Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1898-07-08
SPRINGS. DAKOTA, FRIDAY, JULY 6,
HER SERVICE.

OF theOrlentS tent to the steam hea ted,
electric lighted home of the nineteenth
century American woman.
Nevertheless, from the one to the
other, thro' all the ages, by the kinship
of the dwellers there in, tone increas-
ing purpose runs" divinely appointed
and consciously, or unconsciously, ac-
cepted- Service!
In dreams, in visions of the night, in
trumpet tones, by prophet and seer, by
the Inner Voice, in letters of fire on
palace wall, in the solemn hush of the
forest primeval, hath He who made
man after His own image, spoken to
men,-and always, truly interpreted,
hath the message meant-Service!
"Male and female created He them" J"
and he blessed them alike.
AS the circle of the race widened,
and grew remoter from its center, the
blessing took on new shades of mean
ing.
In words as various as their natures,
men translated the mandates of their
Lord. But this, a-likeness remained.
Man heard, and granted to his brother
the right to understand; but he told
Eve the message Of the Lord, for her,
Sometimes he made the meaning plain.
Thro' all time, from him who called
his wife Eve, "because she was the
mother of all living" to the German
emperor with his ''three KS" men have
discerned the glory of maternity.
No literature exists wherein the
mother is unsung. Always have men
revered her, and no woman fully
rounds out the general destiny without
the double crown of wife-h hood and ma
ternity-
The future Iof the race is borne in
the arms of woman, and its hope is
upon her bosom. For this, do all men
honor her, and of this dignity none
may defraud her.
Is this all the service the world may re-
quire of her? Certainly it is THE SER
vice,-and many times it is ALL. But
there have ever been exceptional wo-
men, and those specially environed.
To these, honest men have, again and
again, delivered other translations of
the words of the Lord.
When the fat of Nature, or the 'sshalt
not" of Circumstance, forbade the
special service of woman, men, in re-
moter ages, counseled her to heal or
teach; and the mysteries of medicine
and the teaching of children we're long
abandoned to her. Faithfully aud
wisely she served thus.
At intervals, exceptional and unmis-
taxable gifts were given to women, and
added to their usefulness. When Cen
ius laid its finger upon them-when
they saw visions of beauty, and heard
the music of life, mon willingly listen
ed; gladly receiving their services in
act and song, from the days of Sappho
to Nordica.
With the complexities of civilization
opportunities for service multiplied;
but strange misunderstanding be-
came evident concerning the duties of
women, and the meaning of life for
them. Men-and their sisters!-forgot
that there was only one "sphere" on
which the race is known to dwell; for
got that the "rights of women" in the
aggregate, is but another phrase fol
that which is s'right" for each.
Many avenues of usefulness were
closed to women because they were
"women.' They were found asking
Scan a woman do thls?" instead of
"Can do that?'' When the last cen
tury neared its end women in genera
4 had no assurance of usefulness OUTSIDE
the domestic life or the cloister.
A princess might sit in the room o
king, beauty might rule from th
J. steps of throne, ii Joan of Arc nigh
t deliver II people subjected, and burr
n in the end for presumption, but th'
9 women unwed. uncloistered, ungifted
Il in mems eyes were useless --saddest o
4 words!-were useless.
S But the maker of women had neee
of them still. He gifted these alien
S with love for their kind. He anointet
; their eyes with His pity divine. Ii
/ their ears,--untilled with the cries o
t their babes-He sang of the wonde
= and beauty of life, of love, and tfu
= service. So they wrote. Sometime
d hiding their sex by tho name Of a man
a they poured out the tho't that lives o
! repression had deepened. Out of tn
y bitter, came forth sweet" for the 81
i, lent reflection of years had rooted con
n victions, enlarged their conceptions %
) duty,and made keener and clearer thei
a vision.
y Thro' literature many exceptiona
q women made s'life worth living" 70
q themselves,-and nobler for Others
- To ha snro th0nRanda 6ivinolv nm