The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1888-02-16

a queen, The longer / live the more
admire good womanhood And nave
come to form my opinion of the cllarac-
ter of man by his appreciation or non
appreciation Of woman. If man
have depressed idea of womanly
character he is bad man. and there is
no exception to the rule The writings
of Goethe can never have any such at
fractions for me as Shakespeare. because
nearly all the woinanly characters of the
great German have some kind of tuipi-
tude. There is Lis Mariana, Will, her
clndestine sSheming, and his Mignon, of
evil parentage, yet worse than her ance.-
tors. and his Theresa. the brazen. and
his Aurelia of many intrigues, and Ills
Phll!na, the tcrmagant, and his MClina,
the rarnisled. and his Baroness, and his
Countess, and there is seldom a womanly
character in all his voluminous writ
ings that would be worthy Of resi-
tlcncc III 4 respectable ccal cellar. yet
pictured and dram2tiZcd and cmDlaZOred
III all the literary world Is compelled to
zee. No! no! Give me William Shakes
peare idea of woman; and | see it in
Dcsdemona, and Cortlelia, and Rosalind
and Imogen, and Helena, and Hermione.
and Viola. and Isabella. and Sylvia, and
! Perdita, all of them with enough faults
to prove them human. but enough kindly
characteristics to give us the authors
idea of womanhood, his Lady Macbeth
only a dark background to bring out the
supreme lOvellness Of his other female
characters.
Oh, women of America. rise to your
opportunity. Be no slave to PRIDE or
worldliness, Or sin. Why ever crawl in
the dust when you can mount throne?
Be queens unto God forever. Hail
Vashti!
Again: want You to consider Nashti
the veiled. Had she appeared before
Ahasucrus and his court on that day,
] with her face uncovered, she would have
shocked all the delicacies of Oriental
society. and the very men WHO in their
intOxication demanded that she come. in
their sober moments would have dcspised
her. AS some flowers seem to thrive
best in the dark lane and in the shadow,
and where the sun does not seem to
reach them, so God appoints to most
womanly natures q retiring and unob-
trlsivc spirit. God once in while
%oes call an Isabella to the throne,
the front of a host, or a Marie Antoinette
! to Qucll a French mob, or a Deborah to
stand at the front of an armed battalion,
crying out: Up! up. This is the day
in which the Lord will deliver Sise1a into
thy hands," And when women arc called
to such outdoor work and to such heroic
positions, God prepares them for it: and
they have iron i'll their soul. and light
nin9s IA their eye. ard whirluinds in
their breath, and the borrowed strength
Of the Lord omnipotent in their right
arm. They walk through furnaces as
though they were hedges Of wild
flowers, and cross seas as though
they were shimmcring sapphire, and
all the harpies Of hell sink down
to their dungeon at tho stamp of their
womanly indignation. But these are
exceptions Generally. Dorcas would
rather make a garment for the poor
boy; Rcbecca would rather fill tho
trough for the camcls; Hannah would
rather make coat for Samuel the
Hebrew maid would rather give a
prescription for Naanlans leprosy
the woman of Sarcpta would rather
gather q few sticks to cook meal for
famished Elijah; Phebe would rather
carry letter for the inspired
apostle; Mother Lois would rather
educate Timothy in the Scriptures. When
| see woman going about her daily
duty-with cheerful dignity presiding at
the table; with kind and gentle, LUt
firm, discipline presiding in the nursery,
going out into the world without any
blast Of trumpets, following in the foot
Steps Of him who went about doing good
I say: This is Vashti with veil on.
But when I see q woman of unblusling
bo!dncss. loud voiced. with tongue Of
infinite Glitter clatter, with arrogant
look, passing through the streets with q
masculine swing, Gavly arravcd IN q
very hurricane of millinery. | cry out E:
..Vashti has lost her VEIL When sec
Il woman struggling for political
prefcrmcnt, and rejecting the duties
Of homo as insignificant. and thinking
the Offices Of wife, mother and daughter
of no Importance. and irving TO force lel
way on up into conei,icllitv, say: 'Ah,
what a pity; NashtI les long lost hci
veil. When | see a woman Of Comcly
4ratures. and of adroitncss of intellect
and endowed with all that the schools car
do for one. and Of high social position,
vet moving in society with supcrcilious
ness and hauteur. as though she would
lave Icoplc know their place and an un
defined combination Of Gicclc. and strut
and rodomonta4e. endowed with allo
iathic quantities of talk, but only home
opaihic infnite$imals Of sense. the terror
Of try goods clerks and railroad con
ductors. discoverers Of significant mean
ings III plain conversation, Trodigics q
badness and innuendo-1 say: '.Eashti ha:
lost lier veil.
But 90 rot misinterpret what I say
irto Z depreciation of the work Of thoss
glorious and Givinelv called women wht
VIII not be understood ill after they ar.
dead. women Ike Susan T. Anthony
; who arc giving their life for the Letter
mcnt Of tllc condition of their sex. Thcsc
Of YOU who think that women hav:
uHder the law of this country an c1ua
chance with men ere ignorant of the laws
, \ gentleman writes me from Mary land
e saving: Take the laws Of this state. 4
man and wife start out in life ful. @
'.oDe in every respect by their joint ef
: forts, and. as is frequently the case
! through the economic ideas Of the wife
succeed in accumulatlng fortune. bU
: they have 70 children; they reach olC
age together. and then the husband dts
D What does the law Of this state do then?
q! saws 10 The widow, hands OFF Your lat
:, husbands property, do not tonch it: TN
: state viii find others to whom 1t Will CIV
n that. but you, the wido,E. must 10
: touch it. only so much IS viii keep hf
within your aged body, that you ma.