Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1894-06-16
HIGHER EDUCATION.
WHAT LIBERAL THOUGHT AND BROAD
MINDS MEAN FOR ALL.

fatesieetaai Growth WIN Not MAKO
wemsa Less hut More csmpsnicnabis.
bright Words frem Thsaghtfai wens-
ana Joy TO wives and Mothers.
Dwight calls ''intellectuai oneness In mar
ried life are probably obvious TO all; but l
may say that they are the most obvious
when we leave unhappy marriages out of
sight, m very possibly due /. other causes
than intellectual disparity. and contrast
happy married lives devoid Of true com
psnionshtp with happy married liveS which
include IT, We have seen many happy
marriages where there In no more intellec-
tual kinship between the man and his wife
than between him and his little children;
but there arc kinds and degrees OF con
tentment, satisfaction and active enjoy
ment. Love which persists In spite Of dis
PARTIES, limitations and hindrances, and
love which persists with full intellectual
sympathy, true comradeship, genuine
friendship. are very unlike In the measure
OF happiness they can bestow. Al II is be-
tween wife and husband, 30 II II Of course
between mother and children. Many
mothers who have no intellect at all and
scarcely even tincture Of common sense
are fondly loved by their intelligent SONS;
but does such love as this profit them or
profit their sons. even In the way Of happi-
ness. half so much as this love between an
other mother and the sons who find her
their intellectual equal, their Intelligent
companion, their most sympathetic friendf
The higher education, rightly pursued
and really gained. Is net an influence that
will make woman pedsnts, prudes. prigs
Il ol
cold, semimasculine monstrosities. To be
broad minded. clear minded, free minded,
active minded IL not Of necessity, nor even
~ likelihood, TO be strong minded. Indeed,
the more woman knows Of life, the better
she understands the past and present Of
the world and the experiences and conclu-
sions Of its greatest thinkers, the less likely
she will be to confuse tho masculine and
feminine ideals or to underrate the latter
in comparison with the former.
IL Is the narrow, superficial education OF
women which leads them to maintain that
there is mo difference" between them
selves and men. or that mems normal op-
portunities are loftier than their own, and
which consequently make them envy men
and desire 10 step into their place. The
really educated woman, the one whose
mind really knows and thinks, can COM
prehend better than any one else the true
meaning and glory Of womanhood, the
true importance OF its peculiar responsi.
biiities, the true value and charm OF its
peculiar privileges; for she alone II able to
attest and appraise these things, and. more.
over, she has learned that the growth Of
civilization implies progressive special.
ixation Of capabilities and efforts, and that
the advancement OF women has meant a
steady departure from that primitive bar.
barrie state where men and women were
not more wildly differentiated than are
male and female animals today. IL she
claims a share In the mans right to q
higher education, IL II first OF all that she
may be fitted to do work which q man
cannot possibly do, and may help the
world along In a way that n parallel, not
identical, with his.
Far from being unlucky as regards pos
abilities OF intellectual cultivation, tha
women OF America seem 10 me lucky above
their brothers. They can develop them
selves as individuals without thinking Of
wage earning, and II they must develop
less quickly they have time In more than
the needful proportion. Nor does this ap-
ply merely to the years Of early prepare
tion. Even the busy mother OF a family,
unless she In No poor that all the domestic
work falls upon her own hands, has at
least "a many free hours in the day a her
husband; and although her days work In
at least ~ important and significant a.
his, IL does not exhaust her brain ~ most
kinds OF money making do.
And when the minds of women interest
and satisfy men a. much as their bodies
and souls. think ths Fundamental, uni
versal sentiment will persist and even de-
velop. that the stronger kind will be better
regulated and that the more foolish kind
will decrease. Married men, / am sure,
will be happier with their wives. Unmar-
ried men will choose their wives more
wisely; or. II the lightning Of love still
strikes at random. the bolt win more often
be thrown by sensible ~ well a. . charm.
ing young woman. And when associatino
with women whom they do not think Of
marrying. all men will be less apt than
they are today to feel that sentimentality
In expected Of them or IL likely to be Of
fered to them. And. once more. a. Il will
be with men. 20, conversely, Il will be with
women. Often today there In small com.
mon ground for that intimacy between
men and women 10 which nature prompts
except sentimental ground. Widen ths
field Of companionship and the danger Of an
undue cultivation Of thu sentimental tract
win be decreased.
When women have taught men that
they want and value real friendship. thai
they can be loyal. interesting and profita-
BILE friends In tho same sense that men are
to one another, yet always with that deli
cate flavor OF difference which viii make
feminine friendship desirable, no matter
how much masculine friendship may be as
hand. then men win not be % ready "a
drop Into the attitude Of lovers or make
believe lovers Yet there win be lovers
enough, for this instinct In even more Inn
perious than ths instinet toward friend
ship. And once tho lover In transformed
into the husband, there will be q better
chance OF lifelang consfancy.
Did all the young girls feel abont their
education ns the pressure OF public opinion
makes y, e Al boys feel wsr. 4 properly begun
were Il systematically pursued In q way
adapted 20 their physical characteristics,
they would absorb II ns easily. wear Il ~
naturally, profit by II ~ generally as their
brothers, and whatever their future life.
whether devoted 70 the aormsl tasks Of
tasks, they would have received the hest
possible preparation for IL.
OF course do not mean that the higher
education weald make ell women wiss ana
sensible, useful. happy and charming, Or
thal no wsslan can n these thinxs with
iy bestowed all women would be much
more likely 20 achieve anch qualities fhsn
they are today. Nor do mean that s,sly
men have such well developed minds that
onr women ahonld msrelr aspire 10 equal
them mean that their minds are, Il III
and that even . realization al eonslits
would vastly nru4if them a. wall - fbe{r