PIRATIANS BEGONE

Chapter 51

he reappears it is only as the servantof man. Made in the image of God as the companion of man and an equalsharer in all his rights and duties, she is now his chattel, a piece ofproperty, held for his selfish use or disposed of for his advantage.

"Even in these dark days individuals of our s*x rose out of the generaldegradation and showed that they were fitted by nature for a higherposition. But sin and ignorance kept the mass of them under the heel oftheir masters. As civilization advanced there came some mitigation oftheir lot, and where pure religion gained a foothold women began toreceive recognition; but their state was deplorable indeed among allthose peoples whose religion was only gross superstition and idolatry.

"In the process of time Christ came and brought the light of heavento this dark world, and from that hour woman can well say that her daybegan to dawn. One of the sweetest strains in her song of salvation isthat evoked by the memory of her resurrection from misery and abasementto a position of honor among the children of men. The change, however,was very gradual, for Christianity itself was slow in gaining ground;but the gospel was ever the friend of woman, as of all the oppressed,lifting her up where she could influence the world and begin to fulfillher destiny. As fast as the nations shook off barbarism and becamein any degree enlightened, the unnatural burdens were lifted fromthe shoulders of woman, although for a long time she was compelled toperform more than her share of severe toil even among people who thoughtthemselves civilized.

"Then came a time when, in nations of some refinement, there was sucha reaction against the injustice and degradation to which woman had solong been subjected that she suddenly became an object of sentimentalregard among courtly men. Her noble qualities were exaggerated farbeyond their merit, and she was set on a pedestal, to receive homage andall the outward forms of respect from those whom she so recently servedas a menial. Being so poorly fitted by her long training in serfdomfor such exaltation, what wonder is it that her head was turned by theflattery, and that her recovery was slow and difficult? The insincereand superfluous manners of that period remained for ages a vexation toour growing intelligence and a hindrance to our true progress; and,from what you have said, I am inclined to think you of the earth are nowgoing through some such experience as ours.

"After that epoch had been passed, woman never fell back to her formercondition, although she did not yet for a long time reach a positionthat was at all enviable, except as compared with the dark days of herbondage. But she was now where she could take advantage of the generaluplifting of the race, and though kept in the background by man as muchas was possible, she was constantly growing and learning, preparingherself for a future of which she would then dare not even to dream.

"And now I am coming, in this rapid sketch, to that period of activityand change which Lime has described to you in its industrialfeatures. In portraying some of the evils of those days, arising fromour almost ineradicable selfishness, he was obliged to make his picturea somber one, a necessity under which, happily, I am not placed. Lookingat the times, not as compared with the present era but with what hadgone before, which was the only comparison the people of that day couldmake, there was much room for encouragement. It was, in truth, a brightday, whose beauty, however, consisted not so much in the realizationof happiness as in the promise of still brighter days to come. Materialprosperity abounded, education flourished, and religion was beginningto creep down fro

m men's heads into their hearts. Wrongs were righted,justice enthroned, and philanthropy sprang into being. Even while therewas so much evil, and while some men seemed to be trying all theycould to keep back the breaking dawn, the day was surely coming. Thebrotherhood of man, long preached as a settled principle, now becamea living force, showing itself in a multitude of devices for relievingdistress, lessening pain, alleviating poverty, and for the generalbetterment of society.

"Surrounded by such a universal spirit of improvement, woman felt theimpulse of new life, and heard the call to a higher service to humanitythan she had ever yet rendered. As men's minds broadened and theirhearts grew more tender, and as their sympathies reached out to the weakand down-trodden of every class, it was not possible that their ancientprejudice against woman could much longer survive. Her rise from thistime forward was rapid. Let us examine the position which, under theinfluence of this kindly feeling, she soon came to occupy. Protected bymany special laws, guarded by all the legitimate forces of society, butexempt from military and police service, honored for her high and noblequalities, respected by all whose regard was of value, and loved with atrue affection which scorned the question of individual rights, her lotseemed indeed a happy one. Shielded from the severe struggles of life,freed from the cares of business, released in a great measure fromuncongenial work and from the dangers attending exacting labor, with thedisagreeable things in life kept from her as much as possible, alwaysseeing the best of every man's character and manners, and, more thanall, being supreme in her natural domain, the home, with none to disputeher right, what more could she ask?"

"What, indeed?" I remarked, as Denim paused a moment after herquestion. "The picture you have drawn looks so bright, beside yourdescription of her former lot, that I have no doubt she was nowcontented and happy."

"So you think that shelter and protection and the love of husband andchildren and the serenity of home ought to be enough to satisfy onewho was created with a spirit as restless, a brain as active, anindividuality as marked, and hands as clever as those of man?"

