THE 
YORKER 
243 
“ What! •’ howled the male parent. “ You don’t 
mean to say It begins like that ? Oh! that a child 
ot mine should correspond with-But pray pro¬ 
ceed, my dear.” 
“Hem! ‘existence’ spelled with an‘a’too!” 
proceeded the mater. 
“ W1 kv, the lunatic can’t spell!” chipped In the 
old man. 
“ ‘ !*■ * s Impossible for me to describe the joy 
with which your presence has tilled me.’ ” 
“ Then why does he attempt, It, ass! But, prny 
don't, let me Interrupt you. Go on, go on; let Joy 
be unconflned.” 
“ ‘ I have Bpent the whole night In thinking of 
you’— ((hat’s picturesque, any way,) ‘and In bit¬ 
terly deriding the obstinate, besotted old whelp 
who will not consent to our union.’ ” 
“ Oh, oh ! let me get at him. ‘ Whelp!’ is thy 
servant a toad, that ho should be thus spoken 
of?” 
“But Theodorus, my dear,” Interrupted his 
other half. 
“ Yes, yes; one moment,. I was about to ob¬ 
serve that the hand that can pen such words, 
would not hesitate to scalp his most cherished 
relative. 
“ Tueodoros, I didn't see this over the leaf.” 
“ Eh ! let me see, hum:—‘Yours, with alt the 
love of my heart— Theodorus, May 10 , 1930 . Why, 
bless my eyes, it’s one or my totters!” (Sensation.) 
“ Yes, papa,”chimed In the Olive Branch, “I 
found It In the closet yesterday—only you would¬ 
n’t let mo speak l” 
“ You m ay go to the Park, my child. Hem! 
we’ve made a nice mess of It.” 
“ Yes, love. Next time we will look at the date 
first.” 
CONDUCTED BY FAITH RIPLEY. 
SERVIAN BALLAD-SINGERS. 
BY X. T. X. 
A pleasant life the Servian ballad-singers lead, 
wandering through their forests and mountains, 
greeted by all who meet them with love and rev¬ 
erence, as the preservers of the traditions of the 
past, the creators of fame for the lut-ure. Guided 
A POEM. 
The shadowR lay along- Broadway, 
'Twas near lh« twilight, tide— 
And slowly there n lady fair 
Was walking In her pride. 
Alone she walked; but, viewlcsely, 
Walked spirits at her side. 
Peace charmed the street beneath her feet. 
And Honor charmed the air; 
And all astir looked kind on her, 
And called her good as fair— 
For all God ever gave to her 
She kept with chary care. 
She kept with care her beauties raro 
From lovers warm and true— 
For her heart was cold to all but gold, 
And tho rich came not to woo— 
But honored well are charms to sell. 
If the priests the selling do. 
Now walking there was one more fair, 
A slight girl, lily pale; 
And she bad unseen company 
To make tho spirit ijtiail— 
’Twixt Want and Scorn she walked forlorn, 
And nolhing could avail. 
No mercy now can clear her brow 
For this world’s peace, to pray; 
For as love’s wild prayer dissolved in air 
Her woman's heart gave way !— 
But the sin forgiven by Christ in Heaven 
By man is cursed alway. [fy. p. WiUts. 
-——--- 
THE OLE, OLE STORY. 
The desire to dictate what women shall do and 
what they shall refrain from doing, seems to be 
Inborn In most men, and all classes and conditions 
of tbe hostile sex aro over on tho alert to ventilate 
tbfdr views on woman. Beardless youths, in 
commencement, orations, discourse of the capa¬ 
bilities and possibilities of womanhood with a 
What historical episode cau equal In grandeur 
the one in which Christ ts pictured as rebuking 
the crowd of cavilling men, and turning to the 
sln-st,allied woman with words of kindly forgive 
ness? On the one occasion when Christ reproved 
a woman (Martha) it, was for zealously attending 
to woman's work, whilst at the same time lie 
commended Mas y who was engaged In the un- 
maldenly (?) occupation or learning of Him. 
Let those who would make “ Martha’s” Of the 
whole sex draw what comfort they can from this 
little incident. Iley, Felix thinks It very beau¬ 
tiful and poetical for a woman to RacriOce life, In¬ 
tellect, and all the possibilities of her nature to a 
worthless husband. It’s about time such sickly 
sentimentality was done away with. A woman 
has no right to prostitute her God-givon woman¬ 
hood to a base man. There Is no question as to 
what a wife’s duty Is toward a deserving husband 
who meets with misfortune; but a woman sins 
against her own soul, when she subordinates her¬ 
self to a vllllan, ho be husband, lover or brother. 
