Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1896-04-19
Wo0ING OF WOMEN.
QUESTION or THE RIGHT OF inir,A-
TIVE IN LOVE.

rh- Unwrittsn hut Most Potent ind I'm
memorial Canon That Woman Mat Not
Invite a retnrn or Her Lovs--NvonIa .
Kevsrsai Dessrss Mnidsniy Iseservrf
Much 10 10 bo considered and snid seri-
ously nbout the part of mop and Of women
falling In loyc and IN the conscious DELHI
crate ncts TO which the grand passion lends
II IL Is 20 be more than ncruly a tearing
Of the heart TO pleas by sniothercd strug-
gies, like the WRITINGS OF the Titan under
Etna
As to falling In love It Is ono OF the
strange fAcfs OF the world, showing how
far custom my replace nature, that to
love unwooed often has been held as I'M
womanly or unmaideniy us to confess
love unnskcd. Not 10 WOO has been I'd.
mittod on llhnnds 20 he Tho womans part
and has been fundamentally point OF
nnidon PRIDE and shafnr SO great In
decd is this persuasion that even the exact
opposite Of wooing has boon made point
In the drawing OF dclionto women char
actors by many poets and story tsilers- To
hide every hint OF love, ~ pretend even
ooldncss and Indifference. 10 be inaccessible,
Encouraging, 70 'let concenlment like
worm \ the bud, - etc. --''fho proverb Is
rblntAninE lDNtll -fNlh iltAH UtfNn ALt
ideal Of woman's part set before sensitive
young girls In song and story and drama.
But at present, why--even II high feel
ing must DO buried out OF sight az II, as
Shakespeare says Of beard on coward,
IL were -naturo's cxcrement'' instead OF
natures bloom and fruit hiding petals
why, in tho name OF all that is simple,
sincere and natural, ~ II q fault or a shame
for woman TO love unkoughtf
II she may not speak or Geek, may sho
not then faolf Is losv such q thing IN
woman that 10 Is u shame to wake 10 ~
unless man ask for ity Yet so have many
women pretended in good stories and
plays, and no doubt In real life. II Ia past
doubling that many woman has felt II
would DO, or nnhappily wac, u shame TO
giyo her love without being asked for 1t.
But this is ns up hi5o down and topsy
turyy as II II were lolc a shame TO 1.-Two
and breathe because uo wero not invited
10 DO born. Why is an attachment Of
heart moro 10 be shame Laden or held I'M
womnnly (which is moro than inhuman)
than an attachment OF mind9 In other
words, no moro shame ought to be folt in
loving person unaskod than in thinking
of subject or using ones reason In any
way unlimited.
Dut IL tii1 w tOE1N1tAlf VI huttutI ~
DO or not, whit Is TO bo said OF tho unwrit-
ten but most potent and immemorial
cnnon TINT woman must not speak OF
her lovo to invite rHtnrn oft or 10 carry
1t to its end, which Ia nohls marriagef
Let MS not say end, but rather tho second
stngo OF Its hcglnnlng, whence love goes
onward toward its end Ike some noble
curve whose npex Is Mt inhnity. is this TO
be set down TO naturef Ara women mndo
sof Or Ii Il custom and oducationf And,
II tho lattar, Is II good custom and o
natural o1ucntionf
There Is nothing morv difficult than to
discover the grain Of nature In a bushel OF
customs, And. II IL BIO found, 1t is OF
small account, for II Is like creature
which has fod on tho custom so long thai
its whole substance Is but tho customs a
little transmutad.
will not reason us TO whether IL ba
contrary 10 womanly nature to speak OF
love, but she must wait the mans pleasure
to speak TO her nrsL or forogo II never he
speak. ! assume II TO DO custom merely
no matter how originating or how ancient
still only a custom. Then l ask, Is " a
good custom, sound. salutaryp
II Is, however, no little question whether
both mon and womon should have tho right
Il
1t should he so habitually, or by common
custom, without any restraint Of sontl.
mcni. Perhaps something might be lost
by such q common partioipntion-somo-
thing delicate, tender, poetlcal, valuable
There scom 10 be some reasons why 1t were
better for only ono 10 have tho initiative
by custom, with the strong sanction oil
usagu, prestige, sentiment, but not with
| tho inynFiAblcncss and tyranny which
| marks tho present allotment. OF these
reasons tho chief seems to DO tho mystery,
dolicacy, romance honor and special char
meter thrown around lovo by having the
general provinces Of mon and women diff
| ferpnt and dohned IN tho Initiative.
II may be that an equal, unrcstrained,
similar and open access to each other for
4 initiative or confession OF love might wear
away much bloom, wonder, sanctity,
which Is preserved by the difference Of re-
latIon Of the two to the beginning and
ayowal. Tho scxes are so different, vhila
such unity, that this no moro ehonld bd
overlooked thnn their essential unity In
tho midst OF their so great differences II
may well he that It Ia for the harmony,
dellcacy, 10y, mystery and beauty OF love
that tho differences Of the sexes should be
Recognised by u different rotation to the
initiative OF the relation. 1t may be that
an Irresponsible, indeiipablc, but very val
uabla, sentiment may depend on some pa
tience anxiety and canonical dolicacy, CON
yentionai reserve on tho ono sido, to meet
|. action, Judgment. ohoico, decision, initli-
tion on the other.
Whore all may advance equally and In
tho same way nothlng Is hidden, and
without some reserve there can DO no ten.
ternoss. Whore all may explain equally
and without hesitation there can BIO nc
drapory, no yeiis md whore there Is no
mystery or wonder thero will be lack Of
Joy. A seeker and u sought, prcposoi
nnd n oonsiderer, leader aud a follower, a
petitioner and River, may DO fairel
| sight and more wholesome 10 love than
two who may challenge ench other equal
", who therefore have no defined duties OF
sweet reciprocitlcs regarding enoh other
who perhaps may delay for ench othor--a
stupid situation--or may strive to got the
start Of each othor---an utterly deineaninn
and undoine riyalry---or may scramble 70
fnrestall oihors--a profane haste which
often Is bad enough now.
nut IL this DO trun II Is still question
whether the initiative should rest with
mon or with woman. am far from say
ing now that there arc no good reasons
-