ARE ENGLISHWOMEN GROWING WORSE?
[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—In your article on this subject in the Spectator of July 9th, is there not too much stress laid on what women do. in this century (or are given credit for doing), and too little- on what they are, or are rapidly becoming ? Is not the forma- tion of character thought less of than of old, while the• quality of work has grievously deteriorated, evident and speedy results, telling effects, above all quantity, being the things aimed at ? A modern young woman goes off to an early service, pays perhaps thirty visits in her district, " bikes"' all the afternoon, with a prurient novel (almost certainly written by one of her own sex) in one pocket of her saddle• and a packet of cigarettes in the other. She reaches home sun- scorched, worn out, irritable, snatches a hasty meal, and attends a lecture, perhaps speaks herself, on some question of sex or education in the evening. A great deal has been got through,. but what has been accomplished ? Were not the three women• quoted in your article Christian ladies as well as indefatigable. workers ? Were they not conspicuous for modesty, humility,. purity? Would they have recognised as sisters the bold-eyed, loud-voiced, more than hslf-unsexed woman of to-day, hard' worker though she may be ? What i you say, would you have- ns return to the days when women screamed at a spider, wore- white kid gloves in bed to whiten their hands, never went out before lunch, and did not possess a pair of thick boots ? Well, the modern young lady is more likely to dissect a spider than to scream at it,—an improvement, perhaps. Bat remember, the mornings were usually spent in useful study or work for others in the early " fifties ; " those delicate white hands turned out much work for the poor as well as lovely bits of art needlework which will be a delight for many a genera.. tion to come, and wrote some books which will live ; and those lightly shod feet carried their owners on many a quiet errand of mercy never recorded in pamphlets or alluded to on platforms, but which did not stand in the way of the- most sacred and God.given duties of wife, sister, parent being- well and wisely performed. Good work, work that is worth doing and will last, needs time, quietness, space; does not- Nature teach this in her slow but perfect developments ?
Women cannot quite unsex themselves, if that end were ever so desirable. The immense increase in nervous disorders, of late years shows how fatal is the mere attempt. We shall not get much above the description of a perfect lady, written•. by a perfect gentleman, commencing with the third verse of Corinthians :iii. Did those dear dead early Christian women, who must hake been in the Apostle's mind when he wrote, do as much as our modern ladies P Probably not, not half as mach; the facilities for work and the spirit of the age forbade them ; but they did what God intended them to do, no more, and did it well, and so became a principal factor in the regen- eration of the heathen world. What is the remedy ? My sisters, find out what work God has called you to do, however dull, unattractive, unremunerative it may seem to yourself, perhaps only teaching one little child or looking after one aged parent, and do everything as perfectly as is possible to you, even the smallest things. It is a grandly simple old monastic rule, but if carried out we should hear less of the celebrated sentence :—" Mother is deaf, and father blind, and it is so dull at home, I think I shall go into a sisterhood." Men we can never be; we only lose time in trying to produce a bad imitation of them. The glory of a woman is her womanhood; and in the endeavour to throw it off we lose our •best and strongest influence and tear the 'crown from our own heads.—I am, Sir, &c., M. T.
P.S.—I may add that the poor have not marched altogether with the spirit of the age, and detest haste, especially the aged and sick among them. Ten visits is quite as many as should be attempted in one morning, aml probably h I that number would be far better.
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