Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-01-16
The
diOSyncraSleS
OF WOmanss.
Character
By Rev. JOHN WATSON Gan Maclaren

W ORD BEACONsFIELD used to say that he was n the side
of the angels, and there is something wrong in the man
who is not a defender of womanhood. When any one can
sit down and libel a woman he forgets that he has had u
mother, and he is UNWORTHY TO HAVE A DAqGH-
TER. This man should not be trusted in any serious affair of life, for
his moral vision has been perverted and is quite unreliable. He is
color blind in his soul and cannot see the white of the lily or the red
ness of the rose. What strikes a sound man and compels his homage are
the high qualities which blend together and come to perfection in the
character Of A GOOD WOMAN-her instructive purity her habit
ual unselfshness, her capacity for sacrifice, her unreserved devotion to
those whom she loves and the rapidity and certainty Of her MORAL
INSIGHT. Within the range of virtue she is almost at every point
an example to men and their despair.
If a woman were quite faulhess, then she would be too good for
this world, for even gold cannot be wrought and used unless it be
mixed with alloy. Perhaps we ought not, therefore, to be quite disap-
pointed that a woman has the defects of her qualities and that there
are flaws in the marble of the Parthenon. Her faiings are many, but
there are two which catch the eye of the world and sometimes try her
friends. They are closely allied, but they are not quite the same, and
the first is an IMPERFECT SENSE OF JUSTICE.
Most people feel that women have not the same idea of justice as
men, but of course when one makes this statement he is ready in the
same breath to offer qualifications. He is speaking of women AS A
CLASS. He acknowledges freely that there are women endowed with
minds as impartial and capable of dealings as fair as any man, but he
suggests that they are the exception. 1t has also to be frankly admit
ted that a defect in the sense of justice with women springs from one
of their FINEST qualities. The reason it is more difficult for women
to be perfectly just in all circumstances and to every person is partly
her emotional nature, but largely her personal devotion. A woman's
loyalty snot SO much to principles as to people, and on the person she
@NO A0 b1 -" 'tNAOoN
the shadow, it ! follows that the person she disikes inherits the wealth
of detestation. If she be lowered with the love of love, she is apt also
to be cursed with the hate of hate. With a woman everything is more
or less personal. God has made her 81 FOR GOOD ENDS. You
dare not, therefore, critcSe her church. You IAN only point out a
fault in her child at your deadly peril. Every one is beneath the
shield of her love; every one is faultess that belongs to her.
WE HONOR HER FOR THIS cHlvALRous LOYALTY, WE REC
.ocNIzE IN ITS WEALTH OF PASSION HER POWER IN LIFE, BUT
GAN YOU EXPECT HER TO HAVE BOTH PARTIsANsHIP AND
JUsTIcE2 -E-
Is it not the case that every second woman is tempted to cheat at a
game if she can get the chance, whether it be croquet or whether it be
cards? She has little conscience about the matter, and men have got
to have little conscience about her doing it. They will shrug their
shoulders and accept tt S a WOMAN'S WAY. If a man had done
such a thing he would be cast out of his club and out of society without
mercy. It's only a rascal among men who will cheat at a game, and
many rascals, dshonorable everywhere else, are honorable here. If
woman can get the better of a railway company by passing a child of
thirteen as under twelve she will be quite happy, but men do not like
those little rogueries and do not think they re worth a mans doing.
One could never be quite sure about a return which a woman had filed
up and which affected her interests. When a woman wants to crcun-
vent some person she may be a model of all the virtues, and her hus-
band may not be quite free from some of the vices, but she will give
him advice WHICH WILL MAKE HIS HAIR STAND ON
END and which he can hardly make her understand is perfectly out
of the question.
y"