field.

FEMALE SUFFRAGE.

A LETTER TO THE CHRISTIAN WOMEN OF AMERICA.

Part II.

LET us now look for a moment at the actual condition of women in
America, in connection with the predicted elevation. We are told they
are to be elevated by the suffrage--and that by hanging on to the
election tickets in the hands of their wives, the men are to be
elevated with them. What, therefore, is the ground women now occupy,
and from whence they are to soar upward on the paper wings of the
ballot? The principal facts connected with that position are
self-evident; there is nothing vague or uncertain here; we have but to
look about us and the question is answered. We already know, for
instance, from daily observation and actual experience, that, as a
general rule, the kindness and consideration of American men have been
great, both in public and in private life. We know that in American
society women have been respected, they have been favored, they have
been protected, they have been beloved. There has been a readiness to
listen to their requests, to redress grievances, to make changes
whenever these have become necessary or advisable. Such, until very
recently, has been the general current of public feeling, the general
tendency of public action, in America. If there appear to-day
occasional symptoms of a change in the tone of men on this point, it is
to be attributed to the agitation of the very question we are now
discussing. Whenever women make ill-judged, unnatural, extravagant
demands, they must prepare to lose ground. Yes, even where the
particular points in dispute are conceded to their reiterated
importunity, they must still eventually lower their general standing
and consideration by every false step. There are occasions where
victory is more really perilous than a timely defeat; a temporary
triumph may lead to ground which the victors can not permanently hold
to their own true and lasting advantage. On the other hand, every just
and judicious demand women may now make with the certainty of
successful results. This is, indeed, the great fact which especially
contributes to render the birthright of American women a favorable one.
If the men of the country are already disposed to redress existing
grievances, where women are concerned, as we know them to be, and if
they are also ready, as we know them to be, to forward all needful
future development of true womanly action, what more, pray, can we
reasonably ask