I hold t hose who take advantage of their official 
positions as teachers, to promulgate such perni¬ 
cious doctrines, as false to the high trust reposed 
in them, and aa untitled by reason of their preju¬ 
dices, to honestly Interpret the word of God. 
The Rev. Fki.ix graciously permits, yes, even 
urges women “ to work for Christ with a conse¬ 
cration which knows no sacrltlce too costly. 
Women,” he continues, “ ministered most lov¬ 
ingly to Christ, and be never rebuked, but rather 
commended them for their services.” (What 
about Martha?) So may they minister to him 
still In the persons or Ids children," (of the male 
persuasion) In ft hundred ways made lawful to 
them. •' Inasmuch as yo havedone It unto one or 
theleaRt of these rny brethren, ye have done It 
unto mo.” This Is Interpreted as an argument fur 
the submission or woman to burn. Oh ! my sis¬ 
ters, why will you Blgh for the flesh-pots or intel¬ 
lectual culture, and for opportunities to develop 
your gifts to the uttermost, when hero at your 
very feet, lie such golden possibilities In the way 
or obliterating your individuality in tile service of 
some man I 
Rev. Felix argues that, because women were 
As for myself I should resist, the Introduction of 
the duenna, and educate all girls In whatever 
station to take care of themselves. But to this 
Mr. Rhodes most, strenuously objects and gives 
the following reasons for so doing ; 
“ if she does possess snelt an education at what 
cost la H, accomplished? She letrns what a 
maiden should not know, and she goes through 
what, a maiden should not do. Jr, is an education 
at the expense of her Innocence and her mod¬ 
esty”—all of which 13 sentimental nonsense. we 
don't expect, or want, the innocence of a baby In 
a grown girl; What we do look Cor, Is c trine , which 
isan entirely different attribute; and as for a girl 
doing what she should not, and her modesty being 
Impaired, It Isn’t necessary to drag her through 
t ho mire of experimental transgression to instil 
Into her mind a few facts concerning the ways of 
t he world, and the wiles ot men. 
Mr. Rhodes’s plan ts to bunnrold tho gtrl and 
then supply her wll.li a chaperone. Why not open 
her eyes to t,he pit falls and dangers which He in 
Uei path, and Instruct her how to escape them ? 
Men hive for centuries, trained woman to Inno¬ 
cence and Helplessness amt constituted thera- 
Belves her protector and srill, m spite of all tho 
safeguards, Mary Magdalentm are the shame and 
curse of every metropolis under the sun. Suppose, 
now for awhile, you trust us lo lake care ot our¬ 
selves; the result or the experiment can lmrdly 
ho more disastrous than turning us over, help- 
loss, to our whilom “ protectors.'’ F. u. 
-- 
J.voia Maria Child, though one of t, he oldest of 
living writers—she will be seventy-six next 
February—Is said to be In vigorous health, and 
her mind to bo as clear and strong as that nr most, 
persons twenty years younger. Her father, 
David Francis, was a baker, anil tho original 
manufacturer or the once famous biscuit known 
as the Boston cracker. When she was twenty - 
four Sim published "Tho Rebels, a Tale of tho 
Revolution," Home of the characters being the 
historical men of the period. The book was for 
years a standard novel, tho subject and Its treat¬ 
ment rendering it, very popular In Its day. It has 
by their bovs-for they J nr ? m* froedo,u wh,ch ‘ considering the youth and tnex- ? ot omclally authorized by Christ or the early ,ontf pccn , out or I’ rlnl = wen at this date, a 
blind—from Village to 'villa ire tn,w ,v Parlance of tho authors, speaks volumes for their 0hurch to net. In the capacity or preachers, that ” pf,ecri * hlcn Mrs ’ Child pur, into the mouth ot 
grassy rlaco In the shodow’Vr iU af'i r"" 1 Impertinent presumption. A man may be Ignorant ^ ^ not right to allow women m ourday to Invade James GHs, is sllM declaimed in New England. 
a church, and sin- to an amiim, or thP nrst Principles or physiology, and mental lho P"W- « our reverend brothers are so great oU( ' n >"'>»eved to have actually bcfm delivered 
.. . ‘ Hi C, SllOUt from Mllllosnnhv * I mu *» — ... for nH.1fitr nn iirmmdnnh k,. » ^.V OlltrlOt. All lmilcrliifLrv Kurmfin nf rinft..ir,. 
