The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1902-02-13

one hundred years Of missions aid the
mi-- oaarY pirif has put it, mprnt
Oh b" religion. lie Of The century. II
y he pint of love AID u .erYIee. n.
sunday schools and missions are the
two Institutions which NAV be named
a. especially characferisti. Of l9h
century Christianity. IT has been
atruIst1c rather than iutro-p ectiye.
and 20 has expressed tho mind Of tn,
master who went about doing good.
Beginning in the church but not cor.
find 10 i. the heart u the bc-t IT, #
/ The 18Th century ha= been quick win
the aItruistic spirit. This has been u.
Characteristic Of the age a. the spirit Of
lnve=tgation or the spirit n acquisition.
Societies Of every sort for the better
meht u Humanity have sprung ~ Ike
murhrooms. Windows have berL
made In the prisons Of the blind, AID
the door Of language has been opened
To the deaf. The little child has beer
enthrpned in the heart Of charity. aud
a helping hand has been reached H.
dependent old age. Il would seem al.
II every Voc would fad IL. miuistralt.
The charities Of every great CITY III,
stupendous. Many Thousands d meu
and women have given their lives with
"hole-hearted devotion 10 the service
OF he helpless. the poor, the sick auo
the outeast. They have wof.hipped
God In the slum and in the hospital
instead of in the closter.
Amor the most important in=titu-
tons which the past century has be-
queathed Us is the colossal sysfem Of
public education which has spread over
4 he world. That the little children Of
/ the poor should receive an education
seemed 10 former centuries both i'm
/ possible and perilous. 70 day il il
/ regarded a necessary for the safeguard
OF society. This is the difference be-
tween the despotc and the democrat C
/ point OF view. Our New England ance.-
tors established schools for their child
ren, but they were in most cases free
only to those who could not pay. The
hrst public school funds were created
In the latter years Of the 18th century.
This may be called the beginning Of
our present system of tree and universal
education, which has been amplified
and extended until now it is the most
important and the most expensive of
our great puolic institutions. The
nations Of Europe also have broken
with the past, aud have given hostage
TO the future in their public schools.
Holland, Switzerland. Germany. Italy
ana France have very elaborate and
complete systems Of education. India,
Japan, Africa aud the islands Of the
sea are following rapidly or slowly.
England ls working our her own system
III her own way. That our educational
ideals are perfect or our systems finished
we are very far from thinking. But
the tree Is century old. and its leaves
for he hau1irex 8 >.
public school system Of the world viii
stand forever as one OF the nobesl
monuments OF the 18th century.
Perhaps there is no one respect in
which the point of view of the opening
10th century differs so much from that
OF the opening 10Th as in its attitude
towards women. The woman question
has been burning one during most Of
the Intervening time, and woman
wrongs and womans rights have beer
fought out of many wordy battlefield
In lSO0 married women had 10 right:
to their property or to their children
Nowhere In the world did women have
voice in the government, nor organized
II t1uence in the settlement of socis
questions. No public provision wa:
made for the education Of girls unit
well into the century. As late as 1856
the number OF women teachers was III.
considerable, owing principally to the
lack OF opportunity for sufficient educa
ton. First high schools. then norma
schools, then colleges and professiona
schools, have opened their doors t
women in rapid succession, and The
change in ideas on this subject is com
plete. 1t was in the forties that TWO
or three progressive western college!
first gave to women the opportunity
for higher education. Now, there
are 10000 women studying in tht
collegiate institutions of the Unittc
States, and universities are open OF
are opening to them 10 all parts of the
world. In lS49 Elizabeth Blackwell
took her degree as Doctor Of Medicine
at Geneva, n. Y. Now there are 5.00(
practicing women physicians in tht
United States. In the early wears Of
the century there were not more thar
half dozen employments open tC
women outside the home. The las
census enumerates 220 gainful oeeups
tions held by women including every
one held by men except those of III,
army and the navy. Women TO day
may and do enter every profession, ar
or craft for which their tastes and ahil
tiles qualify them. The laws have beef
gradually amended and improved 50 g
to guarantee the freedom Of wives snC
= mothers. Social customs have reaxel
their tyranny and women have beer
set free to follow their own intiatiy,
: along many lines. To day every caus,
demands their aid and every great pub
lie question, moral, religious, muHcipa
or national appeals to them for hell
in its right settlement In 1885 femai
temperance meeting WAS held in New
= oTk, the first Of the kind ever hell
in the city. The papers II the da'
commented favorably upon il ard men
toned with approval that The prayer
The reading of the constitution and To-
addresses were all by gentlemen. snD
not woman opened her mouth. Nov
we have every year hat u dozen grta
national womeu's conventions. Wher
the most important questions Of societ,
are debated. In ISIS no woman in th
world had a vote in the affairs If GOV
eminent A the present time tul
suffrage FOR women exists in four state
of the American Union, and in Sout
and West Australia. New Zealand 4u
the Isle Of Man; while partial sutlrag
has been granted in all the States e1
cept 10, In Great Britain, and in man
continental countries We must regar
the emancipation of woman and he
release To bear a hand in the cor hil
for reform aud for advance, for freedom
and for virtue, AS one of the most ja