Woman's chronicle. (Little Rock, Ark.) 1888-1???, 1890-01-18
"Is Woman Woman's Worst Enemy p,

sentng his characters as bad without necessity ),
ne anticipated reproof which might Justly be adj
mlnstered to some modern writer's concerning
women.
Inc marsh statement which serves us for a text
IS presented to us in various forms nearly every
Gay IN our newspapers or in general conversation.
1t Is manlfestly an old-time prejudice which too
many repeat without suitable investigation. It is
abhorent to every good man when applied to the
women of his own household, and contrary to the
facts presented by one who ventures to make hui
man nature a study.
v Looking over the pages of history we find some
Instances of cruelty recorded where the atrocious
unwomaniness of some individual woman stands
out in bold relief but mans cruelty to man is far
greater and no historian comments upon it with
special reference to sex. When writer's of either
sex hold the mirror up to reflect human nature it
should be genuine reflection and not distorted
image Swallowed by prejudice or draped with the
musty garments of the past. Rdicule is a DOW
erful weapon and, strange to say it has been used
with tremendous force against the gentler sex.
The foibles of women have been exaggerated, her
vanity satlrzed, her dress criticised and her intel
lectual lnferiorty made the subject of sermon,
song and essay.
A typical gentleman of the good old school re-
marked not long since that it seemed almost i'm
possible to take up paper or one of the cheaper
periodicals, without finding therein some covert
sheer or open attack upon women.
~ am an old man" said this American Ches-
terfeld, "and l reverence my mothers memory
and cherish my wife and daughters, therefore l
must respect the women of other households and
l must enter my protest against the vulgar as
sumption and weak jokes of our young people of
today. We toast woman at dinners and roast her
in public; even her physical ailments are made
brutally prominent through the advertisements,
and she must bear the insult without any power to
resent such an outrage on decency."
Such championship must be grateful to the hosts
of women who have hitherto only dared to whisper
their annoyance to each other. A woman's pen is
seldom used in denouncing or ridiculing her sis
tiers. She understands, as no man can, the COM
pick nature, the peculiar temperament, the un-
spoken aspirations and limitations of sex. Every
true woman is proud of her sex and anxious to be
herself all that is best and nobest. She is often
morbdly conscious of her failings, which are con-
stantlv held before her, and has many msgvings
concerning her powers. All the mysteries of life
and death are deeper to her than to her brothers.
The coarsest, most unlovely woman softens in sick
ness and sorrow, and the veriest shrew will weep
over the coffin of a little child. No woman can
be unsexed. The Almighty has cared for that.
The poet Stedman uttered forceful truth when he
wrote:
"No woman's head so keen to work its will,
But that the w0mans heart is mistress STILL"
The present position of women and their modest
successes in various avenues of work must be
credited to women themselves. Men have been
slow to give them place and in college or out of
it, they have won their honors by dlnt of hard
labor and too often against either direct or indirect
opposition. As students, they are industrious,
conscientious and perseverng; as teachers, eau
tious and yet progressive; as authors, fearless and
original within the limits allowed them; and as
home-keepers, wiser and more efficient than their
grandmothers.
oil +bot hoc hnnn done nv WOm-