Intensity of delight or sorrow, ancient lays on tho 
mysterious VUa, t he achievements of Marko, the 
fatal fight, of Kossovo, or some ballad of their 
own on George the Black, Vellko the Ueyduk, and 
other heroes or their war of liberation. ' Dr. ltow- 
rino has published translations of a few of these 
compositions, and rrom his work some idea may 
be formed or the Homeric force, directness, and 
objectivity of the originals. 
Nor are tho Tavorlen—as they call these bal¬ 
lads, frem Tnvor, the old Slavonian wnr-god- 
elabornled In the peaceful seclusion affected by 
western poets. Clan feuds, especially among the 
Servians of Montenegro, are of frequent, occur¬ 
rence ; and the sightless rhapsodlsr, with his gray 
hair and otic-stringed ffugzla, will orten be found 
on a rock, or behind a rampart, fearlessly olnint- 
lag amid a hall of bullets the exploits of the war¬ 
riors that light and fall around him, or shouting, 
as oi l Philip Si jepaz used to shout: “Strike It a 3 
I would strike It I were hot blind!” 
This Philip, although a Bosnian by birth, was, 
or perhaps is, one of the most renowned of the 
Servian singers. When the war of liberation 
broke out, he sent, bis four sons to light, and he 
himself became the Trytoeus of tho Insurgents 
‘Greatly,’ says Gerhakdt, ‘did his songs con¬ 
tribute to the enthusiasm of the warriors. once 
when the Turks were preparing to storm a fort In 
the Matschva, and the chieftains under Luka 
Lasarevxtch were consulting its to what 
should be done, Philip stood boride them listen¬ 
ing to all they were saying The onicers were 
almost railing at variance, when Philip ap¬ 
proached the commander and said to him: 'Sir 
Luka, permit me also to give my advice as to how 
the l urks may tie vanquished. Do you collect a 
hundred unbroken stations : I will collect a hun- 
dreil blind men. Then set us upon the horses, give 
each ot us a saber, and let us storm against the 
l urks, that they may see what blind heroes can 
achieve. Wo will rush among them, and throw 
them into confusion ; and do you, that, can, follow 
us up, and destroy them utterly. It Is not enough 
to sing— we would show for once that we under¬ 
stand what we sing.’ Luka then smiled, gave 
him a present, and bade him guard tbe redoubt; 
but he said to the others: “ Hearken, ye heroes, 
to what a blind man saitlt 1 That must surely be 
worthy and glorious for which a blind man would 
sacrifice himself.’ ’’ 
The Servians then s illied forth, and drove back 
the Turks with great staughter- 
Tho reverence for woman is one of tho noble 
characteristics of the wild race. Faithful, Indus¬ 
trious, domestic, brave, even to sharing in the 
battles ot th'.lr country, the women aro also 
gifted with a power of producing poems of singu¬ 
lar grace and delicacy. 
■--- . 
An old manuscript found recently In La Rochelle 
contains some Interesting particulars on the 
Maid of Orleans, who, far from being a fair 
woman, as some artists have depleted, was veiy 
dark; her hair was cut like a page, and straight 
across the forehead; and she wore a manly dress, 
pour point noir, obausses attachees, robe courte 
de gros grls nolr et un chapeau nolr; not a very 
attractive costume. This document, which has 
been published In the Revue Hlstorlque, throws 
some light on Count Suffolk and the siege of 
Jargeau, as well as on the trial of La Pucelle. 
5 Impertinent presumption. A man may be Ignorant 
5 or 1 ’ie Hist principles or physiology, anil mental 
1 philosophy; social science may bn unknown to 
* lllm even by name; yet the wam ot this k nowledge 
! Is no barrier whatever to his declaiming about 
just, what, can he accomplished by women and 
i Just what is her special province. Another rnan 
lias stepped to Hie front, measure In hand, to map 
out the limitations or woman’s sphere. This 
time It Is a Reverend, by name, \V. It. Felix.* 
The leading idea or his hointly is tho subordina¬ 
tion of “Woman toman." Surmising that this 
exploded doctrine may be met with tho contempt, 
it, deserves, be adds, “Rut down tho lip and let 
us listen to the voice of truth and wisdom," 
which is presumably the voice at Felix. Moflekl 
man that! 
The Garden of Eden tragedy is, of course, 
rehearsed at length, and many lessons on the 
frailty Of woman are drawn therefrom. It Is as¬ 
serted that Adam's claim of superiority Is based 
partly on bis being llrst formed. This strikes me 
as a particularly weak argument. If it is good 
logic, why then, asnsbes, fowls and animals, In 
the matter of priority, take precedence of Adam, 
we mast hold him to be their Inferior. Agatni 
AnAM was not deceived but “woman being de¬ 
ceived was in tho transgression.” If Adam was 
not deceived then ho willfully disobeyed Gon. 
