The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-05-30
The Southern Woman.

The celebrated German poet, Goethe,
has said ITO be and remain true 10
ones self and others is TO possess the no
best attribute of the greatest talents"
To-day the women OF the South, while
busy with IGNORING their loved dead. at
test most cloquently their possession OF
this modest attribute"
This Memorial Day" is no day OF
idle pleasure TO those looking back
through the vista Of thirty long years 20
the time when these boys in grey laid
their lives willing sacrifice, on their
country's altar.
OF the two hundred and ffty-two en-
gagements during the late war. which
historians chronicle, eighty-two were
fought within the limits of Virginia,
and wherever man suffers and woman
may soothe" was found the devoted, pa
triotic won an, exhibiting those exalted
virtues, which elicit the splendid valor
that immortalized the age Of chivalry.
Through tho misty smoke OF the battle
field. we see her In the form Of a min
istering angel. stanching the wounds OF
the dying soldier, breathing a prayer for
his neeting soul. We see her step with
cheerful grace from the opulence Of the
ante-bellum palace, to the lowly cot
tage, reared amidst the charred ruins OF
her mansion home.
inditing his "Faerie Queen" he called TO
the queen regent Of Parnassus. 90, help
thou my weak wit and sharpen my dun
tongue" In addressing a theme so lofty
as that to which / aspire / crave an
inspiration which finds its source higher
than the abode of the Nine.
The gradual exaltatiOn Of woman has
marked the steady advance Of civiliza-
tion, and in this fleeting decade Of dy-
ing century. we find her developed into
the sublimatiOn Of refinement and the
impersonation of grace. Her trials and
her triumphs have been told I'm story
and attunod to song, and the achieve
ments Of her genius have torn asunder
the barriers which have walled in the
sphere OF her usefulness and circumscrib-
ed the horizon Of her mind. Her uncag-
ed ambition and her noble aspirations
fam would compass all knowledge. Into
the fields OF science and Of letters she
has gone redeemng the lustre Of a fad
ing literature. and giving a touch OF
ron ance to the practical platitudes Of
the age.
The art galleries of Europe are en-
rlched by paintings touched into shape
~ excellence by the skilled hand Of
Southern women, and their contributions
TO the gathered store of music and song
would prove no dishonor to the best tai
ent of the Old World in skill of COM
position.
Poets and orators have, in all ages
lent their loftiest strains 20 do homage
10 woman but where, I'm all history, is
found her fun equal? We search IN vain
the checkered pages OF romantic history
TO find her rival in fortitude, or to dis
cover her equal in the graces which
redeem a race. and glorfy mankind. She
is, In fortitude. the Spartan mother: in
sweet ministration. a Florence night
ingale; in conservation TO duty. a Naomi
The native music of her voice gives
new Interpretation TO melody. and her
fixed moral conviction is a safe anchor
age Of religious truth. Her smile makes
the sunshine. and her tears make the
rain. under whose beneficent power all
virtue bursts into blossom until ard
hearts become gardens. and all life
song.
In stability of character she is the
Northern star" of whose true. fixed,
and resting quality there is no fellow in
the armament" In an age OF error she
beams like the Southern Cross which is
a heavenly poem lettered In the skies.
In time TO come the gifted lyric will
chant her praises: the novelist will weave
"A winsome rhapsody around her as the
heroine of his romance, and the historian
viii dwell with rapture on the story OF
her platonic virtues, which will shine
forth an example, and an inspiration for
generations yet unborn. y.