The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1882-10-20
The A. A. w.
From a Stage Point OF View.

Republican writes under Fridays date the fol-
lowing sprightly letter anent the Woman's
Congress in this city:
found myself on Wednesday last ssassist-
ing" at what at first might have been taken
for matinee The audience was almost e1-
clusively feminine, and l appeared to be soil
tary and out-of-place man. Below where the
foot-lights ought to have fiickered were vines
and flowers. The stage was set for drawing
room scene, with modern chairs and tables.
bits of aesthetic needle-work; in panels on the
walls heathenish folk we're grinning and pos
turing as if they had just heard of an Ameri-
can board missionary Portieres opened into
unknown beyonds and all things seemed fit
and ready for a society drama. Presently
came en- one whom l took to be the leading
lady and was casting about as to which was
the injured wife and mother and which the
captivating maid who was to play the serpent
in domestic Eden when the leading lady took
out roll of manuscript and read the prologue
the prologue of the A. A. W., which, being
translated, reads, ''The Association for the
Advancement of Women" This imposing al
liberation is too long except for Sundays and
holidays, and the A. A. w. is called Tor short
the womans congress.
After the great missionary meeting, with
vast crowds attending and with some of the
finest forms of human eloquence stirring heart
and brain--a convocation that staggered the
imagination with the survey OF the globe
gress, and amid flowers and music, holds it's
10th annual session. That woman may speak
in public is a fat dcconlpk, and an assemblage
differed and addressed solely by women calls
for neither comment, nor surprise, praise nor
blame on account of its sex. The congress
brought together company of well-man-
nered women; the eccentric and sensational
we're lacking in speech and dress and the
traditional strong-minded woman was not
to be seen. The president, Mrs. Julia Ward
A.
the world had ceased to wonder that
women could do something BESIDES keep
ing house, and was now rather impatient that
women did not do more. The topics discussed
have been of wide range-Schools and chill
dren; Woman before the law; Woman's chance
of success in the industrial arts; Needs of the
religious nature and the Chinese question; Po-
litical economy, and the STUDY of Saturn
these have been among the themes preseeted.
A unanimous verdict was rendered in favor
of the Chinaman. heard an alluring sketch
of race of beings among whose qualities were
thrift, honesty, industry, and cleanliness. The
members of this admirable race are lovers of
peace and the p0ssesSors of an enlightened CIV
il service; they not only pay their bills, but in
variably return "small loans;" they do large
work for small pay, and even ask for more
more work. They are never in bad humor
and never in hurry; but, above all and best
of all, their manner of entering horse-car is
full of dignity and repose. Where. asks the
lover of the good, shall find people that is
anxious to work and careless about the pay?
Where, asks the lover of the rare and strange,
can find people that always return "small
loans?' Where, asks the lover of the beauti-
full, shall find a noble race that enters the
horse-car with dignity and repose? My dear
interrogatlve sir, go to the kingdom of the
moon, go to San Francisco, go-go home Go
peaceful, honest, reposeful man, whose portrait
L have given in the very words of one of the
speakers of the congress.
Children, their rights and wrongs, was a top
ic on which many suggestive facts were pre-
sented and sensible words spoken. An emil
nently practical paper was that describing the
summer schools for poor children. There was
a really shrewd address by physician on wom-
ans health or lack OF it. But was as much
struck by what they did not say as by what
they did. They did not talk about woman suf-
frage; they did not sentimentalize; they did
not omit all the parts of the syllogism except
the conclusion; they did not talk about their
sphere and they did not abuse the men. The
notoriety given TO children in weekday and
Sunday-schools was deprecated, and the Sun
day-school concert, in some of its features, con-
demned. There is ample need for such rebuke
and warning when children are organized by
clergymen into societies, largely advertised, for
the public recital of their religious experience,
and are enioined to pray, not precisely on the
street-corner, but before an audience. read
church of which the pastor has written a tract,
the people have formed committees and large
ingathering of souls is looked fori So in view
of the unwholesome notoriety given to children
in some OF the churches was glad to hear the
woman's congress say that children ought not
to be made to appear before public audience.
In dignity, refinement, good temper, the
woman's congress was a model fit to be fol-
lowed. | wish could say that the speakers
also put the men to shame by reason of saying
Al.
ously. The essays needed no apology, but some
were read with lack of confidence that was
almost equivalent to an apology. The audience
was eminently sympathetic and resolved to
hear if possible; the mood of the speakers was
SO far from being aggressive as to be almost
that of passivity. Their ideas were radical
~ i @e,e,---;-se hese-~ -assaiasasa
bent and set on hearing and appreciating, the
speakers of the weman's congress would have
been quite helpless and harmless In debate,
of which accurately speaking we had none,
there was no fighting or fencing, no wit or re-
partee. Everybody was vastly polite and
pleased with what everybody else had said.
This seemed to me the most unnatural feature
OF the session. The voices of most of the speak
ers were singularly inadequate to fill the large
city hall, and, as I heard an old lady say,
sounded "squeaky." With some exceptions
the voices were sharp and shrill and incapable
of being heard throughout the hall. Yet, it is
no cause OF surprise that women in a few years
of trial have not learned the art that men, with
all the traditions and presidents of sex only
seldom master. Although their speech was par
tial and faulty yet these women did not do any
of the dreadful things that men do whose busl-
ness it is to speak in public,-as buryi their
hands in their pockets as do some lawyers when
addressing the court and jury; this omission
may BE due, however, to the lack OF pockets.
So until fair proportion of our ministers
learn to read hymn properly, so until a fair
proportion of our lawyers know something of
luah had hos mt nriff
ciZe the women.
II | were asked to characterize this associ-
alton in one word, should take two, and say
goodwill These women wish well not alone
TO their neighDors but to other folks and their
children. The wish does not stop there, but
takes on practical forms / heard nothing said
about culture, with large G, and there were
people there from Boston too. The suggestions
as to caring for the children of the poor, the
hints as to home studies, the congratulations
as 90 the increased number of chances for wo-
men; all were animated by large and gener-
GUS goodwill.
The final paper of the session was a study of
Saturn by Nara Mitchell of Vassar college.
Maria Mitchell was not there to read her owe
paper. Never, trow, was the cold, dry light
of science so cololed and illumined by stage eff
fects, tragic pose, by eye: by gesture, by tones
now soft and pleading and now full and trium-
plant The audience was bewildered and hor-
rifed they would have thought twas TRACE
dy but for the unmistakabe illusions TO
moons and rings and axes. They wanted to
try and understand something about Saturn:
but how could they when the reader absorbed
all their interest and attention? 1t was incon-
gruous to hear a scientific thesis read vivaci-
ously, in musical voice, with flashing eye
and dramatic gesture; it was perhaps incon-
gruous-but she couldn't help it. Years ago, 1
don't know how many, she used to play leading
lady at the Boston Museum. Her "Blanche"
and Julia" Harvard boys of many genera
tons ago used to clap. Last night she played
the leading lady once more, and is it her fault
that Maria Mitchell doesn't know how to write