Taking either view of tho easel fall to see where¬ 
in Adam displayed any of Ids vaunted superiority 
For many hundreds of years men have boon 
interpreting the first chapters of Genesis to suit 
themselves, and It is noticeable that the fuct of 
Adam’s fall and of lili being cursed Is rarely 
alluded to, but terrtnc emphasis Is laid on Eve's 
misdemeanor. Why not gin little further back 
and throw the most generous share of the blame 
on the Serpent? Wherein is Adam le&scuLpable 
than Kvk ? Both were tempted, and both fell. 
The Rev. Felix marshals an Imposing array of 
apostles: Peter, Paul and Timothy aro made to 
do service In keeping woman In her place, one 
peculiarity is very noticeable, there Is not a quo¬ 
tation from Christ. The one perfect man that 
the world has ever produced had no commauda 
or suggestions for woman ns woman. If tho sub¬ 
jection of the “ weaker vessel ’’ is In accordance 
with rile doctrines of the new dispensation, how 
comes It that Christ failed to give It his sanction? 
Might not those who so zealously cry “Down 
with the woman,” learn a lesson from the 
Master? It Is not a little surprising that minis¬ 
ters and priests, who claim to be the ambassadors 
of One whose religion Is the only system which 
holds out a promise of equality to woman lu 
“ the heyond,” should so insist on woman’s sub¬ 
ordinating herself to man 111 this life. Where Is 
their CHRisT-given authority ? 
During the Hilton and sklioman Imbroglio,these \ 
same teachers, in support of the claim that Jews 
and Christians were equal in the sight of God, 
were prompt to quote “ There Is neither -Jew 
nor Greek, there is neither boud nor free, there Is ; 
neither male nor female, for we are all one In i 
Christ"— but they very carefully retrain from de- ( 
duclug an argument In favor of the equality or ; 
woman [rom the same verse. It certainly applies i 
with »s much force In the one case as the other. | 
Chrl3t was at all times courteous lu his treatment < 
of our sex. He even permitted those women who ; 
were tainted with moral leprosy to approach him. t 
♦The Work and Sphere of True Womanhood. By ! 
Rev. W. H. I;elix. Published by Caperton & Cates, 
Loulsvide, Ky. ’ t 
It Is not right to allow women In our day to invade 
the pulpit. If our reverend brothers arn so great 
sticklers for noting on precedent, to bo consist¬ 
ent, they should be ready to dispense with flue 
church edlilces and comfortable salaries, these 
being modern Innovations —for wo read that 
Christ expressly forbade tho first preachers to 
take either money or a superabundance of cloth¬ 
ing with them when they went forth to preach 
the gospel. How would Brother Felix like to be 
forced to act under those commands to-day? if 
It Is claimed that, the progress or civilization and 
the requirements of modern society make such a 
life impracticable now, T can with equal Justice 
Insist t hat, the cultured woman of this generation 
- v '"id not be hampered with the restrictions im¬ 
posed by fallible men cent uries ago, on a few ob¬ 
scure, Ignorant, women. Gentlemen, the day has 
passed when women could be kept lu leading 
strings, and you may as well prepare for the In¬ 
vasion of your rnunly prerogatives. You have my 
sympathy In your frantic efforts to stein the tide 
of woman’s advancement,; but It is lnevl table, 
and you may as well save your rhetoric. 
Brooklyn, N. Y. Mrs. Emily Monohief. 
-- 
“ SHALL THE AMERICAN GIRL BE CHAP¬ 
ERONED 1” 
In tho October number of tho Galaxy, Mr. A. 
