Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1883-11-13
A Just and Glowing Tribute to the Fair Sex.
woMAN's INFLUENCE.

| Passed down to us through successive
eras, caught from the parent to be lisped by
the child, this saying has passed almost in
to an axiom. Like hundreds of others of SIM
. liar character, it has survived the obscurity
which should ever be the fate of falsity; be-
cause of that tersenesss to which humanity
ever lends willing ear, we are caught by
the apparent aptness of the so-called axiom,
and too often we do not stop to analyze its
truthfulness until by constant repetition we
finally accept it as correct. Il is only when
subjected to the severe test of reason that
these axioms stand forth, stripped of their
beauty of expression, in all the true hide
BUSINESS of falsehood. Let us then see if
woman is as frail as she is represented.
We, who are Christians; take the Bible as
standard by which the good and fitness of
all things are to be judged, and from its
teachings we learn that all created things
have certain uses to serve and ends to at
tain. Mankind being the highest order of
creation there necessarily devolved upon
him certain duties; these are numerous and
intricate and it is only here proposed to treat
of fone-namely, the influence that woman
exercises over man. In the darkest ages of
the worlds history, woman was regarded
more as slave than as companion; a
willing servant to serve mans pu rpOses; de-
ticent in intellect US in bodily strength
Under such attending circumstances her in
| f1uence must necessarily have been verv linn
tied; and yet here and there we find her
bursting asunder The chains of prejudice and
influencing for good or i'll the fate, not alone
of individuals, but of natiens. OF such,
history, both inspired and profane, furnish
eS numerous instances. As each succeeding
age brought with ii a higher civilization,
Ql off oe I,n,
to more enlightened society, substituting
the deductions of reason and the truths of
Christianity for the true force which at first
was almost solely the standard of right and
wrong, so woman gradually emerged from
the degrading position of domestic SER
want, to assume that of mans companion,
With her new dignity there came new du-
ty. Man had accorded her new sphere of
action-had given her the right to direct him
in those things which by nature she was bes+
| fitted to guide, and it henceforth became in
cum bent upon her to so exercise that influ-
ence to which he so willingly yielded, as
would best benefit them both
| Take her first as child, when reason has
not as yet had time to come to her aid in
| pointing out her little duties. Nature seems
| to rush to the rescue end she unconsciously
wields her influence for the interest of soci-
| ETY.. Take her surrounded by troop of
| wild mischievous boys. Who can deny but
| that she by her very presence, seems
great influence upon their rough sports and
uncouth ways? She seems to impart to
them a portion of that gentleness, that
which makes her lovable, by being to them
an object to protect as well as love. She is
their sister, and to every manly heart the
| word conveys a volume of meaning In
= 4l11t,, l. 6.
! liciGude for her pleasure and welfare, they
learn true lesson of life, little thinking in
after years how much of that true manli-
ness they boast of is due to the little frail
being they call sister. Young as she may
b she still possesses an influence, and she
cannot be taught too soon the duty of is
proper exercise. For boys are quick in
folm ming their opinions and are prone to
judge others by the standard of their own
sisters. Should she lose their respect she
| loses their affection, and with it all control
over their young lives. As woman Just
emerging from her teens, entering into a
woman, her influence becomes more and
more extended. She should begin to real
ize that the days of yielding to every child
Ish impulse are past. That she owes socie-
ty a duty, be it in the ballroom, the parlor
or in every day life; she should not forget
that it is hers to refine, soften, and to ele-
vate. This is not SO difficult, for at her age
men are apt to clothe her in all the imagi-
nary charms of a supreme being. How great,
then, is the necessity that she should regard
the temple she has erected aud the influ-
ence she has created, with the bright eye of
hope and the unclouded brow of cheerful
ness. The chamber of the sick, the pillow
of the dying, the vigils of the dead, the al
tars of religion, never missed the presence
"r sympathies of woman. Timid though
she be, and so delicate that the ''winds of
heaven may not too roughly visit her, on
such occasi ms she loses all sense of danger
and assumes preternatural courage which
knows not fear nor the consequences, for
woman feels where man thinks, acts
where he deliberates, hopes where he de-
spairs, triumphs where he fails" As a.
wife her task probably becomes more diff
cult. Many of The day dreams of her
youth will vanish, and she is brought face
to face with the sterner relations of life
At the first outset she should, and generally
| does, possess unbounded inf ence' over
| him, whom she promised to love, honor
aud obey. A good wife, they say, makes
| good mother. 1t is here that she occupies
the highest and proudest position of Wo-
manhood. The little charges enti usted to
her care look up TO her in all things; she
forms their characters, moulds their ideas
of right and wrong.
According to the training they receive
| from her in youth, so will be the course of
their after-life. Deprived of any equal
voice in the governments and counsels of
nations and of the chances to reveal physi-
cal power and herosm on the battlefield,
still woman's influence over the fate of
mankind is very great, and she is inferior
to man only in physical power, in all else
she is equal, if not superior. Viewed in
whatever light you place her, woman wields
magic influence Let her but confine it
to the path which God and nature has mark
ed out for her; let her properly exercise it
| at the fireside, in society or in every day
life. and she becomes the most glorious of
all Gods Creatures noble ponsan. INA
ture has made thee to temper man; angels
are painted fair to look lik you. There is
in you all that we believe of heaven; amaz-
ing brightness, purity and love, eternal joy
and everlasting love. I'll Beaux, in Phila.
| National Union.
I A PETRIFIED BoDY.-The remains of
Mrs. Mary Glessner, of York, Pa, which
were inferred at the Moravian burying
ground, were exhumed Thursday prepara
tory to reinterment at Prospect Hill Gem
etary. Upon reaching the cnffin it was dis
| poVQrA6 n hn in rama wis hla OOO6 state