The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-08-02
woman's Greatest Power.

oppressed people or Engiand.-DdVsa
Ker, in Harper's Young People.
Woman's Greatest Power.
In an open letter to Miss Frances e..
Willard, published in the Christian U",
ion, Mrs. Caroline F. Corbin of Chicago,
gives some practical reasons why woman
should not give up the influence which
she now possesses in the home for the
uncertainty of political power to be
gained through the ballot box. Her
clearly expressed views agree with those
of most women who have given thought
full consideration to the subject. After
showing the physical superiority of man
she says:
elias nature, then, given woman no
redress for this state of subjectivity to
the physical pre- emineuce of man? Yea,
verify. Her power is dominant in the
realm of morals but it is true, the world
over, that the higher the evolution of
moral power the more perfectly is it
emaucipated from the methods of force,
the more entire is its reliance upon the
higher and purer methods of love. Love,
then, is the secret spring of the woman's
control over the man. Those very tides
of strength and virility by which the
destiny of the world is accomplished
break in helpless subsection at the feet of
the woman whom he loves. By an
inexorable law of his nature he must
seek the constant refreshing of his man.
hood at her hands, and be will render
her Just the return for this inspiration
and uplifting which she demands. She
may, too often does throw away her
sceptre altogether, ignorant of its won
derful power; or she may seek her COM
pensation in gold or luxury or fine
apparel, but that is her own fault and
the misfortune of both of them. If, as
the price of her love, she exacts honor,
integrity, high purpose, noble living,
then indeed is the world blessed in the
love of these two. Aye, and SO is God
honored, for it is the order in which he
has set the souls of men and women, as
He has set the stars in theirs. As
mother, sister, wife, friend, woman holds
or may hold the destiny of many in her
keeping. 1t is her Office to supply that
subtle inspiration which, acting thl~ agh
his love nature, purified and ennobled by
her influence, will, by Gods grace,
redeem him from his besetting sins and
make him the willing servitor of the
being who embodies his highest ideal.
This is natures method of giving control
over man into the hands of woman, and
the history of human life is made up of
instances where it has been power in
the hands ofgood women for good pur.
poses, or evil women for vile and
destructive ends. You propose to
enfranchise all women, the bad as well
as the good; but when the former class
find that the new method of control ID
less efectual than the old, it appears to
me to be a foregone conclusion that they
will fall back upon natural methods, and
then you will have an element intro
dnced into politics which will tax your
reformatory powers to the utmost and in
manner you have not anticipated, and
beside which intemperance will seem a
minor evil, because it will attack the
very foundation of the homie itself.
"Nor is there any need of this unnat-
ural and roundabout method of reform.
The experience of the last twenty FIVE
years has proved that whatever legisla.
ton is demanded for the amelioration Of
the legal status of women, or for the pro-
lection of the home, can be procured far
more speedily and effectually by means
of the votes of men than through any
advantage which might be gained by
woman suffrage.
"It is your frequent plea that you wish
to see mother love and mother wisdom
applied to affairs of State. So must we
all of us, as women who love our race,
But realize two things first, that much
of the wisdom that now rules in legisla'
tive halls is truly that which has been
inculcated by mothers in quiet and
obscure homes, and, second, that to
transplant the root of home love and
influence to public life would be aa fatal
to it as to try to force the rose of Cash
mere-rich, fragrant, beautiful, instinct
with life and sweetness in its own native
valley, to grow on cold Alpine heights
or on the arid wastes of the desert. God
has not SO ordained its nature aud des.
tiny. Woman must utilize her wisdom
concerning public affairs by first apply.
ing it to the hearts and coDsciences ol
the men whom God has placed nearest
to her, and so vivi6ed and energized by
their masculine strength, it shall be laid
upon the altar of the State, the pure and
perfect offering of these two whom
Almighty God has ordained to be one.' y
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