The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-05-22
The Won1an's Page Of The Tnnes-Dispatch
THE GIFT of Wisdom
and Her Handmaiden

sages and great men have written
down the Interpretation of wisdom as
q. knowledge of ones own heart and
It's secrets.
Probably because the mind in
stinctively shrinks from turning It's
searchlight on the heart and facing
truths that might be revealed few
women are wholly wise, few know
themselves for what they really are.
Women do not like to realize them
selves and their own natures entirely.
They prefer to be the creatures OF
their ina gination. They dress UP an
Image ernbodying an ideal and do
homage to 1t SO often and so regularly
that they almost, If not quite. succeed
in considering 1t a genuine instead OF
a spurious reflection.
| Crises in woman,s life may force
her outside OF her articles as
poseur. may for the moment. or for sew
| eral. render her honest. shock her
| into sincerity and into genuine self
knowledge. Then. whether she knows
| 1t or not, she s wise.
| Not Favorable to Self-Love.
But the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. OF Wis
| dom Is not favorable to her self-lova
| and her selfdeception. So she makes
haste to turn off the searchlight. to
| set up her Image again and recall her
usual attitudes and platitudes. to
| fortify her against the realizations. OF
the too obvious and the too rudely
apparent.
| 1t Is a curious phase in the evolu-
| ton OF human nature. that which
blunts the acuteness of woman's
perceptions in proportion to the meas
ure OF her indirectness The vainesi
| women are unconscious of thetk
| vanity. The most selfish consider
! themselves marvels Of generosity. the
| most frivolous as monuments OF
| sobriety and self-denial.
| If, as sometimes happens, all the
| little defenses behind which woman
has ensconced herself be swept away.
and she is forced to acknowledge
straightly that which she is and thar
which she does, she is as frightened
as Saul was when the Witch of Endor
4 raised the spirits at his bidding. She
lis not strong enough nor self-poised
enough to look Wisdom in the face
and remain urmoved She does not de-
sire to have her weaknesses brought
forward for inspection. nor her faults
revealed beyond the point of her fall
ing to recognize them.
The Exceptional Woman.
The exceptional woman Is she who
strives for charity of vision and for
knowledge OF her heart; who Is not
content with the imitation of reality.
but desires reality itself. Such a wo-
man searches out the obscure corner,
of her nature and bravely confronts
the discoveries awaiting her there.
| They may not be pleasant or flatter-
ING 10 her self-love, but they reveal
her actual identity. they teach her It's
farlts as we'll as its good qualities, tts
4 weakness as we'll as Its strength.
Thencetorward she is guarded against
being betrayed. because she knows
where she can trust herself and In
opposing what she WosI Heeus hoi
self defense
So much for the gift of knowledge
which Wisdom holds in the hollow
of her hand. When woman has re-
ceived 1T and comprehends herseil
through its bestowal, the first thing
chs shouid do and is most naturally
inclined to do is to keep her compre
hension to herself not pass 1T on TO
Others. especially to other women.
IInndmaiden OF knowledge.
/ Cleverness is the handmatden OF
Knowledge. and in nothing does Wo-
man give better evidence of this de-
4 sirabIe quality than in keeping as
| valuable secret whatever Wisdom may
/ whisper In her ear. This secret applies
to her and her only. 1t cannot possibly
i benefit any one else except througD
/ nor AS knowledge kept. 1t greatly IN
| rreases her influence and her oppor-
/ tunitv AS knowledge squandered, 1t
/ discredits Wisdom, and deprives the
| woman of the certain advantages OF
/ se1f-control and acknowledgements.
Wisdom's favors are given not to
those whose minds are TILED Win
fall to the class attentive to their
avn affairs For through such
attention self-know1edge arrives.
,rhro,,gh such attention it thrives and
e nurtured. develops womanly enar
acter In the right way and ex ,NnI
truth. eo1> =
discussions to De Avoided.
1s ZACH doesn't like society. she
o.r,+ make him like it. Men are not
tric,1 noodles to perform the STUNTS
they are taught; If woman tou,iu 9 ~
her husband was one she Mouiu az,
snise him. 1t would be wiser 70 set
he,. nreferences alongside his, nov
asainst them. Above all things, le1
her l,aep from discussing the situat1on
J, viii him She cannot lay claim 20
much femininity if she cant be sue.,s
! when happiness depends on IT,
o., SIM, ND the situation make up her
s,,;na as TO what she Will do In the
r n,atter and then do it in such nat
,ira1 way that her young husband
i Won't even know he has been
OF course. if she wants to make q
E great show of will power; say she IS
> miserable If he doesn't do her way.
and and compel him to go in society rather
= than make a scene. she VIII GET h ne,
,gav--ana lose her husband In the
raars ! a come when she is tired OF tho
:. flummery II society she may sadly
:, wonder Why he and she have. drifted
! SO far apart in every thought and act &c.
student OF life would merely point
. a finger back to that first phase Of
Q hnn1 all the decisions for happiness
. anples Of gold--and threw them away.