The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-12-07
n WON. 5 BEHALF.
sPeAKlNG III PUBLIC.
Tie Grea, ,,nereoce netween Woman

seem tu oc under the impression that
real wumlaliness INDUCES publicly in
LAVISH use Of terms of endearment, and
in lat outward display OF affection
which The world will always regard
cody or sneerngly. Those qualities
wncG radically distinguish women
from men are qualities Of character, Of
minds. Of soul They are matters of
inheritance, very frequently, and in any
event arc traits improved by cIltiva-
tioa. by sclt-control, and by the unceas-
ing vigilance and discipline of life. At
fectiuu, win lis tender manifestations,
its own peculiar vernacular, is some
thing so sacred that it should be forever
guarded from the eyes of the soothing
and censorious multitude. 1t is no
more intended for the platform, for the
routine of the public meeting, for inter-
polGton in the minutes Of the session of
Il convention, than the silks and jewels
OF festal array are meant to be dragged
through the dust of the highways, worn
in the ordinary avocctiOns and in the
gar.sh light of noon. The private in
dividual and the public official are two
separate and distinct individuals. The
woman who stands upon the platform,
or who speaks from the floor of a con-
vention, is the representative of a prin-
ciplc or an idea, and she is nothing
more. II is OF paramount Importance
60 her audience and to the presiding
officer that her enunciatiou should be
distinct; that her views should be
strongly, clearly and concsely present
ed; that her rhetoric and her grammar
shoad attain the highest stan dard Of
established usage. But her private
idioayncracies, her physical inirmities,
her tending to emotion or hysteria, bear
40 rightful place T.. consideration in
any phase OF the proceedings Of a delib-
eratve body 1t is not worth while to
resort to spectacular effects or melo-
dramatic methods for the purpose of
emphasizing and making apparent dis
tinctions of SEX No well-bred, we'll
dressed woman who speaks and con-
ducts herself with dignity and modesty
will ever be mistaken for other than
she is
What the average woman most needs
IN her public capacity is composure and
dignity. However amiable and aztec.
tionate it may seem between fricndc
and kindred, my dear is not Il proper
apnellation to use in convention or in
a mass-meeting Nothing is gained by
it in any way, and it undeniably gives
an expression of weakness and inefi-
cheney.
Where a convention is in session for
days together, where all the business is
transacted intelligently and methodi-
callv. where there is displayed pro-
fonud knowledge of parliamentary law,
md where the debate is all that it
should be, sentimentalizing rings like
a false note, out of keeping and out of
harmony with all that is admirable and
praiseworthy. This small bit of censure
will he permitted. for, in view of the
rapid advance that has been made by
women in their ability to consider pub
lie questions and transact public bust
ness, there is no doubt that this slight
fault will be amended, and that degree
OF perfection attained which can be
reached with no loss of kindness or
friendship.
There are many things which women
dc not approve in men, as there are
doubtless many faults in the moral and
mental composition of women which
are distasteful TO men.
Iie violence and abusiveness, the
lack of dignity, and even those personal
differences which are emphasized with
blows it would be painful to see intro
duced into an assemblage of women.
Nevertheless there is no reason why the
other extreme of excessive amiability
should be aimed at, with the caressing
and petting that have their proper and
only place within the four walls and
the strict scclusion OF home. 1t is far
crv from the masculine turbulence of a
political primary to the excessive sweet
ness of the too "womanly" convention,
but there lies between the two a golden
mean, where courtesy and refinement
and unceasing regard for the feelings
official dignity and refreshing good
sense.
Women have two pernicious, precon.
ccivcd ideas against which they must
contend; one is that extreme where
they have been idealized by poets and
romance writers into something akin tc
the divine, the other is the misrepresen
tation which stamps every woman who
crosses the threshold of her house as &
bold, nnsexed creature, at war with thC
unalterable conditions Of nature anC
OF society, One is as false as the other
The woman who Yields the gavcl OIL
addresses Madam President is not APP
10 be either an angel or tcrmagant
Skc has very probG bly,, on the othel
hand, only just temporarily laid aside
her thimblc, and after attending to thu
wants of her family has given herself +;
little refreshing Whit of the air of tn,
ont side world. She is in one capacity
no less womanly than in the other. II
both alike she retains her virtues ant
her faults, seeking constantly t,
strengthen the one and overcome tn,
other II will be borne in mind that i
is not the real mothers who must keel
in the drawing-room the forever unfn
isbcd bit Of an infants wardrobe
whereby to advertise the capacity o
her maternity. That sort of humbu!
Is left 20 women Of the stamp discusse,
and made typical by the pen of Thack
cray.
There is. to go back little, yer.