THE MOTHER IN WOMAN'S ADVANCEMENT. 623 



the other ; and the result, as far as their power is concerned, is a 

 standstill, frequently followed by positive retrogression. Those 

 whose work or sympathy might otherwise be enlisted in some 

 branch of woman's development, simply look on such extrava- 

 gances with amusement or pity, and await the next edition of 

 feminine fantastics. A little more conservatism is needed to tip 

 the balance in favor of sure and steady progress. There is no 

 longer need for the agitator, when the question, in its different 

 phases, is being discussed in legislative halls and by the fireside, 

 by thoughtful men and women the world over ; but there is great 

 need for the conservative moderator, and in just that capacity 

 should the mothers of the land make their power felt. They oc- 

 cupy a position, by its very nature, powerful beyond the possi- 

 bilities of any other position on earth powerful with God-given 

 rights, which admit of no question and need no acknowledg- 

 ment. They are burdened with responsibility, it is true, but any 

 responsibility rightly met is a power in itself. There is no class 

 of women who stand upon such vantage ground, who can so well 

 exemplify all that is essentially feminine, and at the same time 

 demand, by their rights and responsibilities, any outside aid, 

 whether it be of higher education or suffrage, or whatever it be. 

 There is no class of women who know so well the delights of all 

 the dear feminine prerogatives, the power of those exquisite 

 qualities, grace, delicacy, and sweetness, and at the same time who 

 feel more deeply the need of any and all means of enlightenment 

 and advancement. There are no women better fitted to temper 

 the present discussion ; none who can better offer sympathy, yet 

 counsel moderation, to those restless sisters whose demands so 

 often grow out of bitter personal experience and too often rise to 

 a discordant clamor. Of course, this view has been of mothers as 

 a class. There are, alas ! pitiful exceptions women who do not 

 admit the responsibilities of motherhood, and women who dare 

 not demand the rights which motherhood gives them. Such 

 women present problems which can not be dealt with here. Cer- 

 tainly these remarks may apply to every mother who will exercise 

 a certain just self-appreciation, who will devote a little time and 

 attention to the consideration of this question, and her own duties 

 and responsibilities in relation to it. Is it not possible for such 

 women to show that womanliness does not mean weakness that 

 the very life of all lives the most womanly needs for its right 

 living not goodness only, but wisdom, knowledge, and freedom ? 

 On the other hand, ought they not to demonstrate that in this 

 womanliness essentially, in the clinging to it and emphasizing 

 it, they will gain a peculiar power which nothing else can give ? 

 It is surely a strength and freedom, not to be left behind in the 

 march onward to new strength and new freedom. It is a quality 



