Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1889-04-05

One of the most marked characteristics of
modern life is the enormous increase which
it makes i'll its demands upon woman 1t has
always been true, from the dawn of cfvili2a-
ton, that the role of women in society and in
life has been more intricate, although less
broad, than that of men, 1t has always been
asked at the hands of womcn'that they should
be thousand times moro flexible than men;
that they should adapt themselves to hun
dred conditions which ricn ignored or scorncd;
md that they play in the drama of life
score OF parts to every one which was under
taken by their fathers and brothers and sons
As life has constantly grown more and more
complex, this difference between the sexes
has increased rather than diminished. Life
today demands of a woman more changes in
day than man is required to compass in
month. She must, from moment to moment,
be one thing after another-thc wife, the
mother, the woman Of society, the leader IN
reforms, the sharer in this work of charity,
and that labor and intellectual progress until
it is a miracle that she is able to do any of
the multitudinous duties imposed upon her.
OF course, in great measure this is due to
the fact that women will accept these bur
deus. Men escape much by the simple
method of refusing to take it upon them. 1t
is idle to expect men to bend to all changes
with which women cucumber their lives, and
so the lives Of men remain, and are likely TO
remain more simple than those of the other
Sex. Women are, as rule, sufficiently
well able to oppose their wills to personal OPP
position, but the women are few and far to
seek who arc capable of standing out against
circumstance. Perhaps the difference is that
a man argues with himself and is satisfied
with his conclusion, wslo a woman must
argue with q second person or her arguments
are apt to be as water spilled upon the
ground which cannot be gathered again. y
man cOnvinces himself that he is right and
that is tho end Of it, lie acts upon that con-
clnson, whilo u woman in similar case
would be apt 70 find it impossible TO be salts
fed unless sho could have the confirmation of
some ono else to assure her that she was iusti-
fed in hcr decision.
But whatever bo the cause, of the fact
there is no doubt. Tue woman who il of the
world today must DC prepared to be all things
in succession. Sho must be the careful house
wife, the social leader, the religieusc, the
scholar, tho wit, the confidante, all in turn
She must compass at least a show of all
learning, sho must be in sympathy with al
branches of knowledge and feeling ana
thought; sho must attend to q hundred forms
of lfcof the very existence of which her grand
mothers woro ignorant. Whether she has
been wise il taking all this burden upon her
it viii hardly fall within the province Of the
present generation to decide. Whether the
children and grandchildren Of these wonder
full women viii be tho better or the worse for
the extraordinary strain which is put upon
the mothers Of the race am man may specu-
late, but no man can tell. Every woman
might be supposed to decide for herself how
far she will snare this high strung life, hut us
matter of fact no human being is able to
escape the influence of his day and genera
ton. We arc part of whole, and although
woman may TO some extent draw herself
from tho current, il the end she is forced to
choose between being left Il stranded waif on
the shore OF the stream and taking her part
OF whatever the lie OF her time may be.