THE FUTURE OF ENGLISH WOMEN.

Waikato Times, Volume II, Issue 94, 5 December 1872, Page 3

THE FUTURE OF ENGLISH WOMEN.

Tu fi curious art icle in the Fortnightly Review, Mr Lawrecny draws n picture of what English women, wire, what they arc, niul what we may expect them to become in the future. That a revolution is impending lie has no do;ibt; and as it is idle to think of reviving the Garden of Eden in London or' New York, and equally impossible to restore the woman of the good old times, who was happy, pretty, aud didn't lecture on the rights of women, it is advisable lu thinks, that < the last' triumph of Liberalism, which is the enfranchisement of women, " should he effected as promptly and 1 u'iieeuilly as possible." Mr Lawreeny looks forward to '' 1 t ; me when women shall trade us merchants, have seats in anient, sit on the Bench, and hold commissions in the •• It may even be surmised." lie says, "that the pro-an-.s will he rather a favourite with them than' ' military gloyy has more in .common with the y fuive hitherto been encouraged to pursue, than .uuueement s held out by learned or commercial careers." 'the horrors of shedding blood need be no impediment. "\\ omen luue already learned surgical operations, and it is more trying to the nerves to cut ofT a baby's leg than to slioot an adei, who may be out of sight. jYtr Fawcett, who considers that one of the most,serious dangers to England is the too rapid growth of population, may find eomfort.in the beliel'expressed in this arctiele that the contemplated chances would act as a cheek on marriage. To be sure a fair warrior aspiring to some high military post would hardlv choose to be encumbered with a husband, and a lady barrister, weighted with briefs would not care to have the incumbus of children. Artificial hair may be said to have become natural to women, and a becoming head-gear might be devised which should be a trifle more attractive than that worn bv mule barristers. J. he thought that our sisters, wives, and daughters, will relieve us in a large measure from an unenviable ofliee, by acting as jury-women, mav reconcile some of us to the inevitable change, and there are possibly misogamists who may rejoice at the thought that, puplie avocations will absorb the superfluous enthusiasm and the fretful irritation of their "women kind," for, though Otwav declares that Natu'-e made lovely woman totempernianwho would be a brute without her, yet she does oceasionllv manage to put him out of temper. Mr-Lnwrecnv sees with keen vision the ditliculties that may arise when the woman is placed on the exact level with the man, and follows the same pursuits. "No doubt," he siiys, " it. would be thought a joke if a younig lady were dismissed from her offliee for gross carelessness, which was soon afterwards explained by her marriage to the occupant of the next desk." But lie consoles himself "vrith the thought, that jokes and scandals are not known in society now. The innovation will, be thinks, upon the whole, leave the world little the ' worse or the bettor, and he observes that there is only one career really demoralising—the career, namely, of an agitator. " The consequences to the sex may be truly disastrous if a considerable number of women are induced, by the difficulty of obtaining other employment, to adopt platform oratoryas a profession." After all, it is comfort to believe that women who are attractive will still practice the innocent art of charming, and that womanly grace, sweetness, and intelligence, are not likely to be seriously affected by the approaching change. Strong-minded ladies may, perhaps, qualify themselves without detriment for public life; but tlio true power wielded by the sex will continue as now to be > exercised in private.

INFLECTIONS. The diminutive chain of habit is scarcely heavy enough to bo felt till it is too strong to be broken. It is inexpressibly important for those who would take life's pilgrimage together, so to speak and act that neither shall be an enigma to the other. Suspicion is the poisonous fruit of misapprehension; and countless fond hearts have been wounded—many severed by the reservation, unnatural to a pure attachment, instilled by worldly advisers. There can be no greater banc to happiness than-such advice, received and acted upon ; nothing more conducive to xeal enjoyment of life than faith in the object-beloved. - And who among the good would not be frank? ; In • proportion -as we act rightly, so is there less incentive fbr concealment; and there is no solid ground for felicity apart from openness of word and de< d. '

There are two sorts of people who lay themselves out to attract attention—those who show their wish so that all the | world can see it, and those who conceal it with more crafty care, save to the initiated. The first are the coarser kind— men who talk in a drawing-room as if they were hailing a man-of-war in a storm ; men who stride about when others are sitting still, or who sit persistently, as if made of rock, when others are standing, say during toast-drinking at a public dinner, or at any public place where a personage enters whom the assembly rises to salute. In such a case, the men who desire -to fLtUaet attention either voluntarily refuse compliance with the manner of the moment, or,go beyond everyone else in noise and enthusiasm, exaggerating the sentiment of the demonstrat'on so broadly that they foree the public attention on themselves; when, having divided regards with the legitimate lion and created the desired diversion, they sink back into temporary quiescence, charmed, with : their maoeuvre, which they arc prepared to. renew on; the first opportunity. I

Leisure and solitude are the best effects of.j-ichos, because mother of thought. Both are avoided by most rich men, who seek company and business, which are signs of being weary of themselves. i . Never hold anyone by the button or the hand, in order to be heard out; for if people are unwilling to hear you, you had better hold your tongue than them. Everything that is new and uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination, because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity, and gives it an idea of which it was not before possessed. If a few words render a man liappy, he must be a wretch indeed who will not give them to him. Let another man light his candle by your own, and yours loses none of its brilliancy by what Ms gains. There is this difference between happiness and wisdom : lie that thinks himself tlie happiest man, really is so ; but" he that thinks himself the wisest is generally just the ic verse.