the home to the waste
basket and make others vesting these powers in woman, or if you do not
wish to do that, you will have to give woman a share in the public
affairs in order that she may, the same as in the home, assist man
in building up and strengthening the happiness of that other big home
which we call society.

You say that woman, upon appearing on the stage of politics, will
lose the respect and admiration of man; that instead of gaining
any advantages, she will lose all those inherent in her present
position, in which she is removed from any direct struggle with man,
is adorable and adored everywhere, and reigns supreme in her home with
the undisputed authority of the wife or mother, clad in the purple
of the grace and majesty with which Nature has endowed her, pure and
undefiled by the mire with which political strife and intrigue always
bespatter the reputation and dignity of those who engage in them.

I believe I have stated the position of our adversaries in terms both
poetical and precise, and when I speak of our adversaries, I include
that numerous legion of women who still hesitate to ask for the right
of suffrage, for reasons which, perhaps, deserve being called selfish.

However, the idealistic woman I have depicted will not disappear if
our women are educated in politics the same as they are educated in
the arts and sciences. A political education, far from being harmful
to the natural charms of woman, will in my opinion enhance these,
for the same reason that our modern education has given woman charms
which the woman of the past did not possess. Unless you argue that
education is in itself an evil rather than a blessing, and that it
vitiates the character instead of improving it, you can not escape the
conclusion that by increasing the knowledge and experience of woman,
you give her more vigor, more energy, and a greater personal charm.

Nothing commands greater respect than education. Education elevates a
person. From the moment that you show that you possess education, the
consideration and respect of the others are yours. Education does not
know the bar of race prejudice; through it an individual of a colored
race can win the respect and often the admiration of the white man.

Does woman ever inspire man with greater respect than when she
is instructed, when a college education has brought her to his
own level? Was woman more respected in the past, when she remained
ignorant, than she is n