10 ACTIVE AND LESS IMPASSIONED WOMAN. 



make up the multitude. Goethe points with truth to 

 the need of greater insight into commonplace persons. 

 The life of the unimpassioned woman of average 

 capacity, and of all below the average, is almost wholly 

 occupied with little things. She goes farther than 

 Lord Beaconsfield in the belief that the unimportant 

 is not very unimportant, and that the important is not 

 very important. In reciting her " trials " she dwells 

 her grandmother (temperamental) did so, her grand- 



, children (temperamental) will do so on the degenera- 

 . tion of tradespeople and servants: the very children 



' are behaving worse every day. Her daily wonder is 

 how things wo aid go on if she were not there to look 

 after them. The nerve energy of a considerable 

 number of ceaselessly active and less emotional women 

 is expended in such manner as social position, ability, 

 and circumstance may determine. She often gives 

 invaluable services in public and social movements. 

 The energy of not a few women usually, but not 

 invariably, of slight endowments is spent on clean- 

 liness and its methods. To these the chief end of 

 existence, whether it be obtained by their own 

 hands or by the hands of an army of servants, is to 

 rub and scrub and brush and dust, to wash and scrape 

 and shake. They unconsciously interpolate a clause 

 of their own into the scheme of creation : " Let there 

 be houses and women and dusters;" and then not 

 to be thought of without some asperity "let men 

 enter the houses and submissively conform to the 

 usages thereof." The idealess, emotionless, restless, 

 spotless woman is not a blessing. Fortunately there 

 are less impassioned and active women of high capa- 

 bilities and generous proclivities who confer inesti- 

 mable benefits upon all who come within their sphere. 



