The copper country evening news., 1898-03-16

That is known as fair mindedness they
ave- more distinctive perhaps than In
snv other trait of the higher order. 1t
is not assumed, of course, that men as q
ssy are fair minded and that women as
COZ are not Nobody believes or ever
has believed that. Very few men, COM
nsred with the multitude, are fair
minded; the fair minded man is an ex-
centiou, it often seems. Can anything
more severe be said of women? 1t is not
NV purpose to speak severely Of women
wben intimating that they are very sell
dom addicted to impartiality, breadth
Of view, fair mindedness. Such quality
does not, it would appear, naturally be-
long to them. It is SO opposed to a great
deal in their composition that 1t does
not flourish; It usually languishes, 1t
lacks sustenanoe, it perishes, even il
planted, before it can take root.
Thus man continually affirms and
many woman comedies the point as
rule, but maintains that she has i'm
partiality, fair mindedness often, posi-
tive magnanimity in isolated cases.
This last claim he stubbornly denies.
He is won't to declare that she is inca
pable of magnanimity under any and all
circumstances; that it is wholly incom-
patible with her constitution, her tenn
perament, her destiny. He is apt to say
cynically that parvanimity is her char
acteristic; that any one who looks to
her for impartiality, for fair minded
ness, is pretty certain to be disappoint-
ed. She cannot, he continues, rise above
herself. encroach suddenly, all at once,
upon the masculine prerogative, be two
separate, distinct beings in one. The
laws of nature must be preserved. The
new, the advanced, woman-the woman
of today-is indignant at this sort of
talk, will not listen to it, pronounces it
the result Of ignorance, prejudice, pure
misogyny. She is prone to be at one ex-
treme, the sarcastic. railing man at the
other. The truth probably lies between
the two.
What intelligent, unbiased, reason
ing, highly educated men and women
substantially agree upon is likely to be
veracious Of the sexes and must carry
weight. What do they say, the moder-
ate and the clear of vision? They are
the picked ones, the individuals, the
visibly discriminating. They grant wo-
man no less than man that her life, her
disposition, her training, her constant
experience, tends not to impartiality, to
fair mindedness, which she is disinclined
to value properly or appreciate fully.
Fair mindedness is not, in her view, O
shining attribute, does not primarily
appeal to her, is not commonly ranked
among the feminine virtues; therefore
not to be cultivated by her. Woman is
spontaneously attached to what stirs,
enkindles her vanity, as man is sup
posed to be what evokes his pride. Her
most estimable qualities are frequently
the defects, as they are regarded, of her
virtues, or it may be the virtues Of her
defects. She is a creature of emotion, Of
sentiment, of affection. If she were al
ways impartial, strictly fair minded,
sne would have much less of those feel
ings, would be much reduced in her
power as woman, would be less at
tractlve, less lovable. She does not feel
that she can lose anything of her attrac-
lon, of her lovableness, without seri-
ously impairing the beauty and benigni-
" OF her sex, and rather than that she
would prefer to perish, to be totally OBJ
liberated. Every woman is, to her own
ideal goddess, and in such contempla-
uon, however exaggerated, she reaches
her highest happiness.
Men who ever speak scoffingly of
woman's lack of impartiality, of her
want OF fair mindedness, would not ex-
cnange her coquettishness, her charming
waywardness, her graceful duplicity, to
nave her an Aristides in petticoats.
ihey seem to think they reimburse
themselves for the follies they commit
and the worship they pay her in private
ior their harsh criticism of her in pub
iio' They do not care what her faults
may DO II she will only be agreeable to
'nem. Their prodigious egotism will for
give everything to her vanity so long as
IL spares their own. They relish prais-
ing her for her nobleness, her independ-
ence, her elevated spirit, but is it not
cnieny because they love to hear them
serves talk? They emphasize their ad-
miration Of her, but they would much
rather love her, and while they love her
'ney think little of admiration. There
are no women in "Plutarch' Lives. !"
ihey read that once and an erotic ro-
nance hundred times. The heroines
'ney delight in have figured, for awhile
as least, in their own hearts and would
nardiy be heroines anywhere else.
a woman who Is the incarnation OF
magnanimity and whom most men pro-
nouncs impossible they would not as q
RUE fancy at all. They would be re-
peiied by her In the concrete. II she
should appear to them In the abstract
only. they would be sure that she had
stuiiins noes. . craggy chin, q slighs
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