REPLY TO CIVIS ON "THE HIGHER EDUCATION IF WOMAN."

Dunstan Times, Issue 1112, 24 August 1883, Page 3

REPLY TO CIVIS ON "THE HIGHER EDUCATION IF WOMAN."

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions I expressed by our correspondents.

TO TH« KDITOR. ]

Sib—l was not at all surprised on reading " Passing Notes" to rind " Civis," mmlike where woman is concerned, had taken hold of Che (.wroni; end of the argument. The < let'ei on " The Higher Education of 1 Woman " did not lead to the iliotioc inclusions arrived at by " Civis" Tuat i because woma i did not 'excel man in supplying his natural want* she should '. wish him to suparsele her in performing I domestic duties. Bat to combat the idea 1 which has hitherto been entertain-d, that i because she has failed to excel him in per- I f. rtmrig those ilut 93 alio is t erefore men- 1 tally inferior, ,-ind Cannot r.se to the evel < of his intellectual occupations. It is 1 written—"Man shall live by the sweat of 1 his brow " That is when he has no one to 1 sweat for him. And so must woman. It I is useless to ignore the fact that woman i must support herself and those dependent < on hei, when slie has no one to assist her. But how is she to do it, when all the pl.tces t are filled by man for which she is fitted, ] both physicaliy and mentally, by nature. ( At the late census taken in Great Britain it was found of alt those employe lin piblic 1 works, one-third were women. Even s in New Zealand, a Bill was brought before : the Assembly lately te enable women 10 1 work in factories during the night, a larae I number of whom, were married. The chief t argument of the suppore-s of toe Bill was. 1 that the husband could t:ike care of the babies during the night in his wife's ab- 1 sence. It is not the unnatural desire of < woman to neglect her duties anl become 1 masculine so fa- as I can sei ; but the tar t more unnatural determiuatio lofmm to be» 1 come feminine, who, in order to shield him 1 self from the battle of life, has pushed t woman from her natural snhere and shrunk I behind her. where he cmnot even see the t exalte! hei.h s he might occupy from his \ erouc'iing position, ami has become not only < feminine, but childish. Is it natural that 1 a young mother should leave her babe to < the care of a child little older th in itself, and face the sleet and snow of a winter's i morning, where she Stan Is ten boms daily 1 at some task whody unfitt'd to her physi- i cal condition, while her brother, a strong | man, witti the vigour of life naming full in 1 his veins, sits eisht hours per ( day, pen in hand, for the greater period f of his life. Is it natural that a seini* t giant should be displaying deliua e t fabrics to a blushing and expectant mnth>-r, \ while his sister, pe haps a refined girl in 1 her teens, is compelled to listen to t ie «iang talk or dark inuendoes of some hoa y ( healei sinner, whom she is supplying with ( an intoxicating spirit at the bar of an hotel. 1 Is it na f ural that the narrow doors of know- t lelge should be close I to woman and two < lions placed there to guard the entrance, while the broad avenaes to jolly extrava- [ gance, idleness, and crime, are not only 1 wide open but. are decked with garlands and ( str-wn with flowers, to tempt ner to enter ] on a downward ourse. Is it natural a 1 a woman should be debarred from pieico-» 1 ing the glad ti lings »f salvation to her own ( sex an I all >wed to nunit in a gin palace for i the avowed purpose of luriog young men j astray. No, it, is not. only nnatural, hut a monstrous' outrage on nature. li, is cot,si- , dsred by Mr(J-run Ivas exC'vrue'y indelicate that a woman should have the slightest 1 knowledge of the anato ny of the hum in frame,an I yet tin great arohifee-, of tlie universe his enlowel every in >lher with a knowledge nf anatomy, which the greatest ni"e' Itftuie- cmnot comprehen I. far less , explai'. Al hj mgli it is no douot improper that w ijieti should attend lectures on anatomy in compmy with men, that is no . reason why la lies should not haveco'ieg-s for themselves, and through time a professor of their own sex. Also, neither use! Mao fear that his dignity would suffer in the least.as although he is the hj a l.yet he must be borne of a woman, an I the race would derive an in lirect beneti", just as a mother, with a fine ear for music, transmits the same to her chill, often with a marked im provement in the transmiiioa, and let all J those that put a veto on learning from a selfish fear thit woman when well taught might jo3t,le man from ihe fijld altogether, remember that the same narrow minded objections have be n ma e in all ages to the advancement of woman, soon nations in the present day d«nyi g her e-«n a soil. Did men and worn'in wrkin ha mony wi hj nature and not against it? were women allow e I p'enty of scope in her own sphen; ? It is man himself who would be the gainer, for a woma 1 was created a helpmate for him. Dies it noc stand to reason that the more she knows the better wid she be qualified to help him. That she does help him even cynics will ailow. In Siberia, in the pre sent day, the wife descends with hir husbmd to the suiteraneaii caverns of the earth assists him in his toil often rearing a large famdy without ever coming to t e surface of the earth again. ihia i* no dou >t as it should be, is woma ily at leis',, and '• Civis' lr.akes no obj iccion», hut the wife to "it with her husbau t in a well appointed parlour, interesting herself in his pursuits, studying with him geology, as« t nnomy, ami the laws of gravitation, is a living hmror. "Civis" is aghast, and lias se ious fears for the safety () r the human racs, but the climax of horrors is readied when she essays to lecture. Notwithstanding tk s chapter of honor 1 hive not the 1-ast doubt " Civis" has listened ere now with pleasure and profic to the prima donna of an opera j without corain.'to the illogical conclusion that now all winvn would bocome prima donnasin oDems and ihchuinnn r ce of necessity would bi-c one extinct. Mrs " Civis," no doubt, we e she so incline I w u'd be able to lull a baby on her bosom, tok a era lie with her foot, and pm " passing notes" at the sane time with perfect ease, her heart wannel with the presence of her little ones, »—ith a love that is wholly heavenly, an l a rush of tenderness might steal across her soul as she traces the hnaments of her noble husban I n the bv>y featu'es of her son, and thinks of the two little orphans cast, waifs ou the stream of life by the Manor Place trage ly, and rejoices while she weeps that no Bilfh fa e can overtake her darlings, secure in the bond of a love that cannot, chnnue. ' lam glad, however, for the honour of the sex that, thmr epi'aph. embalmed as it is in " Passing Notes." is suned "Civis," anl not " Mm Civis," especially as he so deciledly Jobj-cts to the '• Mr-J" Perhaps > afte- all hs is a bachelor, hut may the day I never dawn when ala ly, married or single, , shall in indite such a heartless paragraph. ' I am etc., Mrs J. C.Chappls. t Allandale, Onhir, 1 August 22, 1883.