The Washington herald., 1913-02-10
BY FRANCES sHAFFER.


hear a lot about these showings OF
manly consideration, of tenderness II
+, you like, toward women. And the words
fall so softly and acceptably that tnere
is something soothing and uplifung IN
their very sound.
But Just what do they stand for. super
| ficially, and what do they mean wheh
they reach their real Towering time!
Those nameless little courtesles that
| pass from man to woman-they are most
gracious in the giving. mlgntE peasant
| to the woman. They are the Afternoons
that add a bit to comfort and great
deal to the tone and spirit oil the daF'
the little things that reach the mceties'
| the pleasantries of living, but not Its
actualities.
They make the way rather so1ter' anu
| the going all the SUMNER
But waits there nothing more?
For as one thinks of those lesser cour-
| teses there comes tapping at the door
| of memory that grim, grim order OF the
sea. Women first" And how can one
be said for it:
II is an order: with some, an order or
a prompting that comes from within. be-
cause of their great chivalric natures
that never knows any weakening: and
with some-cold practicality bids one say
tit is an order of the sea, only that
and nothing more. an order enforced TO
the last But why the order? There
may be a great many why's but the
Justice loving masculine mind can easily
find an answer, II he likes, in the one
fact that man for many ages, by his
laws and by his government, has clearly
assumed the protection of womanhood.
From that one viewpoint. and that alone,
there is reason for that terrible order
of the sea. AS for me, l do not like it,
in spite of the reason.
Pretty Far Away.
And when knighthood is in flower. what
then?
In some big ways that particular kind
Of Towering time is pretty far away.
For it does not mean the bended knee
or the lifted hat; does not stop at the
surrender of a seat or the pleasant clear
ing OF the way.
1t docs not even pause At the granting
of equal pay for equal work. Yet sure
ly that is one of the ways that knight |
hood takes to show itself sincere and
to prove that il is true blue when t
comes to practical living.
No: real chivalry, genuine knighthood
and true difference for woman reach a
greater depth than that.
It is not exactly easy to put it into
words and to tell just what knghthood
means when it means as much as 1t |
can.
For, just as beautiful womanhood COW |
ers a deal that is true and ideal. with |
its aspirations to influence and inspire. |
so knighthood typifies the highest OF
things. the things that proclaim It strong |
and worth while.
1t means, this knighthOod, this chiv- |
airy. this difference toward woman
il means d steady, persistent fight |
against the continuance of the degra-
dation and dishonor Of womanhood. 1t
is quite natural very fitting and appeal
ing to all that is true in mans make
up when he protects the women he loves
or the big class Of women who live on
the same plane Of life that he calls
his own. But that is partly selfish: ne 7
protects because he wants to protect.
But the knight goes farthe- than that.
He looks up to the woman above him,
looks out to the woman who walks by
the side of him: and then-he looks down
to the woman who has fallen below.
And the real kniChthOod born in him
makes him know that of all the women
who need his help the one that has
dropped out of the better running is
the one that calls the lUudest OF all.
Has Long Needed Help.
For thousands of years she has needed
his help. has called for Chivalry to come
to the resCuc-haS called, but few have
heard-at least few have needed her.
But down in his heart the real knight
knows that it is a woeful wrong and
crime against womanhOod TO set one typo
of woman apart. the eternal sacrifice
If humanity"
In all the years that have come and
gone since the world began, there have
been degraded men, men sunk away |
down in their manner Of living. but in
all that time with more degraded men
than similar women. there has never
been a single period when the social
system claimed a class of men to set
a side az human outcasts.
And the pity # it is, there never has
been a time when It has not had its many
thousands of women victims. What mat
ter whether the sacrifice was willing or
1t was a mighty sacrifice. just
the same, with many reasons in the
background.
4 Pretty Word.
And knighthOOd-does it not feel that
the excuse of the ages should no longer
be accepted as an excuse?
We say that our cities should be
aroused TO the wrong. our churches and
our women. And we declare that in
time we shall learn that this age-old
evil was a horrible mistake. a mistake
born OF the rankest injustice, and that
In time, in spite OF the deep. hardy