igh and noble it
is, and that his duty lies at home, however much he ignores it,
with his wife and with his children. But when it is said that
home is woman's only sphere--and that is what is meant--it is
simply a mistake; it is simply a narrow statement. Take the very
woman who says this. As she passes along the street, she sees a
placard for a Woman's Rights meeting, and with scornful lip she
says, "I think woman's sphere is home"--and goes promenading up
and down the street to meet acquaintances, and spends all the
morning in shopping--because woman's sphere is home! (Applause
and laughter). And after dinner, she says to her husband, "Where
shall we go this evening?" "I think we will go to the opera," he
says; and so she leaves the children with the servant, and spends
half the night at the opera, because woman's sphere is home!
(Laughter). On Sunday she goes to church morning and evening,
because woman's sphere is home! and during the week goes to
concerts and lectures and balls, perhaps, because woman's sphere
is home! This is the answer to be given to all those who claim
that woman can do nothing but attend to household affairs, or to
those duties which are called especially the duties of home. No
woman attends to these utterly. No woman need neglect the duties
of home in order to fulfill duties in a wider sphere. It takes as
much time to sit and hear a lecture as to stand and deliver it;
to sit and hear a concert as to stand before the audience and
sing. There is time enough, and if one has a talent for either,
that is the sphere for him or her.

But when this claim is made that woman's sphere is at home, it is
quite forgotten how many women there are who have not imposed
upon them the cares of a home; what numbers there are who are not
at the head of families; what numbers there are who have not
these domestic ties to call upon them for effort; and it is also
forgotten how many there are who can not possibly always remain
at home, because upon their going forth depends the getting of
the money that shall provide for the wants of the home--that
shall bring the clothing and the bread that are to supply the
home's outward wants. To do this, these women must go from their
homes; and oh! hundreds and thousands of working-women in this