The herald., 1897-03-21
WOMANHOOD
Physical, Mental and Moral
Evolution
EXALTED COMING RACE"
Woman Reclai ming Her Birthright,
Equality With Man
Thoughts Are Responsible for the Con-
dition of the World-Men Jostled
in Every Walk of Life


earthly life as a male, while others
should walk the highways and by
ways as women? I have! But do not
be frightened; 1 do not propose to carry
you upon a metaphysical mission, how
ever pleasing such an expedition might
be to myself Maybe we may meet again
some day, and, If you care to- we can
talk the question over, for it is propo-
sition which has perplexed many wiser
head than yours and mine. fancy some
| of the sages of old are still pondering
| upon the subject in the "land of after
while"
| But If we consider for a moment,
brushing aside the minor distinctions
between the sexes. think we shall find
| that a tendency in individuals toward
the general and abstract characterizes
the man, while strong leaning toward
the particular and the concrete marks
the evolution of woman. This, think,
outside of the physical realm isthe basic
distinction; and the physical, after all,
Is but the expression of mental char
acteristics, long continued. OF course,
there are exceptions and extremes for
there are beings known as muscular wo-
men and feminine men. Nature never
does anything in hurry; there Is no
distinct line of demarcation anywhere,
but one state glides into another al
most imperceptibly, and 1t is only when
contrasts arise by comparison that diff
ferences become more or less obvious.
1 remember we'll an old professor OF
obstetrics in an eastern med1ca1 col
lege who used to tell his students, with
how much reverence or irreverence you
must be the Judge, that If he had been
1xI>t I, 10 In
Of the universe, he would have so ar
ranged things that man and woman
should take turns in suffering the pains
| of maternity. And he might have add
| ed too. 1 think, with equal candor and
truth, Gin sharing the joys of the mater
nal state" for experience is necessary TO
really know anything.
One might think that the professor
was an advocate of reincarnation, that
strange theory of a strange people, but
I am quite sure he neither knew nor be-
lieyed In the Egyptian idea. However
his thoughts, if continued, might have
carried him to the same conclusion.
| But let us drop the professor and speak
of Bulwer Lytton. II there IS woman
read Lord Lyttons Coming Race she
ought at once to rectify the omission
| in her reading. The book is a glowing
| tribute to true womanhood, and under
| cover of fiction points to the heights TO
which woman may attain; the whisper
| ings of which potentiality she now reefs
| within her heart. The reading OF the
book will give you mental food, the di-
gestion of which will convince you that
| man can obtain perfection only by de-
veloping within himself the peculiar ex-
| cellencies of woman in addition to his
| own.
| cannot but think that originally wo-
| ,1r.1 In, ,hxrcf TOOL
| strength, as in mental qualities, other
wise where could harmony and justice
| have arisen?
By Originality" mean when in the
| the progress of time, humanity first
| came to dwell upon the earth. For II man
| is immortal, as is now generally believed.
then he is without beginning and will
| endure forever.
| But here we are again jumping the
bounds of the physical. You see how hard
| it is to be a materialist; that is,a consist
| ent materialist; but, thank fortune, we are
| fortified by science, which tells US mat
| ter is everywhere; even when you can
| not see it. So what's the harm If we do
| trespass once in awhile? We can't be
prosecuted upon legitimate grounds at
! least.
| / think that the evolution Of both man
| and woman can be shown to depend
| largely, If not entirely upon the thoughts
| we think And l am bold enough to make
assertions here, without attempting to
bolster them up by proofs or arguments.
Both would be out of place. The express
sions I am using are strong enough to
stand alone anyway. 1t will be better If
| you follow out the suggestions of in
| quiry for yourself, giving them your own
| coloring.
| During the progress of the ages.
through the working of passion in the
human mind, natural law became per-
verted. The tyranny of man and the
pretense, If not untruthfulness of wo-
man, caused the downfall of both, but
upon woman the effect was more disas-
| trouS than upon man. And thus dis
| harmony and disease came into the
world. From these conditions came
weakness, suffering and pain. Abuses
upon abuses have piled upon each other
| throughout the speeding years. until we
have built the present monument of
social evil.
But it Is q law of nature that nothing
| evil can endure forever, although 1t may
| not seem so to man, whose existence
here Is ephemeral, relatively speaking.
Nature Is ever trying to re-establish
health and harmony. and when man,
| and OF course, woman, learn to help ma
ture to prevail, by thinking right
thoughts and doing right deeds we may
once more experience the golden age.
There are tides and currents in thought
Just as there are like movements in the
ocean; and what is more, they rise and
fall, advance and recede in a similar
manner.
The fact that there is marked change
In woman's estate at the present time
| accentuates a turning point in one of
these cycles, and whether it is to be used
for the benefit of the race or not remains
to be seen. To me the probabilities seem
to be that good will follow the regaining
by woman of her lost position in the
world, and 1t marks a crisis in the af-
fairs of men. Woman's liberation from
entangling conditions, the result of her
own folly and mans vice, does not de-
pend upon man-made laws and enact
ments, but can come only through the
triumph of mans (also womans) spirit
Il ual nature; the high estate from which
he fell. But it was fall made necessary
to demonstrate the majesty of the one
law, which is the only reality. Good and
evil are relative terms and one cannot
|exist without the other.
Now let US skip over the ages and limit
our consideration to our own women, the
| American women, the women of yester-
day and the women of today That Is.
our. great-great-grandmo and the
maidens and matrons Of today.
or the good old Puritan days and the
sweet. peaceful life Of the women Of
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