The Semi-weekly leader. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1905-1941, 1906-06-20
FlRESIDE EVOL UTlONS.
AN ESSAY,

Bead BY Mrs. Bettie Cain Thompson
of Greengille, Texas, at the Iatt
meeting Of the Alumnae Association
/ Of Whitworth College,
have chosen as the subject ol
lthis brief address sFireside Ev
olutionsv Salmagundi perhaps
lmay be more appropriate. An,
thropologlsts tell us that there
Twas q time in the history of our
race when no fresIde existed;
when fire itself was unknown tc
imam. How and when be discover.
led this important element are mat.
ters Of conjecture. The uses oi
fire being known and the need 81
feeding the flame recognized, |,
necessity arose that some one re-
main nearby to repIenish the fuel.
| On account Of children and GER
tain peculiarities, the duty OF
guarding the FIRE was assigned
woman. This was the origin Of
the fireside The beginning of
| the home. Men and women no
longer roamed from place TO
place. thoughtIess of the night;
henceforth, a. spot was fixed to
which man returned after the
days hunt. The discovery Of fire
brought about not only the begin
ming of home, but also, the begin
ming Of a sex division of labor.
We have heard much in later
years about woman's position and
her rights. The primitive woman
had all her rights. She was prob
ably as free as her husband to kill
the wild beasts, catch fish, fight
her savage neighbors, and eat the
raw meat torn by main strength
from the lately slain beast. Let
me say, parenthetically, since the
discovery Of FIRE abridged wo.
mans rights and circumscribed
her Sphere the shortest way,
perhaps, to restore her primal
freedom, would be to extinguish
the fire. THAT direfnl spring of
woes unnumbered. . shall not
attempt to trace Woman's career
from the time she became guard
ian of the FIRE and keeper of the
home, through the long centuries
which followed centuries of pa
gan darkness, when she was either
mans toy, yictlm, or slave; nor
shall I dwell upon the changes
wrought in her condition by
Christianity.
AT no time has woman been so
inferior to man in America as she
was in Europe. On this side the
Atlantic, in the very beginning
she took her place at mans side
as his companion and to a large
extent, his equal. 'Tis strange,
passing strange that man, even in
enlightened America, should have
been SO slow in recognizing
woman's varied powers, that he
should have SO long monopoIzed
many fields of activity. But man
lis constitutionally a monopoiist,
and always imagines he is It.
Madam President, | am not back
biting. Though this is a woman's
meeting, he is here in sufficient
numbers to refute the charge.
When KepIer had discovered the
great laws of planetary motion,
and embodied them in a book he
exclaimed, The book is written
to be read either now or by pos
terity, | care not which. / may
well wait a century for reader,
since God has walled six thousand
years for an observer. - Ia sub
lime repose, resting upon his own
conscious greatness the. astrono-
|mers could await the recognition
of his work; much more could
God wait, for in his sight IA
thousand years are but as yester-
day when it is past, and as q watch
In the night. Z God waited long
for an intelligent observer OF the
heavens; be waited still longer for
recognition of his handiWork,
woman.
Not till the nineteenth CEN
tury did man discover that in
woman the Creator had indeed
|giyen him helpmeet. Having
awakened to this fact man is now
imploring her help in unsnarling
| the chaotic conditions resulting
largely from his usurped power.
ISociety. church and State have
come to recognize her as an indIs-
pensable factor. Truly, women
of today,
1--WE are living in a grand and awful time,
Ages on ages telling, to be living il sublime
If we are to prove ourselves
equal to the demands of our day,
lif we are TO discharge creditably
lthese added obligations, we must
Ibestir ourselves. Past attainments
will not suffice.
/ New occasions teach new duties,
Time makes ancient good pnoouth,
They must upward still and onward,
Who'd keep abreast Of Truth,
Nor attempt the Future portals.
With the past,s bloodsrasted key
What will qualify ns for the du-
tiles of these new occasions
| knowledge is the necessary prep
laration. Not simply intellectual
lIore, not merely d knowledge 81
natural sciences, philosoph y clas-
Isles and history, though these are
important. ID The language oI
1.-THE Galilean Teacher, NE must
Seek FIRST the kingdom Of God
land His righteousness. VIZ
must irst Of all, and above al an
II II. e