Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1913-05-16
Cardinal Gibbons Pleads For Dig
nifty OF Nomanhood.


Cardinal Gibbons sent a letter to the
woman anti-suffrage meeting in Baltimore
recently in which he says:
Equal rights do not imply that both
sexes should engage promiscuously in the
same pursuit, but rather that each sex
should discharge those duties which are
adapted to its physical constitution and
are sanctioned by the canons of society.
ITO some among the gentler sex the
words equal rights have been, it is to be
feared, synonymous with similar rights
To debar woman from certain pursuits is
not to degrade her, To restrict her field of
action 20 the gentler avocatiOns of life is
not to fetter her aspirations after the
higher and better. 1t is, on the contrary,
to secure to her not equal rights so-called.
but those supereminent rights which can
not fail to endow her with a sacred in
fiuence in her own proper sphere; for as
soon as woman trenches on the domain of
man, she must not be surprised to find
that the reverence once accorded her has
been in part, or wholly, withdrawn. and
that she is destined to be soiled by the
dust of the political arena.
THE sad results likely to follow in our
country from an active participation in po-
litical strife are foreshadowed by the scenes
which are now daily occurrinein England,
where women, many of them Of refined
education, are ruthlessly pursued by the
mob, and are protected from physical VIC
lence only by the interposition of the
police.
THE insistence on a right Of participa-
ton in active political life is undoubtedly
calculated to rob woman of all that is
amiable and gentle, tender and attractive !;
to rob her of her innate graces of charac-
ter and give her nothing in return but
masculine holiness and effrontery.
Its advocates are habitually preaching
about woman's rights and prerogatives
and have not word to say about her du-
ties and responsibilities. They withdraw
her from those obligations which properly
belong to her sex and FIJI her with ambi-
ton to usurp positions for which neither
God nor nature ever intended her.
Under the influence Of such teachers
we find woman, especially in higher circles,
neglecting her household duties, never at
peace unless she is in perpetual motion or
unless she is in state of morbid excite
ment. She never feels at home unless she Is
abroad. When she is at home. the home is
irksome to her. She chafes and frets I'M
der the restraints and responsibilities of
domestic life. Her heart is abroad. Her
afflicted husband comes home to find 1t
empty or occupied by a woman whose heart
is empty of affection for him. She is i'll
at ease. Hence arise disputes. quarrels,
determinations and estraneements or the
last act Of the drama is often divorce.
When deprecate female suffrage am
pleading for the dignity Of woman. am
contending for her honor, am striving to
perpetuate those peerless prerogatives in
herent in her sex, those charms and graces
which exalt womankind and make her the
ornament and the coveted companion Of
man.
I'VE must remember that though woman
does not personally vote. she exercises the
right of suffrage by proxy. So powerful is
the influence which sensible matrOn exerts
over her husband and sons that they will
rarely fail to follow her counsel which
comes from an inspired instinct rather than
from labOred reasoning.
when the son Of Themistocles asked a
favor Of his father, who was a Grecian
general, Themistocles replied: My son. |
cannot grant you that favor, you must
have recourse to your mother. For rule
Athens, Athens rules Greece, Greece rules
the world. but your mother rules me.
woman is queen indeed. but her en-
pire is the domestic kingdom The greatest
political triumphs she would achieve in
public life fade into insienifcance COM
pared with the serene glory which radiates
from the domestic shrine and which she
illumines and warns by her conjugal and
motherly virtues.
IF she is ambitious of the dual empire
Of public and private life. then like the
tabled dog beholding his image In the
water. she will lose both. she will fall from
the lofty pedestal where nature and Chris
tianity have placed her, and will fail to
grasp the sceptre Of political authority from
the strong hand Of her male competitor.
Though woman Is debarred from voting,
she brings into the world and rocks the
cradle Of the nations future citizens She
rears and molds the character Of those who
are to be the future rulers and statesmen,
the heroes and benefactors Of the country
Surely this is glory enough for her.
when a Roman matron expressed her
surprise to Cornelia. the mother Of the
Gracchi, that she wore no jewels on her
person. Cornelia was silent ill she greeted
her son returning from school, and then
she exclaimed, pointing to her children -
These are my jewels which ! will bequeath
to the republic. II Cornelia. instead OF
shaping the minds and hearts Of her sons
to deeds Of virtue and patriotism at home,
had wasted her time in the Roman Forum,
history would never have recorded the
noble exploits Of the Graceful
Hu..RN-t. nttt,. nj a.. 49,,