The Monitor., 1891-04-17

WoMANS WORLD IN PARAGRAPHS.
LAS for Me, Give Nc Liberty Give
zIe Death"

aIe Death"
With the proyerbial shrewdnesS of his
race, Solomon chose wisdom as the best
gift he could ask for. perfectly well
aware-the sly old Hebrew-that if he
only had wisdom he would know enough
to obtain everything else in this life that
he wanted 1t was his long headedness
quite as much as his true piety that
prompted him TO make that choice, but
since we cannGt all have wisdom, then
tl,, next most precious gift to man, and
woman, too, is liberty, the right TO do ex-
actly as YOU please, SO long as You do not
interfere with anybody else. That is the
sole restriction that should be put on hu
man beings. The right to think your
own honest thoughts; to proclaim them
openly and bravely, fearless of all the
world, knowing that no old monster of
q Mrs. Grundy will crush you under her
juggernaut wheel for telling the truth;
to dress in comfortable and convenient
clothing without being hooted; to asso-
ciate freely with people whom you like,
and with no others: to have no nasty
minded social spies on your track, no
Miss Nancys of either sex to claw you;
to write and print the truth as you feel it
and know it. without hedging and trim
ming and trembling: to live daily with
out pack of bigots, critics and hypo-
critics in cry after you; to follow 10 con-
ventionalities of fashion, society or be-
lief that did not suit you; to wander
out alone in the beautiful wilds of free
dom; TO climb the cliffs and breathe the
sweet, strong air of liberty upon the
mountain top-to gain such life would
die thousand deaths
The other day was going up Fulton
street in Brooklyn in an elevated train.
A young lady sat beside me, reading at
tentively. In cars always look TO see
whether girls are reading novels or
newspapers, and accordingly inspected
this young lady's book. 1t was a re-
ligious volume, and am bound to say
she seemed profoundly interested. By
and by she laid it down, and saw that
its name was "The One Thing Needful."
In her lap beside the book were five pack
ages of chewing gum, and she was man
ipulating the sixth as fast as her jaws
could work. Chewing gum was the one
thing needful.
If, after all, the fogy clement in the
Methodist church manage to keep wom-
en- out Of being delegates to the quarter
ly and general conferences, it will not
be strange if Il large proportion of the
ablest ladies in that denomination leave
it in body and connect themselves
with other Christian organizations that
have more Christian views on the woman
question. 1t will be strange, in fact, if
they do not.
United States Senator Joseph N.
Carey, of Wyoming, made an eloquent
address at the late meeting of the Ma
tional American Woman Suffrage asso-
citation in Washington. The voting at
the first election in the new state was
done under the Australian ballot sys-
tenn, and Senator Carey said: "What-
ever objection man could have raised
before to a woman's going to the polls
and voting was entirely removed by
this system.
No; we don't want men to take back
seat just because they are men, but we
intend women shall have their share OF
the front seats from this time on. It is
not the entering on this or that occupa-
ton, or even following this or that line
of conduct, that is insisted on in behalf
of our sex. We would force nobody into
any trade or profession. 1t is that we
want the liberty TO choose our own occu-
pations and do as we please without be-
ing forced either this way or that I'm
der the system of liberty for all each
will quickly find his or her own level.
Lady Florence Dixie tells in a manner
that is altogether delicious how she
evaded the words ''love, honor and obey"
in the church marriage ceremony. She
says: For myself am not ashamed to
confess it. did not pronounce them,
l merely substituted er, or, er, in a low
voice" Girls, don't forget Lady Flor
ence's er, er, er. Years ago, when be-
loved girl chum of mine was about to be
married by the Methodist service, before
the ceremony l saw the minister at her
request and asked him to omit from the
pledge the word obey" 1t was sur
prisingly refreshing to me to hear this
good Methodist clergyman answer: "Oh,
Inever put that word in. No preacher
that has any sense ever does cay more"
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