The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-04-14
W0MAN's RECORD IN HISTORY
y HUNGARIAN VIEW OF HER IN
FLUENCE IN AMERICA
Charles Leonard Moore Endorses the
View Of Reich-SOme Remarkable
Women of the Past end Their I'M
press on the Times i'm Which They
Lived.
For ne Messenger.

compared with other countries a11
has been finding an explanation in the
Overwhelming influence of ONE in,
the lack Of outward pressure which
would drive us 20 an interior inner life,
and our almost exclusive preocupation
with and industry"
Charles Leonard Moore. whom | have
quoted in d former article on a differ
ent subject endorses the views OF
Reich, and says:
a a cOrOllary to the dominance OF
woman in our life, we have a worship
of decorum and prettiness. We do
small things delicately. We are much
concerned with style, and import the
last years fashions from France and
England, and make fetiches of them.
AS women approve authority, we are
fond Of maxim makers, moralists, and
writer's who tell us how to succeed in
life. | have always thought that peo-
pie must be very bad to need to 50 to
church as much as they do; and SINH
Iarly | think the nation must be weak
TIC ally anu UlOI dliy III lCQultC CO
so many props Of axioms and moral
phrases to support it. On the other
hand, our women instructed minds
shrink from strong passions and tragic
situations. We must apologize for IN
dulging in tragedy as Snug the joiner,
apologized for bringing a lion into the
presence of ladies'"
The world is pretty much OF a
muchness" in this regard, V e since
humankind was made up Of man and
woman in every age and every cline.
Certainly not in the dark ages Or iii
medieval days did oma exert sucn
commanding influence, nor does she
dominate mans life in the twentieth
century in this or any other land. In
deed, SO far as America is concerned,
the stirring events of it's brief history:
it's revolutions, its achievements in
war, its struggles and changes in pol
iticS, its triumph in craftsmanship,
have all been accomplished with wOm-
an singularly in the background and
markedly without her overt participa-
ton. No country on earth in any era, of
ferS a century of history so essentially
virile, where the man power, or domi-
nance if | may SO express it, has been
so all-sufficient and o~ver-winning as
America for the past 125 years.
The New Woman"-a politico-sp-
cial product of he past 40 or so years,
of New England stock, grated on the.
other branches CT her sex in the west
ern and southern sections by the op-
pOrtunities of the revolution and up
heaval engendered by the Civil war
has proved a failure. She is noisy, bIt
superficial; pushing and aggressive,
visionary and infirm of purposes. It
is not from her that the Anglo-SaXCn
has to fear domination. 1t has been
true from the remOtest past up to the
present day that the influence OF Wom-
an has been deep, abiding, f~ar-reacn-
ing and beneflcent, in proportion as
she has been WOmanly, not masculine.
1t has been in the %sOftneSs, refinement.
versatility and delicacy of her seq,
not in AmaZOnian masquerading, that
she has welded a power which, while
it did not dominate man, inspired hrm
to most splendid achievement, and
urged him on to dominate his fellow
men.
1t may not be uninteresting to the
readers OF The Messenger to pass IN
review some of the m who have
made their impress on the times in
which they lived, their influence for
good or bad, and the circumstances
which forced them into prominence,
despite the disadvantages n barriers
of sex. 1t would be SupererOgatory to
cite such examples as Semlra1tlS:
ZenObia; Cleopatra; Joan of Arc; Ma
ria Theresa, Empress of Austria; Cath
crime II, Empress of Russia; Elizabeth.
Queen of England; Mary, Queen )f
Scots: Victoria, etc. These STAND
grandly out from the twilight Of the
past-gracious, royal, majestic. But a
little below the eminence which they
attained. either from the lOftlness OF
character, the superiority Of their v1r-
tues. the extravaganza of their crimes,
the plentitude o. their power, or the
accident of rank, there are notable and
remarkable women, whose lives will
repay a little study.
ClotiIde, the niece of Go%ndeband, the
king of the Burgnndians, perhaps did as
much as any Cma that ever lived
for the advancement of Christianity ),
in this wise. Her father Chilperic had
been murdered by his brother Gonde.
band, who also had her mother Agrip-
pima thrown into the river Rhone with
a stone about her neck. Chlotilde was
living in seclusion at Geneva when her
extraordinary beauty inspired the love
of Clovis, king of the Franks, a great
warrior, but a barbarian. When they
were married, then did the gracious
Queen Clotilde not cease in her beseecn-
men that her lord be baptized" CLOVIS
being then much in love, and longing
greatly, to destroy his enemies, made
a mighty vow that, should he gain a
victory over the Allemanians, he would
consent; and a day of two afterwards
he routed them at Talbiac. Then
Queen Clotilde," says Fredegaira,
fearing that her lord might evade his
promise, sent to him st. Remi, bishop
of Rheims, that he might fill his heart
with thoughts Of salvation" And SO,
between wife and priest, Clovis SOL
embraced the faith.
Clovis, it is true, was rather a shah