e and purity of womanhood; but that
true and hearty, though simple and unostentatious, reverence for the
sex, that teaches men to regard all women as worthy of freedom, respect,
and protection, simply by virtue of their womanhood. I say not that this
chivalry is a Southern, but that it is an _American_ trait. As such I am
proud of it.

But does this high and honored place they hold in the hearts of their
countrymen devolve no corresponding responsibility upon American women?
Is it not a momentous inquiry how far they fall short of the high and
commanding standard of thought and action demanded of them in order to
meet this heavy obligation? It seems to me that the time is fully ripe
for the clearer perception of the fact, that because women are not men,
it does not follow that they are not in an important sense citizens. And
this, without any reference to the question whether they should be
permitted to vote and to legislate; though, as to the former, I do not
know of a single valid objection to the exercise of the privilege, while
there are several weighing in its favor; and as to the latter, it seems
to me that one single consideration would forever, under the present
constitution of things, debar her from a share in direct and positive
legislation. It is as follows: The central idea of all properly
constituted society, without which society would be an incoherent chaos,
and governments themselves but the impotent lords of anarchy and
misrule, is _the home_. Of the home, woman, from the very nature of the
case, is the inspiriting genius, the ever-present and ever-watchful
guardian. And the home, with its purities, its sanctities, its
retiracies, its reticences, is far removed from the noise and wranglings
of popular assemblies, the loud ambitions and selfish chicaneries of
political arenas. The very foundation, pivotal ideas of human nature
would be undermined by such publicity. The value of the home, as the
nursery of whatever is pure, lovely, holy in the human soul, rests
absolutely on the preservation of the modest purity and grace of woman.

How, then, is woman's influence as a citizen in a republican land to be
exercised, if she be excluded from positive legislation? I answer, by
the moral effect of her personal influence in the formation of mind and
character; by her work as the great educator in the home and in society.
If hers be not a moral and spiritual influence, it is none at all for
good. And of all the