The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-10-07
TEE ADVANCED WoMzN,

| who take an insane or maudlin delight In At
tacking women. They turn up about once
1 year, as the hares do in March, and with
cacophonous howl pour out the few minims OF
their vial Of wrath upon her devoted head.
| Then with = melodramatic chuckle, they
vanish into the obscurity OF their alleged
| thought and hibernate for an indefinite period.
This time the offender IL a woman, and the
offence appears in the columns Of Sundays sur,
Sept 90, in the form OF what purports TO be an
| argument that advanced women advance and
agtsting women agitats merely because they
| are not beautiful.
The cleverness and charming dlction Of the
lsdy's screed render II enjoyable for the mo-
ment and sweeten the sting which II contains.
1t well illustrates the old saw of serving the
devil in heavens livery" IL Is bad enough
for men, especially those who have never
been married and who are brought mp by
a stepmother. to decry the sex, nut II is much
worse when able woman INDUCES In
TRADE embodying the platitudes Of old
fogies the opinions Of billiards in whose brute
brain no new idea ever burst into being, and the
poetic but somewhat fiorid regeneration Of her
own intellect. still. however. there Is q certain
force to the lady letter. Just as the temperance
orator likes to have adrunkard in his audience TO
point out as a terrible example and 10 illustrate
the exceeding slnflness Of gin 90 the fact OF the
mentality who cannot be and will not he advanced
and to whom such things as a thorough educs-
ton, broad culture, and high moral purpose
are either meaningless terms something, like
the measles, to be avoided. There are advanced
women and advanced women. DR.. Mary
Walker and Miss Mary johnson represent
one type in their own esteem and
the correspondent OF The Sun represents
another. very different from the flrst, but equal
ly Objectionable and discordsnt. The true adj
vanced woman Is one who develops her intel
lectual nature as far as she can, and wants so
ciety TO do the same with all womankind by the
same means as they employ In converting the
boy from the farm and the forest into the uni
versity graduate, the scientist, and the states
man. Tho advanced woman believes that
life Ia not mere course Of enjoyment,
had or pursued, but an existence which
should contain some lofty moral or spir-
itual purpose. She believes In the efficiency of
intellectual and moral effort no matter where IL
is applied, whether In establishing q ragged
school or a club for political study; in making .
neurological collection or pleading the cause Of
temperance; in starting a Chautauqua circle or
in instructing poor young women in embroid-
cry, drawing, or technical design: In founding
kindergartens, where little folks may be ration |
ally developed or in conducting trade schools |
where men can be made into skilled workmen. |
y I, not a new type; there have been hundreds
The only thing is that these ST Johns were iso. |
lated individuals, while to-day their name is |
the social world as to make thes type Dniverssi'
II Is agai ns this type that The suns CORE.
OF much noise and a levelling OF long ears.
There Is a small amount OF argument In her |
article, but It is buried beneath Wilderness OF
pconasm. mixed metaphor and altisonant SEN
fences. Her opening premise that all advanced
women are ugly TO hideousness is as false as it
one who recklessly fits facts to a theory or who
has never been admitted across the threshold Of
literary and intellectual society.
The truth Is that advanced women are as q |
class handsomer and healthier than any other, !
the mad army of authors OF erotic literature
Beyond merely physical comelness they
fineiy developed moral character. These in
defnable charms have always been regarded
as the greatest attractions Of the individual pos
sessing them. They appeal to the world. whether
It be from the face ofa Goethe. a webster, and
q Hawthorne. or Mime. Becamier, Elizabeth
must be admitted. however, that there are men
and q few women to whom these things are un-
culture and pedantry a. one, and prefer the
voluptu0us graces Of a courtesan TO the spiritual
That the advancement OF woman does not in
volve any physical deterioration. but, on the
seen by anybody who viii Visit vsssar,, oberlIn.
or the other Institutions Of learning whose
IN her The Scholar and
the alumn~. are usually splendid specimens o.
vigorous young womanhood. The "sweet, girl
By thousands every year in our land They are
larger. stronger, and more symmetrical than
out" at 10, and been through three seasons.
They are al healt hicr as well. DIR. Sargent
has taken the measurements and other Stats
tics OF thousands OF women. asserts that college
the ess 5 TO
strain OF either married or professional life.
There was e time when male collegian was
Clergyman, lawyer. or physician. That opinion
has altered with the years and has been altered
public opinion has been so greatly changed In
his regard that probably majority OF the COM
gentleman in the full sense OF the word
unless he has had university education, and
recognize that the four years OF college life are
y, y i. Invaluable aid to the complete deyelopment
IRE demonstrating that the same law applies to
The four years consumed In these
Institutions allow the body 70 get its full growth
ion, permit the character to firmly form itself.
md give knowledge that win DO of use
women who have come from their gates are object
to society at large, well as missionaries
Entering society three or four years later than
loes the girl who stays at home, they bring to It
more attractive as friends, as compsnions. and
Is wives. They marry later than the stay at
a IN T fSmR s wh shs sSHl
lot marry until after twenty, They show more
discretion In the bestowal Of their affections and
generally are more successful and wiser in Sc
Getting a husband.
They do not break down after few years of
married life; they do not become prematurely |
allow, gray haired, hollow -chested nor enact
ted. Neither do they Indulge, as the CORE !
pendent in THE Sun asserts In the dubious and
evious pastimes OF the divorce court.
In In The state Of wyoming and in the colony OF
SOman Is equality with man and wi ara
he advanced woman no longer has a CORE {
pendent snarling at her heels, there are fewer !
ivorces in proportion 10 the population. fewer
houses, and fewer fallen women than
a any other countries in the world.
The assertion that the advancement of woman
ends TO produce a hideOus and "misbegotten
osterity is positively funny In its departure
rom the truth. IL Is true that advanced women
o not have large families. They know that
he cruel Malthusian law Is ever operating and |
hat soon or late the human race must conform
, its action. They also know that with a large
Amtly and any ordinary income IL is dinicult II
OF impossible, 10 give each child the care and |
raining requisite to its complete development
nd llNF l. - l