As Denim threw this question at me and waited for me to answer, Irealized that I had been caught by her former inquiry, and found notthat Denim was about to take advanced ground on the subject beforeus. Wishing I had not drawn her attention so squarely to my personalopinions, and yet feeling obliged to stand up for my position, I said:

"It seems to me that woman's surest path to honor and happiness is thatmarked out for her by nature, a path which she adorns because so wellfitted for it, and that to forsake the home and compete with man forthe thousand places in the work of the world would be to cast aside thecharm of her womanliness and all that makes her what she is, a solaceand comfort to all the world. If she seeks for a pleasurable life, wherecan she find such keen and lasting pleasure as among the duties of home,and if she is ambitious to lift the world to a higher plane, where isit possible for her to have so much influence as in the nurture of theyoung?"

"So spoke the men of our race in the era I am describing to you,"replied Denim. "It seems as if you must have been reading some of ourold writers, so closely do you follow the ideas then prevalent. I haveread and reread those histories until I am quite familiar with them,and you shall hear how such views as you have expressed soon became veryold-fashioned."

"I am sure your account will closely concern us," I said, "for the ageof which you are now speaking must be that corresponding to our owntimes on the earth. The woman question is attracting special attention,and seems bound to remain with us indefinitely; but I am frank to say Ithink our women are making a mistake in trying to elbow their way intoman's domain, whatever may have been the result of the movement in thisfavored world."

"I suppose you would have them stay at home where they belong,"said Denim, with a good-natured laugh, which sounded as if she wereconfident enough of her ability to meet any possible argument.

"Yes," I replied, "out of pure kindness to them. It is an astonishingthing to me that they can think of gaining anything by giving up allthat is distinctive in their nature and becoming more like us. I am notso much in love with my own s*x as to enjoy seeing our sisters and ourwives and daughters trying to make themselves over into men."

I now felt that I had said enough, and so expressed myself to Denim,but she replied pleasantly that she was glad I had told my thoughts, asit gave her an opportunity to say some things that might not otherwisehave been called for.

"You seem to think," she continued, "that woman's supreme happiness isto be gained by self-effacement. I suppose her custom is with you, as itformerly was here, to renounce her own name at the marriage altar."

"It is," I replied.

"And from that hour," resumed Denim, "she makes every effort to buryherself, to deny her personality, and to lay aside whatever individualdesires and aspirations she may have had; that is, if she is whatyou would call a true woman. If she objects to this renunciation andattempts to make an independent career suited to her talents, then sheis strong-minded and is trying to unsex herself. With the world full ofwork waiting for her nimble fingers and loving heart, she is compelledto suppress all secret hope of doing something to impress her owncharacter on that world, because her only duty is in the home. A man isalso called upon to be a good husband and father, but that by no meanscomprises all he is expected to be and do. To him it is given to strikeout into untrodden fields, and, without reproach, to make a name forhimself if possible.

"You say work is hard and disagreeable, but is it all dull anduninteresting? Are there not sweet moments of hope in every work, andthen the joy of achievement when it is over? Do not men find this joyand the rewards of labor amply sufficient? The more difficult thetask, the greater the satisfaction when it is accomplished. Business isperplexing and uncertain, you say, but what of the triumphs of success?Would any man refuse to undertake an enterprise because success was notcertain? The very uncertainty adds zest to the business, and makeshope possible. From all this striving and achieving, and from all thesatisfying rewards which come with success, woman is debarred. Thenthere are the professions and the wide range of occupations whichrequire education and special training. What a variety for man to choosefrom, while you would confine woman to one; and a great many women, notbeing born good cooks or good housekeepers, cannot fill that one withany credit to themselves. So what can life be to them compared withwhat it ought to be? Think of the opportunities they might have in thesehigher occupations of competing for the prizes of life--honor, fame,position, riches, and, above all, the consciousness of doing some goodin the world. Oh, it is impossible for you to realize anything of thelonging in woman's heart to be someone, to do something, and so to berelieved from the everlasting monotony of the treadmill, which, if menwere obliged to submit to it, would make the majority of them insane.

"You see I have put myself in the place of one of my s*x in that oldentime, and have spoken as she felt when to express her feelings wouldhave been almost a shame to her.

"What I desire to show you is that woman had not then received all thatwas due her, although men seemed to think she was fully emancipated. Butevents moved rapidly in that stirring age, and this great question couldnot be kept in the background in a day when every a***e and injusticewas allowed a hearing and reform was in the very air. Even the dumbbeasts had such powerful advocates that cruelty and unkindnesswere greatly checked. What wonder then, as men's sensibilities andconsciences became quickened, that they should begin to see, what theycould not see before, that a fuller liberty ought to be accorded towoman? But this vision came not without help. Sometimes in our historywe have known of a race being deprived of their freedom, and so benumbedby their condition that they desired nothing better, and so perforcewaited for a movement for their enfranchisement to come from without. Itwas not so in this case. Women themselves cried out against theirlot. They were not so enraptured with the calm and quiet of theirconventional life but that they felt the stirrings of ambition forsomething different, and they did not fear

to raise their voice for moreliberty."

"Liberty!" I echoed. "Were they really deprived of liberty?"

"Yes, liberty to choose a calling that would suit their individualtastes and satisfy their growing ambition."

"Excuse me," I again interrupted, "but were not these women whoexhibited so much