Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-11-09
THE HoNAHLY EolAI.
HER BENEFICENT INFLUENCE OVER
MEN AND NATIONS.

HER BENEFICENT INFLUENCE OVER
MEN AND NATIONS.
Woman's Real sphere-Her Moral Infiu-
ence-Characters of the First Lead
ers in Woman's Behalf.
One of the best things ever penned by
that truth-telling poet, Phoebe Cary, was
her aAdvice Gratis to Certain Women"
the concluding stanza of which runs in
this wise:
"'Tis good thing to write and to rule in the
State,
But to be true womanly woman is great;
And if you ever come to be that, twill be when
You cease to be babies, nor try to be men"
The womanly woman, like the manly
man, is always deservedly loved and ad-
mired. 1t matters not what place she oc-
cupies in the world, such a woman ever
commands its respect. She may be the
humblest housewife or the obscurest nurse
attending the sick or dying; yet. if it be
said by those under her charge that they
would fain "kiss her shadow" as the
soldiers under Florence Nightingale were
known 10 have averred, such conquest is
worth more to her than a coronet. That
tenderness of heart and thoughtful con-
sideration inherent in the true woman has
done more to help the world upward, as
well as onward, than the castingof female
vote will ever do. What need to take
mans place, when woman may cause
men to act the good that she wills?
And does not history show us that, in
civilized countries, women have ever ex-
listed who have influenced the rulers of the
people, and thus decided the destinies of
nations?
Alas not always for good has this power
been exerted, but the power has always
been woman's to use for good or i'll as her
nature dictates.
Saws a modern French writer: "It is
women who mold the character of men. If
they are selfish, avarieious, self-interested; !;
if they prefer in their lovers money to
-courage, to beauty, to intelligence, to all
the qualities of the heart, men necessarily
become prosaic, vulgar, low"
And who will gainsay this?
Only the sordid few who, reared ii q
country whose practical current overruns
its traditions, ignore that chivalry which
the commonest Frenchman still holds.
Only the few will deny this, because in
our own land facts prove it to be true.
This woman may be the "frst lady of the
land" and famous social leader; she may
be the organizer of working girls clubs, or
she may be the chosen President of a wo-
mans suffrage society; in every case the
woman who holds that place the longest,
who is most universally popular and es-
teemed, is that one whose womanGness
makes itself felt. She is disinterested-
deeply interested in plans for the assist
ance of suffering humanity-free from van
ity and egotism. This generosity of char
acter evinces itself in her manner, and she
becomes at once power In the circle over
which she reigns. When Napoleon Bona
parte was banished, the wife whom he had
divorced-the wife of whom he said at st.
Helena: 81 gained battles; Josephine
gained me hearts. She was the
most loving of women"-this woman, de-
throned, still cried out in forgiving tender
ness when she heard the great mans fate
Napoleon is in distress, and / can't be
with himW
1t is women possessed of such deep ten
derness of nature, of that "milk of human
kindness" so much needed, who mold the
characters of men for good.
| In summing up the women who were the
| great moving spirits in all organizations
for the furtherance Of liberty and equality
| tor women, what characters do we en-.
counter? Not only women of executive
power, not only women of genius, but prin.
cipally those who had led brave, self-sacri.
| ficing lives, who had performed great du.
ties, and who held foremost in their hearts
the good of humanity. Among the first
Lucretia Mott, with whom that gentle
beautiful woman, Mrs. Cady Stanton, fell
in love while on her bridal tour. Quiet
retiring, the gentlest Of women, adherine
to all her Quaker traditions, yet firm in
her convictions, carrying ever the iror
hand in the velvet glove, parrying every
attack with gentle, calm grace, which be
spoke that composure which conviction
of truth engenders.
Then there was Mrs. Willard, Miss Cath
crime Stowe and her sister, Harriet Beechel
Stowe; over the sea, Harriet Martinear
and the author of "Hertha," who worked
so hard in behalf of her sisters in Sweden
These, with how many others, may be sin
gled out as holding their place through
| the great charm of womanliness, independ
ent of mere brain effort. The mere rant
ers, the bitter, acrid women, the womer
possessed of petty motives, fall back in the
long run and give place to the womanly
woman.
l never heard man speak OF Mrs. Cady
Stanton after having met her, or hearC
her, without uttering her praise. Anc
everyone knows, who has listened to the
natural unconventional talks of Mrs. 1sa
bella Beecher Hooker, Just now being SC
honored in Chicago by the "Queen Isabells
Worlds Fair Association" that she quite
bewitches every man present by her dry
humor and piquant anecdotes. With hel
gentle, unostentatious manner, her sweet
dignifed, motherly face, with its frame o.
looped-up gray curls, and the youthful
sparkle in her eye, she is fitted to charm
and lead men and women alike.
Such women show US the absurdity O.
assuming mans habits or attire, and where
in lies woman's chief power. Those trait:
in the opposite sex, which the member'
thereof themselves strive to deserve, are
alone the ones which women should imi
tate. The nobler attributes of courage anC
generosity, without which man falls in the
esteem of his fellow, are the ones womer
also must possess to be womanly women
In short, if one would be 'manly," let it b.
in the sense that man is so.