WOMAN IN THE 20th CENTURY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2565, 7 October 1893, Page 2

WOMAN IN THE 20th CENTURY.

Mrs D. W. M.. Burn lectured in the Parish Hall, Temuka, last Thnrsday evening, to a fair audience, the majority of whom were ladies. Like David Copperfield, Mrs Burn is very youug. She has a girlish presence on the platform, a girlish voice, and a girosh lisp, which, when she speaks rapidly, as she often does, renders her articulation indistinct. She speaks in a conversational style, never strains after effect, is quite natural in all her movements, and is entirely free from any suspicion of stageness. Her greatest fault was that she spoke too low, so that it required one to rivet the attention on what she was saying to understand it all. The subject wa* " Woman in the 20th Century," but the "coming woman" will not be anything dreadful if she will be nothing worse than what Mrs Burn depicted. She will wear a knicker dress, with some sort of a long tunic, when she takes her. walks abroad or exercises on the horizontal bar ; she will be absolutely free to marry or remaiu single as she thinks fit; she will be independent of her husband, and free to do what she likes, and go where she likes, in fact; " lord of herself." She will be a companion for her husband, and a partner in his concerns, instead of being dependent on him. With the exception of the knicker dress, on which Mrs Burn seems to set her heart, it appears to us most wives eujoy these privileges at present. The nicker dress would not be so costly as drosses women wear at pre-sent,-and we feel sure women would not find it difficult to get the men. to agree to the change. Mrs Burn has come to her prophetic conclusions by observing what the leaders of the " womau question " are advocating for at the present time. History teachers her that the leaders bring the majority to their way of thinking in time, and she feels satisfied that any woman who tries the reformed dress will gladly accept it. Womau also wi}l not be in such a great hurry to get married as she is now. At present she is dependent for her means, of living on becoming a wife and niother, but the future will givo her employment for which Bhe will be paid on an equal scale with men for doing equal work, This will come with education, aud New Zealand occupied the unique position of being the first nation in the to •* to the higher education of women, - -~ a woman would be in a When, i Qe , th era position to earn her own ._ would be fewer marriages for the sake of the living it secured. Womau would only marry when she was sure she loved and was loved, and she would be more of a companion to her husband than she is at present. Woman would enter upon marriage with greater reluctance than she does at present, several legal and conventional restrictions would be swept away, and with these advantages she saw no reason why she would not be as good a wife and a mother then as she is now. Woman was behind at present in physical education. Good physique and manly robust health was most admired in men, but delicacy and feebleness was what was admired in women. That Bhould be swept away, and women should have means of recreation and exercise to develope their physical strength like men do. Mrs Burns then traced tho socinl evolutiou which has been taking place in the condition of women since the days of ancient Greece and Rome, and touched on a great many points to which we cannot refer in the space at our disposal. She was listened to with breathless attention throughout, and was rapturously applauded at the end of the lecture'. On the whole, we must confess that it was a delightful lecture, tho language being exquisitely beautiful, though perhaps rather florid and poetic for the platform, and there was not a suggestion which could have hurt the finest sensibilities. There was, however, a great deal left to the imagination. What woman wants chiefly is freedom, huh we got no inkling of what the freedom she longs for means. The lecture thus dealt chiefly with generalities, but ignored particulars, and consequently from an educational point of view its value waa lessened, IftQQiv

elusion we may say that all present were highly pleased, and would be glad to hear Mrs Burn again.