The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1891-06-16


dignity and lowering in the moral
tone. The respect of man for woman
and the dignity of woman herself are
reciprocal; one upholds the other, and
the latter will not survive when causes
exist to destroy the natural distinc-
tons between the sexes which is the
source of the first, and such causes
will always exist when man is per-
mitted to treat with woman on ba-
sis of familiar business equality. 1t Is
thus from those very assertions which
are cast in our teeth as items of re-
proach, that we logically deducc the
excellence of our woman. II is
because she is, and has always been
Withdrawn from the active affairs of
the world, from the sordid influence
and unccrimonious hustle of industri-
al and professional life, to the direc-
ton of the domestic and social circle
that her peculiar amiability OF charac-
ter, delicacy of sentiment and refine
ment of beauty are to be attributed.
donot wish to be looked upon as one
who regards with other than the very
highest admiration, her, wh2s reduced
by necessity sacrifices1 feeling, and
bravely takes up Az bears the cross
of life. Thousands of our women
have done it ever and ovei again
rather than bow supinely beneath the
churlish blasts of i'll fortune. They
are the glory Of their sex, and the his
tory of heroism offers no nobler spec
tacle. But l should regard it as one
of the greatest evils that could befall
the women of the South, the general
introduction and adoption of those
ideas that are so Doisily lauded in pull
pit and lyceum by thcsmad sophists of
social reform. And so, perhaps, it
may be understood, why I say that in
social life-I am not talking of mere
fashionable sOciety-is found the prop
er and most Influential field for woman
to exercise her talents. Theano, Liv-
ia, Mdme. de Stael, Mdme. Roland,
the Duchess of Devonshire and Mrs.
Cleveland have been not less import
ant factors in their day, than Theo-
dora, DOadicca, Joan of Arc, Gather
inc, George Elliott and DIR. Mary
Walker, and their characters $780,
been tssFn4lerf7e .---f Uve1y, That their
lp1uence was directed through the
drawing room rather than from the
field Of action did not render it less
persuasive or less beneficial. The un-
seen hand is often the strongest, and
that influence which noisclcs>ly insin-
yates itself, may well hope fer better
results, than that which boastfully
proclaims its power from the hill tops.
1t is with much pleasure that con-
graduate you that your tuition has
been directed by one who, though a
native of another cline, has yet caught
the true spirit of the Southern life,
and understands thoroughly the needs
Of the Southern young lady. Her
pupils have ever carried with them
the impress of their training, adapting
themselves easily to the calls of society,
and yet supporting with dignity the
demands Of duty and the requirements
Of necessity. -
But l cannot conclude without
word for characteristic of the
Southern man, that nearly concerns
you. You are going into action, and
an cold guard" of knightly sentiments
and Old-fashioned virtues will sur
round and protect you. Some traces
of that chivalry, which ever loved to
bleed and die for woman's sake, which
ever carried within the most sacred
precincts of the heart the story of
woman's weakness, and ever bore
upon the arm the lance TO protect it,
seem to have survived among the sons
of the South. No where else in the
wide world has loyalty to sex and gem
erous subOrlination to the affairs of the
heart taken firmer hold upon nation-
a feeling. The traditions ofthat splen-
did order reared on the four corner
stones of valour, fidelity, courtesy and
were early transported TO
our shores, and may still be seen TO
linger in that almost religioe. x
ton of the female Sex handed down
through many geherations from fstber
to son. until il has become an beredi-
tary trait Of character. This inbred
instict, which even the worst of assoc
Citations, and long years of dissipation.
cannot wholly efface, is perhaps the
noblcst quality Of the Southern gentle
man, and has obtained for him abroad
a consideration equal TO that which it
has won for the woman herself at
home. Said q gentleman from Boston
to me in distant place "Sir, have
asked an introduction because you are
a Kentuckian; you are from the
South from a country where woman
is respected" This is compliment
that needs no comment. l myself can
never refer to it without an emotion
of patriotic pride.
In speaking OF this noble subject In
my own enfeebled way, have not re-
manned unconscious that it has other
than its epic side. But let another
hand atfannt ~ cri4icixo 7 x..o..l.1 n