Year: 1859

| spread uer couutehancej 10 n0t touch upon


that subject


Forgive me, beloved But know that


il is that which is killing you Ever since


then have ] seen you fade and waste away,
as by some secret malady your eyes be-
come larger; your cheeks emaciated and
you-oh, Alma, sweet Alma | feel that
| shall hate him =


DO not hate him Pity him rather
Believe me, he is not happy. He has not
always been as be is now. Ever since our
mothers death, Auna says that his temper
has become gloomy and morbid and our
aunt made him more morose than he other


wise would have BEEN


But he is also unjust and severe ! Had


he given US our right, then you would not


have been as you now are Why does he
withhold from us our mothers property ?
Why does be render US no account of what
we possess or Of what we ought to have p


We have in fact, no right to desire it.
We are, according to the laws of our coun-
try, still minors, and he is our lawful guar
dan'


And we shall always continue to be mi-
nors, If we do not go 10 law with our faith
er, because it is his will that-we should ever


be dependent upon him, aud the laws of our
country forbid us TO act as if we were ra-


tional, independent beings ! Look, Alma


it is this Injustice toward us, as women,
which provokes me. not merely with my
father, but with the men who make these
my country's unjust laws, and with all who
contrary to reason and justice maintain
them, and in so doing contribute to Keep US
in our fettered condition. We have prop
erty which we inherit from our mother; yet


can we not dispose Of one single farthing of
= it. We are old enough to know what we


desire, and to he able to take care of our


selves aud Others, yet at the same time we
are kept as children under our father and
guardian, because he chooses to consider us
as Snch, aud treat us as such. We are pro-
hibited every action, every thought which
would tend to independent activity or the
opening of a future for ourselves, because
our father and guardian says that we are
minors, that we are children, and the law
says, ''it is his right; you have nothiug to
say l"'


Yes, said Alma, 1t is unjust, and harder


than people think But, nevertheless, our


father means well by us; and manages our


property justly and prudently with regard


to our best interests


And who will be the better for it We
When we are old aud stupid, and no more
good for anything See, | shall soon bC
! twenty-seven, you are twenty-nine already
and for what have we lived p


Alma made no reply, and Hertha con


timed


If we had even been able to learn any


thing thoroughly, and had had the liberty
to put forth our powers, as young mer
: have. / would not complain. Is it not ex
IraordiDary, Alma, that people always ask


boys what they would like to be, what they


have fancy or taste for, and then give


them the opportunity to learn, and to de,


veop themSemselves according to the best


of their minds, but they never do so with
t girls They cannot even think or choose
for themselves "a profession or way of life


All, l would so gladly have lived upon
f bread and water, and been superiatively


happy, if | might but have studied al
young men study at Universities, and 10y


my own efforts have made my own way


The arts, the sciences-oh, how happy are
men who are able to study them to pene-


trate the mysteries of the beautiful and the
sublime, aud then go forth into the world


and communicate To others the wisdom they
: have learned, the good they have found
l How glorious to live and labor day by day


for that which makes the world better
, more beautiful lighter. How happy should
one fecel, how good, how mild how differ
ent that life must be to what it is, where
, there seems to be no other question in the
7 world but, "What shall we cat and drink
; and what shall we put on 2" aud where al
2 lifes solitude seems to resolve itself int
this Oh, Alma, are we not born into this
| world for something else How wretched y
, and as if overwhelmed by the thought,
, Hertha buried her face in her hands Pre-
seully she became camer, and continued,
looking steadily upward:


How dissimiar are objects in the world
as well in nature as among mankind. The
f Creator has given to each and all their dif.
ferent impulse and destination, which they
/, cannot violate without becoming unnatural
4; or perishing This is allowed to be an un
: questioned law as regards the children OF
nature. People do not require from the
t oak that it shall be ike birch, nor from the
4 lily thatit shall resemble the creeping els
e tus. With men il is the same they are
f allowed each one TO grow according to hi
e bent and his nature, and to become tha
: which the Creator has called them to be
= but women, precisely they who should im
t prove every power TO the utmost, they mus


become unnatural, thoughtless submissv
b tools of that lot TO which men have deslin
i ed them They must all be cast in on,
b mold and follow one line, which is chalkeC
: out for them as if they had no souls of theil
+ own to show them the way, and to give
| them an idividual bent. And yet how dit
ferent are the gifts and the dispositions o
: women; what a difference there is, Tor IN
Z stance, among us sisters, all children of the
), same parents. What a clever and active
e practical woman will our Martha become
l and Marie, on the contrary, how unusually
o thoughtful aud pleased with study is she
It You, my Alma, are made to be the ange
/ of domestic life, and I-ah, l do not know


| cannot tell what was created to become
e | yet seek for myself bat if | had beer
G able to develop myself in freedom, If tht
e hunger aud the thirst which ] felt within
me had ben satisfied, then ! might perhaps
~