The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-02-07
Portable before arc thrown on their own re-

sources.
1t is hard for men to earn a living in this
day, but 1t is harder for WomeD-their health
not so rugged, their arms not so strong, their
opportunities fewer These persons, after
trcmblingly going through the ordeal of an
examination as to their qualifications to teach,
half bewildered step over the sill OF the public
school to do two thngs-instruct the young
and earn their own bread. Her work is wear
ing to the last degree. The management of
forty or fifty fdgety and intractable children.
the suppression OF their vices and the develop
ment of their cXCelences, the manage
ment of rewards and punishments, the
sending of SO many bars Of soap and fine-tooth
combs on benignant ministry, the breaking Of
80 many wild colts for the harness Of life, sends
her homo at night weak, neuralgia, unstrung,
| so that OF all the weary people in your cities
| for five nights Of the week, there are none
/ more weary than the public school teachers.
| Now, for Gods sake, give them a fair chance.
! Throw no obstacle in the way. If they come
| out ahead in the race, cheer them. If you
want to smite any, smte the male teachers
| they can take up the cudgels for themselves.
But keep your hands off Of defenseless women.
! Father may be dead, but there are enough
/ brothers left to demand and see that they get
Justice
Within stones throw of this building there
died years ago one of the principals of our
public shoots She had been twenty-five wears
at that post She had left the touch OF refine
ment on a multitude of the Young. She had,
out OF uiler slender given literally lilOu-
| sands Of dollars for the destitute who came UNI
der her observation as a school teacher A de-
| ceased sisters children were thrown upon her
| hands, and she took care of them She was a
| kind mother to them, while she mOthered a
whole school. Worn out with nursing in the
sick and dying room of one of the household,
she herself came to die. She closed the school
book and at the same time the volume of her
Christian fidelity, and when she went through
the gates, they cried:
"These are they who came out of great trib-
ulation and had their robes washed and made
white in the blood Of tho Lamb. 3"
Queens are all such, and whether the world
acknowledges them or not heaven acknowl-
edges them. When Scarron, the wit and &C.
clesiastic, as poor az he was brilliant was
about to marry Madame de Manrenon, he
was asked by the notary what he proposed to
settle upon mademoselle.l The reply was:
Immortality! the names OF the wives of
kings die with them; the name of the wife of
Scarron will live always" In higher and
better sense, upon all women who do thcr duty
God will settle immortality. Not the immor-
tally of earthly fame, which is mortal, but the
immortality celestial. And they shall reign
forever and ever. Oh, the opportunity which
every woman has of being queen
The longer ! live the more | admire good
womanhood And have come to form my
opinion of the character of a.man by lis APP
probation or non.appreciation of woman. If
n man have n depressed idea of womany char
acter he is bad man, and there is no eXcep-
ton to the rule. The writings of Goethe can
never have such attractions for me as Shaks-
peare, because nearly all the wOmanly Charac-
teTs of the great German have some kind oftur-
pitude. There is his Mariana with her clan
destine sCheming, and his Mignon, of evil pa
rentage, yet worse than her ancestors, and his
Theresa, the braZcn, and his Aureia Of many
intrgues, and his Phlino, the termigant, ard
his Melina the furnished, and his baroness
and his countess, and there is seldom n woman
~ character in all his voluminous writings
that would be worthy of residence in respect
able coal cellar, yet pictured, and dramatizcd
and emblaZoned till all the literary world is
compelled to see. No. No. Give mo Will
liam Shakespeare idea of woman: and / see
it in Desdcmona, and Cordeia, and Rosalind,
and Imogen, and Helena, and nermione, 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 n dark background to
bring out the supreme loneliness of his other
female characters.
Oh women of America! rise to your oppor-
tunity
BE no slave TO pride, OF worldliness. or sin
Why ever crawl in the dust, when you can
mount n throne? BE queens unto God for
ever. Hail, sVashtii
Again: | want you to consider Vashtt the
yelled. Had she appeared before Ahasuerus
and his court on that day, with her face unCoy-
cred she would have shocked all the delica-
cies of Oriental society, and the We y men, who
in their intuXication demanded that she come,
in their sober moments would have despsed
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 womany natures retiring
and unobtrusiVe spirit. God, once in a while,
does call an Isabella to a throne, or a Miriam
to strike the timbrel at the front of a host or n
Marie Antonettc to quel Il French mob, or
Deborah to stand at the front of an armed bat
talon, crying out: "Up! Upl This is the
day in which the Lord will deliver Si&nrl into
thy hands" And when women are called to
such outdoor work, and to such heroic posi-
lions God prepares them for it ; aud they have
iron IN their soul, and lightniugs in their eve,
and whirlwinds in their breath, aud the Dor
rOwed strength of the Lord Omuipotent in
their right arm They walk through furnaces
as though they were hedges OF wild flowers,
and cross seas As though they We're shimmering
sapphire, and all the harpies Of hell sink down
10 their dungeon at the stamp of their wo-
manly indignation. But there are exceptions.
Generally, Dorcas would rather make gar
ment tor the poor boy; Rebccca would rather
I'll the trough for The oamels; Hannah would
rather make coat for Samuel,
give a prescription for Naamau's
lcYrosy the woman OF Sarepta would rather
gather few sticks to cook meal FOR iamished
Elisha Phebc would rather carry a bitter to
tho inspired apostle Mother Louis would rather
educate Timothy in the scriptures. when |
see woman going about her daily duty-wjth
cheerful dignity presiding ut the table with
kind and gentle but firm discipline presiding
IN the nursery, going out into the world with
cut any blast OF trumpets, following in the
footsteps Of Him who went about doing good
! say This is \ashti with a veil on" But
when | see woman OF unbluShing holiness
loudly voiced, with tongue OF infinite Glitter
chatter. with arrogant look, passing through
the streets with masculine swing, gailv ar
rayed IN very hurricane Of millinery | cry
out. ~ ashu has lost her veil" When
see woman struggling for political prefer
ment. and rejecting tie duties OF home as
Insignificant and thinking tho offices
OF wife, mother and daughter OF no i'm
portauce, and trying TO force her way on up
into conSpicuity l say. "Ah, what q pity ;
NaShu has LOSS hor veil" When | see a
woman OF comedy features. and OF adroincss Of
intellect, and endowed with all that the school
can do for one aud OF high social position, yet
moving in society with supcrcltousneSs and
hauteur, as though she would have people
know their place. and an underlined combinn-
ton Of giggle, and strut, and rhodomoutade,
endowed with auopathic quantities OF talk
but only homeopathic inhnitcSimalS OF sense,
the terror of dry goods clerks and rail-
road conductors, DISCOVERIES of significant
meanings in plain conversation, prodigieS Of
D badness and inuupp1O I saw s'Noebt; Ia, -