Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1892-12-15
IN WOMAN'S BEHALF.
SPEAKING IN PUBLIC.
Tho Great Difference Eetweea Womanli-
ness and Sentimcntallty.

no hreNO lluercnce ietWtel NOtnNnii- |
ness and Sentlmcntality.
There is among women of n certain
temperament confusion of ideas as to |
womanliness and sentimentality. They !
seem to be under the impression that
real womanliness indulges publicly in
lavish use of terms of endearment, and
in that outward display of affection
which the world will always regard
coldly or sneenngly Those qualities
which radically distinguish women
from men are qualities of character, of
minds, of soul. Taey are matters of
inheritance, very frequently and in any
event are traits improved by cultiva-
ton, by self-control, aad by the unccas-
ing vigilance aad discipline of life. At
fection, with its tender manifestations,
its own peculiar vernaculsr is some
thing so sacred thet it should be forever
guarded from this eyes of the scoiling
and censorious llultitude. 1t is no
more intended for the platform, for the
routine of the public meeting, for inter-
polation in the minutes of the session of
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
garish 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 froia the floor of con-
vention, is the representative of prin-
ciple or an idea, and she is nothing
more. 1t is of paramount Importance
to her audience and to the presiding
officer that her enunciation should be
distinct; that her views should be
strongly, clearly and concisely present.
ed; that her rhetoric and her grammar
should attain the highest stan dard of
established usage. But her private
idiosyncracies, her physical infirmities,
her tending to emotion or hystcria, bear
no rightful place or consideration in
any phase of the proceedings of delib-
erative body. 1t is not worth while to
resort to spectacular effects or @elo-
dramatic methods for the purpose of
emphasizing sd 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 affec-
tionate it may seem between friends
and kindred, my dear" is not n proper
appellation to use in convention or in
n mass-meeting. Nothing is gained by
it in any way, and it undcniably gives
an expression of weakness and inef1i-
cheney.
Where convention is in session for
days together, where all the business is
transacted intelligently and methodi-
cally, where there is displayed pro
found knowledge of parliamentary law,
and where the debate is all that it
should be, sentimentalizing rings like
false note, out of keeping and out of
harmony with all that is admirable and
praiseworthy, This small bit of censure
will be 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 kindliness or
| friendship.
There are many things which women
do not approve in men, as there are
doubtless many faults in the moral and
mental composition of women which
are distasteful to men.
The 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 caressin&
and pctting that have their proper ant
only place within the four walls anC
the strict seclusion of home. 1t is fal
cry from the masculine turbulence of ;
political primary to the excessive sweet
ness of the too ''womanly'' convention
but there lies between the two colder
mean, where courtesy and refnemen
and unceasing regard for the feeling
of others are perfectly compatible witt
official dignity and refreshing goo'
sense.
Women have two pernicious precon
ceived ideas against which they mus
contend; one is that extreme where
they have been idealized by poets ant
romance writers into something akin t
the divine, the other is the misrepresen
tation which stamps every woman VIII
crosses the threshold of her house as
bold, unsexed creature, at war with tn
unalterable conditions of nature an
of society. One is as false as the other
The woman who wields the gavel o
addresses Madam President is not ap
to be either an angel or termagant
She has very probably, on the othe
hand only just temporarily laid asid
her thimbc, and after attending to til
wants of her family has given herself
little refreshing Whit of the air of tn
outside world. She is in one capacit
no less womanly than in the other.
both alike she retains her virtues an
her faults, seeking constantly t
strengthen the one and overcome tn
other. 1t will be borne in mind that
is not the real mothers who must kee
in the drawing-room the forever until
ished bit of an infants wardrob,
whereby to advertise the capacity {
her maternity. That sort of humbu
is left to women of the stamp discusse
and made typical by the pen of Thacl
cray.
There is, TO go back little, vel
great deal that we may learn of me
with profit, and one is. when the
choose to exercise it, professional sr
official dignity. 1t is of immense a
vantage, giving weight to opinions ar
soberness to Judgment. There is I
reason, really, why women should co