The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1895-11-20

and kindness towards those upon
whomshe had bestowed the wealth Of
her affection; her delig hit was III admin
istering to the comfort and pleasure
of those over whom she ruled with
the strong bonds Of affection and
love. Weare now told, however, that
since the advent of the new woman,
that to regard woman as the queen
Of home and love is only sentimen
tayity, entirely unsuited for this age OF
practical progress and more advanced
and enlightened Christian civilization
of these expiring days Of the Nine
teen Century. That such sentiments
will do very we'll to store away in the
archives Of memory as dim and
musty relics of the by gone days
of chivalry; OF TO hang upon
the walls as ''pictures Of gold in
frames of silver" as a memorial to
the departed glory Of pure, gentle,
sweet and tender womanhood.
We would be taught by the girl
in boomers and of short hair that
the modesty which characterized the
old fashioned girl, is a very appro-
pirate theme for the Imagination of
some love sick poet to dwell IN rap
turous bliss, and in letters of fire
which burn into the soul, pen verses
and ecstatic song to the lovely mem
ory of his shattered idol, which, as
they say, lay in fragments at his feet:
that it may be a worthy object for
the brush of the artist to place upon
cavas in undyiDg and never fading
colors his conception Of the unem
belished beauty and loviliness of
the old fashioned girl, which awak-
ened i'm the heart of man all the ten
derest emotion, deepest love and
most thoughtful consideration and
respect. We acknowledge, says the
bloomer and balloon sleeved girl, that
her ears were unaccastomed to vile
oaths from indecent men who pro-
famed the name Of her God with i'm
punity; that her eyes were unused to
behold scenes which, even now, should
cause the cheeks Of every pure and
noble woman to crimson with shame
and humiliation at the degradation to
which manhood has fallen; that her
nostrils were unpolluted by the fumes
Of whisky from the red hot breath OF
drunken wretches whose sense. Of
decency and responsibility are so
blunted as to make them even forget
that they ever had mother; that at
her approach men became silent, or
through respect for her. quietly re-
tired for fear that some upguarded
word might offend her delicate feel
ing; that her presence was like sweet
incense from off the altar Of purity,
the perfume from which purified and
sanctifed the very air she breathed
and made thevery atmosphere around
burn and glow with divine radiance
which made men feel that they were
better, nobler and purer for having
been in her presence, But all that
is mere sentiment, totally unsuited for
the changed condition brought about
by the demands and new RESPONSE
bilities of a more progressive and
enlightened civilization. That tie
whirligig Of time has made another
revolution and has enlarged and
widened the rights and liberties Of
woman, freeing her from the narrow
and contracted but sacred confines
of home, where she had been thing
of beauty and should have been
JOY forever, and placed her upon the
rostum, in the pulpit, the labatory,
behind the counter, in the shops and
other public places where she is
compelled to come IN contact with
the men in their hurried pursuit af
ter wealth and thus familiarity is
engendered and familiarity breeds
contempt and woman loses her most
beautiful and priceless charm. Again
the dictates Of dame fashion, the
new woman's god, are Of such ma
tu2e that, in order to win,th approx
ing smile of men, they must obey her
memorable DEGREES or they will be
come wall flowers and their charms
be permitted to languish and die un-
noticed by the throng of ever moy-
ing humanity.
With the causes which have
wrought this great change in the so
cial world we have nothing to do. It
is enough for us to know that the
change has come, and those who are
of an Investigating mind can, study
the events which have led up to this
result and from that investigation
arrive at their own conclusions. Some