman as Social
Power But | cannot begin to do this
without enlarging little on the mean
ing of the word power in its social and
moral application. Power is often
COMPOUNDED with force. The thought
of power is Il very imperial one TO man
kind. Man loves the conquest of the
elements and the material forces of the
universe, which his intelligence con-
vertS into servants. The primitive
ideas of human relations are held to
by millions, where the new gospel is
already established in the most
| thoughtful and high-tOned minds.
| The tyrannical attitude of man in le-
gard to woman, dismissed us sole
cism by the saints of antiquity, is vet
obstinately held to by the multitudes.
| Whole classes of men, governing and
governed, cling with all the strength
of their superstition to tie force which
in other times gave its support to pow
er, but which is now divorced from
that fruitful union. Women make this
mistake equally with men. Women
love power, and are bound as intelli-
gent beings to show their sense of its
value.
A woman loves in man the power
which conquers, the feats of personal
danger and bravery which are not al
ways heroism, but which women often
mistake for it. Men love in women
the power of patience and tenderness,
the power of combining endless details
into the great results of comfort and
beauty, the power of resolving endless
! diScOrdS into Il continuous harmony.
But most of all men revere i'll women
that mysterious egkrGtid, that power of
the minds of women over their senses,
out of which springs all that is ideal
in the relations of sex. The error
which am now trying to illustrate,
the installing force for power, is no
where more common than in this very
domain of sex. Sexual attraction is
the most absolute of the forces of ma
ture. How constantly do men and
women mistake this force for Il power.
]
ton of gravitation which supports the
building is the building itself. Power
is something built upon force. The
woman who mistakes her ability to at
tract men for power will be built on
universal conquest. She will endeav-
or to humble the proudest spirit ut her
feet. Time, which tests power, will
overthrow any life-fabric built on this
I 4 1 -.
day as ever through the natural attrac-
lions of sex. American women through
this added freedom show mental
stature much higher than that of their
| European sisters. Perhaps there is
ground to fear that the added force of
women to-day will lead many of them
to mistake largeness of opportunity
| for achievement. One of the first
aesthetics of women is dress. 1t should
represent wOmanly reserve. The lines
of beauty should he preserved without
! the exposure of the delicate skin
which makes the beholder SILVER and
should make the subject blush. Why
should glaring colors disturb the har-
mony in a young girls complexion
! Why should we dye the golden hair
or powder the face with its evanescent
roses pulsing with the rhythmic heart,
with its silent elOquence, its light and
shadow utteranceG Strange is it, but
| fear true, that the dress found so ad-
vantageous by women of an unfortu-
nate class sometimes becomes the pre-
valent fashion of society. Strange
| that women bred within the limits of
decent homes and helpful churches
should be after led to emulate this low
attraction.
The chivalrous blossOming of our
early society is now beginning to show
its rich harvest. The fields are white
already. And 10! the women, many
of them, sit with empty, idle hands,
too trivial, too little interested in their
own good and that of their race to
gather it. Rather would they stretch
their hands for the gay weeds that
grow in the cOrntield, saying ave like
what is bright to the sight" The rap
id growing of the silliest among the
| English aristOcracy, the disdainful per-
| Sitlage of the society Frenchman, the
rudeness of the German, seem to be
more cOngenial to them than what is
/ best and nOblest in their own country
man. The noble resources of Ameri-
can life are not to be enjoyed without
some meritOriOus effort by individuals.
/ The song of labor is the music of this
/ golden hive and its drones, while they
may be fed upon its honey, will have
no experience of the effort which
makes the honey sweetest to those who
gather it. They will not have drawn
from the heart of life's blossoms their
exquisite perfume. Men and women
of this kind enjoy Europe because it
provides amusement for them, and vast
sums of money are spent in the annual
| fashionable exodus.
There are some, and those high i'll
office, who seek to introduce here the
fatal system of legislation which rec
/ ognizes woman as the instrument of
base indulgence, and uphOlds the right
of man to so consider her. In Great
Britain, France. Switzerland and Italy
good men and women are uniting their
efforts against it, making public attes-
tatiOn of its debasing effect on both
sexes. 1t is with sorrow that | see
many of my own countrywomen ex-
tending their hands to welcome to this