Birmingham age-herald., 1895-07-07
BRAVERY OF WOMEN.
By Lady Cook, nee Tennessee c. clafn.


 to themselves nearly the whole or human courage and to regard women as very tinid and covardly creatures when com pared with themselves. Now, We do not deny that some women occasionally nave little affectatfons which give color 10 this opinion. These are scared at meet ing a harmless COW or oxen, as though they were ferocious bulls They Jump in terror on a chair at the sight or d mouse. All these, however, are errors or education, just as boys are taught rom the cradle to deepise girls for thelr sup posed want of bravery, and grow to man hood without seeing their mistake iet Vaudeville in his Search into the Ma ture of Society" ayers that Man, as ne is a fearful animal. naturally not rapa- cious, loves peace and quiet, anu ne would never fight if nobody offended him. and he could have what he lights Tor without it ." This may be true or man as a savage. But civilization gives so much skill and dissipates so many errors and terrors, that men have learnt to be quar- relsome courageous and self reiiant IL would be natural to suppose the mothers and sisters of brave men would De brave also. We look for cOgnate qualities In both sexes of other animals, ana are not disappointed Why should mankind pc an exception? Why should 1t be mag irad that men have all the courage and women a monopoly of timidity? Slmpiy because of mems stupendous seif-cohceit.
 The majority have never given the eABq f9qL 1q3noql ITuonei lo7sq"s excluded women from their own faVorlle fields for the display of bravery, and tben nrjde themselves upon their vast superiority But, whenever women nave equal opportunities, they have proved themselves no> despicable competitors with men in physical courage, ana lar ahead of them nj moral fearlessness.
 At a time like thepresent, when pupllc ,r- lat-c hr9N A tive view of the qualities of both sexes. It may be profitable to draw attention to the bravery of women. We do not desite to underValue the conspicuous Nalor or men, On the contrary, we are pfouu to recognize it to the full. We only wish to point out that women are capable or the same great quality to a profitable de- gree, and that therefore, it should be en- outraged in them as well as in men, II the men refuse let women eXhort each other.
 No one can doube that moral courage is superior to physical Men exceed in the latter women in the former, and 1t is not desirable that this should be al- tered even were it possible. Yet it would add to the dignity of both if men were sronger morally and women physically.
 A modern historian says: Moral elnd rational faculties may alike be dormant, and they will certainly be so if men are wholly immersed in the qualification of their senses. Man is like a plant, which requires a favorable soil for the full ex- pansion of it's natural or innate powers. If man had been shut out, as women have, from the exercises of their phys ical faculties is it certain they would have developed excess of physical pow CTS?
 Notwithstanding her social disadvan- tages in this respect. woman has made her mark in the annals of bravery. His tory affords numerous examples of great heroineS many of them, too, at time when her general position was that of a slave but we can only note a few. Lea ena of Attica bore the severest torture without a word. Telesilla, the poetess, made the Argolic women fearless of death and discomfited the Spartans The odcra saved the eastern empire. Arte- msa drank the ashes of her consort. Camilla, queen of the Volscians, was slain fighting at the head of her troops. Boadicea encountered the veterans of Rome The Maid of Orleans drove the English from France. Aria stabbed her self to encourage her husband to die: See, it does not hurt dear Paetus" she said. The tales of martyrdom are fer tile of heroic women Young maidens met the most horrible deaths with placid contempt. if not with vehement joy No fiendish tortures that devils could devise were able to shake the fortitude of num- berless brave women. Whether under Nero or the bishops, under the Inquisi- tion or the French revolutionaries it was noted with surprise and admiration that the women died more braveiy than the men. With what grace and calmness, r and infinite tenderness for others, did Anne Boleyn and Mary of Scotland lay their fair necks upon the block. Even the fearless Raleigh suffers by compari- son, for their queenly dignity exceled his half-jocular carelessness
 When we come to physical self-sacri- fce-to giving ones life to save the most dear to us-women stand almost alone Whether to suck poisoned wound or to intervene and receive the assassin S dagger, or to nurse the wounded in the midst of battle, or to watch by the couch or pestience or death, or to commit sui eide to save their own and their hus- bands honor, they have acted without a parallel on the part of men. Woman's love Is stronger than her fears, and there IS no sacrifice which she will not cheer- fully make for him who sways her heart What she does by impulse man feebIy tries to do by calculation
 But it is in moral courage that woman shines. Just as the greater strengtb and training of man makes him physically superior so the moral strength and training of woman makes him morally her inferior. In loyalty, truthfulness. chastity. fidelity, pity sobriety honesty and general perseverance in well doing she is immeasurably above him, This has been noticed by great writers of every age, and it would not be difficult to discover why she is so much mans moral superior Vaudeville thought it was because her brain was more accur- ately balanced We think however that it is largely owing to a higher standard of moral conduct having been constantly demanded from her from remotest times. But she must insist upon further phys- ical advancement, and man should look to his morals that sexual harmony may result.
 It is no wonder that the towards and narrow-hearted among the men are bit terly opposed to the "new woman [" They see 'the rod of empire" slipping from their grasp, and feel that their brute force and cunning cannot save them. Women are already mems moral superiors. and are fast becoming their intellectual equals. Their physique is improving faster than the mems AL together, the outlook assures us of sex ual equality at no far distant date. Whenevr it arrives it will give a uni versal impetus to progress and mark a new and happier era for humanity, for right, not might, will govern and the worthiest wear the crown The brave