The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-03-03
PEOPLE IN HISTORY.
INDIVIDUALITY AS SEEN IN THE REC.
oRos o.. THE AGES.

Public Mind and Their Character
istics-The Influence of Women In His
tory--The Future Outlook.
The history of the world is that of tribes,
races, peoples, nations, with here and there
occasional great men snd women whose
names stand out in enduring fame because
Of their distinct individuality. Years come
and go and lengthen into Centuries. Arts,
sciences and induss.sries rise Snd flourish
and are ..r. again, and cruihbling ruins
mark the ancient places where busy men
and women once walked in the active inter
est of swarming millions. The dim s s,...,
n,,sry .-a'litions Of these people of past
ages interest e few wlos- business Is scholar
ship, but the actual events of ancient nus
tory are of little vital interest to the great
body of humanity except as they are epit-
omized in the lives of individuals. 1t Is
the character, thought, doings, Of the few
men and women of times past and gone
whose individuality has become immortal
In the minds of men.
In all history, sacred and profane, It Is
the individual that holds the living inter
ests of successive generations of men. In
Biblical history, from Moses to the Naza-
rene, the lives of a few men embody the
concentrated interest of that long period of
spiritual evolution, and applied Christian
ity during the last 800 years is not so
much the history OF the amounted millions
who have lived and died in the faith as
that of the few men, priests and martyrs
whose uncomfortable enthusiasm overcame
the gross superstition of ages and planted
the standard of Christ amid the ruins Of
pagan idolatry.
Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, are all
vital figures amid the decaying atoms of cen
turtles Of unclassical followers. When we
recall the marvellous period of Egyptian
Icivillzation-a period in which art flour
ished whose very names are lost-it is Cleo
patra, the beautiful but licentious queen,
her beauty, her love for Antony and her
tragic death which overshadow the gran
deur of the pyramids and the sphinx.
The achievements of Greece and Rome
live In the traditions Of their philosophers,
orators, statesmen and sculptors when the
dust of 20 centuries has gathered upon the
ruins of their ancient glory
Each succeeding period of the world to
the present emphasizes the truth that all
progress has been marked by individual
superiority Wars have been fought and
tribes conquered and subdued, and the arts
of peace are pursued on fields that once ran
red with cruel carnage, but 1t is the gen
erals who planned and led these resistless
marches whose names are remembered,
while the masses that fell in battle lie in
unmarked graves beneath the brooding ST.
fence OF long ages The French empire was
little more than history of Napoleon and
his triumphs. George Washington, Ham
ilton, jefferson, Clay, Webster, Lincoln and
q few of their contemporaries epitomize
the great incidents in AmericaN history.
When we enter the realms Of philosophy,
Literature and art we find individual c.,. =
i"ri'Veh ~ -. ..e scroll of the endless years
and the lesson learned from all analog,
leads us irresistihly to the consideration Of
i, ,,,,,,,,.,,u,oi ,0,y. 'hi"iaa and the ultimate
destiny of the individual in the attairs o.
state, of society and the universal life
Sometimes the complaint Is made that we
i have no longer great men, statesmen ora
tors, philosophers. poets and painters, as In
former generations and to superficial OBJ
servation the remark seems true. But com
Ipalisons prove that the general exaltation
Of the individual is leading up to higher
standards Of excellence for all, and where a
few men formerly represented the interests
io2 the nation, many among the masses TO
Iday are pressing forward shoulder to shout
der in the race of life.
The tendency Of all modern thought Is
toward the recognition of the individual
his personal rights, bis liberty, his eleya
ition, his happiness, his supremacy as an
eutity-a man. When l use the word
man." do it as embodying woman also
for there has never been time in all his
tory when woman has received the recogni
ton accorded her today. Ones sense oil
human right is seldom offended now, as for
merly by the limitations of woman's sphere
! imposed by old traditions. In the fulfill
ment OF laws given by infinite wisdom men
and women are rounding the opposite sides
of golden circle which will eventually
meet in the indissoluble union of the male
, and female in common individuality oil
Interests.
The limitations of sex in the narrow nc
ceptation of the thought will have no plact
in the higher civilization. The future hold,
no flaming sword before the gates of WON
ans cherished ambitions And yet, in thi,
I, noblcr community of human interests, tn,
| individuality of sex must be recognized as
never before in the history of the world
: Only the grossest stupidity would deny in
(. diyidual freedom of destiny to sex pure
: and simple. Little does that enc compre
: houu tne eLeTuHl pIllcipieS VI human ue
: velopment who fears to trust the indi
' vidual, whether man or woman, with the
Z choice of his own destiny, all things being
, equal-and the choice governed by the soul
within-by the moving principle of the di
! viHely implanted instincts.
g have often thought that the great ex
i, cess of women over men In civilized coun
tries was natures own declaration thai
women's influence isl eeded in the active
[ fields Of work outside domestic life, anc
the natural Discrimination of certain womer
for marriage and the cares of maternity
!, but the evidence of wise providence il
. nature TO equalize the work of the worlc
4 and set the mothers OF the race apart dur
ing the child bearing period for thcs,
= special functions, in order that grandel
humanity might be evolved by the applica
tion of laws of scientific procreation. w,
are reaching ont in every direction aftel
the truth that shall set the individual free
=, and old superstitions and traditions fas
fall before the steady march of progrcssiy,
human science and are forgotten. And yet
amid the profaess of the ages, time may b,
well spent in Considering upon the on,
hand the aids, and upon the other the OBJ
stacles, III the way of individual progress =
Mrs JennesS Miller