The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-11-13

small for you. To be close to the great
heart of nature, that is, to grow nat
urally and symmetrically as the fine for
est tree does, you want perfect freedom,
and to feel only Gods wisdom and i'm
mutable laws limiting you.
The ideal woman of the future, to-
ward which you are growing, shall be
perfectly free to exercise her nobler in
stincts, for were they not God-given !?
Your parents wish you to use that rich
volume, their gift to you, and not to
lay it away in napkin SO every noble
faculty of the mind was given you for a
purpose. With no barriers reared about
you, each of you young girls shall be as
free to grow toward heaven as your bet
ter selves will permit. Nothing is un-
womanly but that which is essentially
wrong from some point of view. Moth
ing is too profound or difficult for you
but that which yourself shall reject.
Do you long to keep the depraved or
neglected among humanity? That shall
be your mission. If the starry fields of
heaven beckon you, you shall enjoy the
higher education and study the heavenly
bodies with no less rapt a joy because
slipping beyond the pale of the con-
ventional. The queen omnipotent upon
her throne shall not issue her royal be-
hests or follow her native instinct with
more freedom than she who lives by
daily drudgery. She who feels the
mother love strong within her shall not
be sacrificed on ambitions altar to graf
ify the proud father, nor be narrowed
to petty joys by the fond mother.
Have you not seen a soul crushed and
blunted by too tender handling? "Our
daughter is not strong" pleads your we'll
meaning mother, ''she shall be released
from all exertion," and the fair daugh-
ter is compelled to absolute inaction.
What does your life profit you if through
it you lend nothing, mentally or phys
ically, to your neighbor, but, parasite
like, receive, receive, and yet receive,
and never give? When you took that
dainty bit of broiled fowl to the poor
widow, ill across the way, were you
not amply rewarded for all your trouble
by the grateful smile that overspread
the patients worn face ? Had you
toiled hard the whole day long for her,
would not all physical fatigue have
seemed light after the warm pressure
of the sufferers hand, and the joyful
peace that came into her face ? Are we
ever so wearied as after a long, hard
days task for ourselves alsne Israny.
pleasure complete with the sting of dis
content behind itp Let us be glad
that the sick soul wastes the body more
than labor; that while the pampered
nature grows dwarfed and selfish, the
physical system loses its vigor. Nobil-
ity of soul assures us good in thou
sand ways. The ideal woman, how
ever frail, shall plan something for the
joy of her neighbor; the healthy body,
through its development, furnishes op-
portunities of soul culture.
Perfect freedom, physical and spir-
itual, broad public spirit and intellect
ual growth shall form the rich heritage
of the future ideal woman. And you,
my dear young friends, have your own
lives to mold toward that noble end.
What may you not one day do for your
selves, for your friends and for all in
that magic circle, home? God grant
that it be much
DORoTHEA MAPLE.