Rhodes answers this query in the afllrraatlve 
11c dies several cases of historical duennas, who 
were either culpably uegllgeut, or who deliber¬ 
ately “ sold out” to the lover who feed t hem, and 
yet in $p!te of their frailties he advocates lm- 
porring this European Institution. It seems to 
me t hat before recommending the adoption or the 
system here, It would bo well to study its work- 
Ing, abroad, lias the effect Of It been to prevent, 
VICO ? Are English, Spanish, French or Austrian 
women superior to American women In point of 
virtue? Is the moral tone of society lower hero 
than In European countries 7 Are American girls 
less chaste and modest than tliclr sisters over tho 
sea ? None of those questions docs Mr. Rhodes 
discuss. He merely makes statements which lead 
tho reader to Infer that American girls have a 
monopoly of “ fastness," and then he proposes a 
cure. Even admitting that Mr. Rhodes's est imate 
of our girls is the true one, l do not look upon 
the chaperone as likely to cither mitigate or 
remove the evil. The author comes nearer tho 
true remedy when he urges mothers to make 
companions of their daughters; to sympathize 
with them In lltelr friendships and their ro¬ 
mances; to encourage them to con rule In “Moth¬ 
er,” rather than In girlish friends. H Is undoubt¬ 
edly true that the girl who has no secrets from 
mother, Is nor, likely to bo led astray. There ts 
one peculiarity about the article under discussion: 
Mr. Rhodes recognizes only ono class of girls— 
(hose who belong to upper circles—and only one 
place wliere the virtue of girls Is seriously Imper- 
Red—that is, at fashionablo reunions, ot any 
other condition of girls Mr. Rhodes has nothing 
to say. He Ignores them. Rut If a chaporono is 
all that stands between the average girl and 
Infamy, as we arc given to understand, 1 for one 
reel greatly Concerned as to tho fate ot the girls 
ot the middle and lower classes, many of whom 
are motherless, and who, while supporting them¬ 
selves are exposed to temptations In oiuces, fac¬ 
tories and stores. Chaperones are, or course, out 
of the question here: and are these girls then 
predestined to fall victims to the villainy of man;? 
James QMs, Is srill declaimed In New England, 
and often believed to have actually been delivered 
by that patriot. An Imaginary sermon or George 
Whltefleld (Garrick said ho was so great an orator 
that lie could make his congregation tremble and 
weep merely by varying his pronunciation of the 
word MilBopottiml i), also appeared in “The 
Rebels got Into the New England school-books 
and was long thought to bo genuine, she was 
ono ot the original Abolitionists, and published 
ono or the llrst, distinctively anil-slavery books— 
“An Appeal In Behalf of the Americans Known 
as Africans "—issued In tills country. For a 
wnlle sho resided In New York, and was tho 
editor of Tho National Anti Slavery Standard 
assisted by her husb»nd. She has done no liter, 
ary work recently, but she Is srill a student. She 
lives In Massachusetts, near many friends, and Is 
enjoying peacefully the fruits of a well-spent and 
thoroughly conscientious life. Very few have 
been from the start so wholly devoted to principle, 
or havo so earnestly and ably defended what 
they conceived to bo right. 
“There are but two fine things In the world,” 
says Malherbe, “ women and roses.” Lessing ex¬ 
claims: “ Woman is tho masterpiece of the uni¬ 
verse.” Bourbon says : “ The pearl Is the linage 
of purity, but woman is purer than the pearl.” 
Thackeray writes: “Agood woman Is thelovll- 
cst flower that blooms under heaven.” Balzac 
says: “oven the errors of woman spring from 
her faith in the good.” Voltaire declares: “ AH 
the reasonings of men aro not worth one senti- 
ment of woman.” Lamartine asserts that 
“woman have more heart Imagination than 
men." Otway exclaims: “Oh, woman! lovely 
woman ! Nature made thee t o temper men. We 
had been brutes without you.” Burns says: 
Gon tried lbs novice hand on man 
And then He made the humas, oh! 
■--- . 
Americans are apt to bo scandalized In Europe 
by tho Held labor of women; but wo learn from 
the statements of the apdclal agricultural corre¬ 
spondent, of the Edinburgh Scotsman, that In this 
country, also, women are similarly employed. 
Wiitlug from the great settlement in Kansas, ho 
says“ The majority of those who have settled 
here within the past two years are Russians, and 
being working people without capital, they have 
reduced the cost, of labor greatly. They break 
prairie and plow land at, ,1s. or Os. per acre, which 
used to cost las. or vis.; and for a day’s work Rus¬ 
sian women charge 28 cents, or Is., and excellent 
workers they aro.” 
-—♦♦♦- 
The modern old maid Is round and Jolly, two 
dimples In her cheeks, and has a laugh as musi¬ 
cal as a bobolink’s song. .Sho wears nlecly- 
tltilng dresses, and cunning ill tie ornaments 
arouud her plump throat, and becoming little 
knots and bows. She goes to concerts, and par¬ 
ties, and suppers and lectures and matinees, and 
she doesn’t go nlono. Hhe carries a dainty pan- 
sol, and wears killing bonnets, and has live poet 3 
and philosophers In her train. In fact the 
modern old maid Is as good as tho modern young 
maid; she has souse, and conversation, as well 
as dimples and curves, and she has a bank book 
and dividends. 
---»■■» +- 
Years do not make sages; they only make old 
men.— [Mme. Swetchlne. 
