The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-11


Henrotin is a charming woman and an ex-
cellent presiding Of
Bishop BURGESS ficer. AS president Of
Coadjutor. the Federation of
Womens Clubs she
certainly filled a prominent position with
grace and dignity. But nobody ever sus-
pected her of being a great thinker or a
great writer. 1t has been observed for some
time that she is inclined TO attribute an ex-
aggerated Importance to women's clubs and
their mission, and instead Of describing elo-
quently the good they really do. which is
important enough to deserve eloquence, to
make them a little ridiculous by extrava-
CANT views of the good she thinks they will
accomplish.
This tendency in her seems to be growing
to judge by her recent article, in which she
says the clubs are largely taking the place
Of the churches. among women. Now, such
an absurd statement-to call ii by no harsh
er name-was decidedly notifying to club
women In general when they reflected that
Mrs. Henrotin had some claim to assume to
speak for them. But. after all, it seems
that she made her suggestion only just in
time. Bishop Burgess tells us the churches
are too feminine, have too many women,
are too much under the influence of women.
So, If the churches don't want US, it is con-
selling If we may hope the clubs will take
their place.
1t has always been well understood that
the society of Andrew and Philip which the
bishop was addressing, was devised to get
the men into the churches; in our innocence.
&1,2
churches wanted more men, not because
they wanted fewer women. The great at
traction of the society is big annual ban
quet. The founder of IL shrewdly reflected
that you could certainly depend on a ban
quet to get the men to come. Then. once
having got them there, they are appointed
on committees Of varied duties. and the
charms and responsibilities of office-holding
are depended on to get them to come to
church and to feel an interest in ii. If we
have sometimes felt little lonely at being
excluded from the principal social festivity
of the church. we have reflected on the ex-
cellence of the cause, and have concluded
that it was all right. since women did not
need banquets to bring them to church. But
If we are excluded from the banquet be-
is different matter.
Seriously. Mrs. Henrotins paper is foolish,
and the bishops address is, to say the least,
not a conspicuous example of the tact he so
highly commends.
There may be substitutes for the church,
but there is no substitute for religion; and
women. as the bearers of the heaviest end
of life's burden, feel the more immediate
need of its support and consolation. The
original Caller of Andrew and Philip had no
fear of the predominance of feminine infiu-
ence In His church, and never thought there
could be too many women among his follow
ers. We read of many women who loved
Him, served Him, but never of one who op-
posed Him or prosecuted Him. All His words
Of reproach or of denunciation were adj
dressed to men, never to women; the virtues
on which He laid special emphasis were the
virtues considered feminine-patience, for
bearance, compassion, charity, love. Wher-
ever the word of His gospel has gone it has
lifted up the slave on the one hand, and the
woman on the other, and set them on high,
as the equals of their sometime lords and
masters.
On the whole, I suspect the bishop was
trying to flatter the masculine audience by
disparagement Of the absent women. and
fell into the trap Of a preachers great
temptation-the temptation to say sensa-
tional and unconsidered things, because no.
body can answer back. If he should ever
happen to attain the thing he imagined de-
srable and become bishop of a church with
out feminine influence. or feminine workers,
or feminine members-well, his repentance
and conversion would surely be edifying.
And now the old question of the good OF
evil of reading fiction is being discussed
once more-discussed with a singular lack
of perception Of the CEN
OF Reading trail fact that the great
Fiction. characteristic works Of art
and imagination in our age
are novels, as those of the middle ages
were cathedrals, and those Of the Eliza
bethan age dramas. If one wants to know
the world of the nineteenth century, or its
art, or its thought, one must read novels.
Doubtless. since the Egyptians painted con-
temporary life on the walls of their tombs,
no age has ever mirrored itself for posterity
with the faithfulness and perception and
power that our own has in it's novels.
1t is true. however. that some readers
can get nothing out of any novel but the
bare outline of the story; there are people
as incapable of perceiving literary quality
as General Grant was of understanding mu-
sic-you remember that he knew of ''only
two tunes; one is Yankee Doodle, and the
other isn't" One hears people, with literary
perceptions equal to Grants musical ones,
saying, well. don't see how that story
by Dickens, or Charles Reade or Victor
Hugo, perhaps-"is any better than dime
novel; it has just as many sensational Incl
dents, or even more Of them"
A good illustration of the different values
different people can extract from the same
novels, lies in the history of Senator B. and