The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-07-19


equal share in the management Of tho
world as well as Of the house. The
greatest fool in the eyes Of the law
Is a man whose civic rights are equal
TO those of the vvisest man Assure
legal equality TO woman-she win
herself take care Of the rest"
Francesca shook her head
IF the man Is stronger and the Wo'
man loves him he viii prevail"
You need not consider love e. nll,
Francesca, unless"
There is no unless, mother. NY
love chapter is closed. Since can
not accept Harold's courtshiP 4 can
think Of no other man That is why
am free to tell you what have dis
covered-what love would mean 60
me-"
Her mother groaned.
You have got all thi. out Of
'Harold's proposal2 Oh what fools
women nrel How can we make them
stand up for themselves2"
s'Well, mother. that IS my easel
am one Of the fools. But, Of course,
there may be marriages where people
don't love each other. Then it would
be easy for each 20 60 his own way.
Neither would care.
'Good heavensl" cried Nine. Elvedu-
Had 1 known what mischief that
young man was going to DO, be should
never have entered my house"
''But. my dearest mother, WON en-
you say, must be the equals Of mem
otherwise otherwise - well - but
given the case Of woman who loves
a man greatly her superior. Equality
in that case is imPossi bic, and sub-
mission is a Joy. VIII you grant the
possibility Of such o. case2"
"When the woman is q foo1-yos.
LET me go on coufessing, mother.
Since have been thinking Of these
things have begun TO feel a kind Of
repugnance to the whole question.
You say that I have sat inattentive 80
your meetings. It is because the sub-
ject seems altogether altered The
speeches Of your friends have become
a flow of meaningless words-worda--
words--words that I know by heart
words that have no meaning There
is q voice within me that keeps ON
asking the same question: III women
are the equals of men, why done
they prove itP They are, you see. ar
well educated; they viii become lead~
ers in everything if they were NAME
equals. Yet all leaders in everything
are men-always men. And if we
score little triumph of a degree nt
Cambridge, we rejoice as much as if
Huxley were woman or Darwin were
in petticoats. Why don't women
prove their equality2 And why, when
a woman loves a man, does she cheer
fully become his servant? Why do
not women who love their husbands
assert their equality?'
Il read once o. person who
preached himself into in6delity-
Ny arguments no longer persuade
me. They are sounds and words carr
rying no sense. Woman ia mans
equal Oil you have proved it in
your book and in your articles and
| pamphlets. And all the women in
the world except one or two take tine
lower place without revolt or murmur.
They have never, in q single line 81
intellectual work, proved themselves
his equal And they only love b man
wnen they feel him to be greater and
stronger than themselves. All that
proves nothing. And yeti say these
things, mother, because they explain
my present condition Perhaps 10 ia 8
passing cloud"
''You make me more unhappy, child
than 1 can say.
II am very sorry. But i have
of mind you see that cannot possibly
help you in your WORK ara quite
out of harmony with it. understand
/ just through considering how it might
have been had I allowed myself to
love Harold. that the submissive wife
may be. after all. the happiest I sua-
pect that women are not the inteueo-
tual equals Of men any more than
they are their physical equals Ia
short, I am in a state Of doubt and
confusion"
would a life Of art satisfy your
soul3 My dear, offer you life os
action.
81 do not know what would satisfy
my soul. In imagination I see q SUBJ
missive wife, who tells me she is hap
piest-"
When weeks had passed and Franc
cesca had found her father and Har-
old had returned to her side, her
lover asked:
"And you--you are happy, Fran
eesca2"
81 am happier than have ever been
in all my life before. There IS nothing
in the world to live for but che life q
nature and Gods law. 1t is such hap
pine IS as I never imagined And alb
the world has grown so real-and
/ am in it, not outside Of it The
passing show has become part 81 the
eternal drama in while ]. too, play
nay humble part have my father
and my cousins. I am no longer with-
out lith and kim
''WiI you not acknowledge youa
lover as well2'' he whisper ed.
"Yes-I have-you- What more com
I want or look to have2 Let me, like