MAN; HIS DOMESTIC DUTIES AND POSITION.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXII, Issue 2879, 17 October 1866, Page 5

MAN ; HIS DOMESTIC DUTIES AND POSITION.

To the Editor of the Daily Southern Cross. Sir, — It is common enough, by way of chit-chat at tea parties, for ladies and gentlemen to have a friendly argument upon the relative superiority of the sexeSj but it has been reserved to Mr. Bree to torture Scripture and history for the purpose of deliberately claiming a superiority for the male sex. To say that women are weaker vessels because they have taken but a small share in the great events of history or science is a wanton piece of cowardice, and seems to me not only a wilful perversion of the text, but to originate in a want of perception of woman's organization and its adaptation to her high and holy purposes. When a minister of religion thus shows himself oblivious of the great honour always shown by his Great Master towards women, it becomes necessary to remind him of the context of those ill-quoted words, " weaker vessel." In the 7th verse of the 3rd chapter of the lsfc Epistle of St. Peter we read as follows: "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife asjimto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life ; that ysur prayers be not hindered." Ii has pleased the Almighty to create women physically weaker than men, nevertheless stronger physiologically (although more sensitive) for the benefit dent purpose of bearing and rearing children ; but if as I infer from the report of Mr. Bree's lecture he ventures to assert that women are innately inferior, morally or mentally, temporally or spiritually, I can only say he not only misquotes Scripture but conhadicts the common feeliugs and notions of mankind. Is Mr. Bree forgetful of the softening and refining influence]of women in domestic, social, or public life ? Can it have escaped his notice how much the Church is indebted to the devotional nature of woman ? Is he ignorant of the immense influence exerted by .early maternal teachings upon the character and destiny of men ? We all know how^ much drunkenness, debauchery, and crime are diminished by the affectionate appeals and forgiving dispositions of women ; and 1 have daily opportunities of observing how the oft-repeated errors of husbands are silently endured by women in the fond hope that patience and forgiveness may rescue them from misery and crime. What does it avail that the husband be talented or rich in the world's goods if his moral aspirations do not keep pace ? Is talent or wealth or strength in man to outweigh those higher qualifications of the heart and mind so constantly manifested in woman, and in the absence of women so seldom manifested by men? 1 think Mr. Bree has been tingularly infelicitous in selecting such a subject, and the more so that in a young colony in particular the elevating influence of woman is so peculiarly wanting. — I am, &c, Medicus.

To the Editor of the Daily Southern Caoss. Mr dear Sib, — Will you have the kindness to insert me these few lines in your paper ? "We ladies think the Rev. Mr. Bree made a mistake in hi* lecture on " Man : his domestic duties and position." What have domestic duties to do with man's superiority over woman ? Domestic duties are these That the man shall love, (honour, and cherish his wife ; that he shall provide for her in proportion to his meaus ; that he shall sympathise with her in all her domestic trials, have patience with her, set her a good example in everything, treat her as his equal at all times ; and, if it should so happen that his wife is nob so near his own standard as he would wish, let him try to make her so ; and if she has the soul of a woman in her she will endeavour to make herself worthy of him. On the other hand, let her know that he thinks she is his inferior, and she will treat him with all the contempt he so richly deserves ; and I feel sure that every good husband that reads this letter will heartily agree wibh me. Let me tell you, Mr. Bree, with all due deference to yourself, that the man who asserts that woman is his inferior lowers himself by doing so. Some of the greatest men that ever lived have been proud to acknowledge that their wives, mothers, and sisters have, by their counsel, forethought, and superior plan of actipg, assisted them through difficulties and trials that they never would have pasted through.

without their aid. A thoroughly high-minded, highprincipled man looks upon a woman as a creature as far abore him as heaven is above earth. Again, Mr. Bree, you made another mistake with reference to woman, and the mischief she makes. A well-educated woman, man's equal, would scorn to make mischief. It is the woman who is man's inferior that makes mischief. Having no resources within herself, she has nothing better to do. Again, Divine appointment has made a woman Queen of Great Britain. New Zealand is one of her colonies, and you are one of her subjects, and bouDd to obey her. We will now take an historical view of the subject. It would fill volumes to enumerate the names of noble lords and gallant knights, brav6 soldiers and sailors, who have gone forth to the wars cheered on by brave and courageous women ; and to win a smile and gain a word of favour from them has been a sufficient reward for all the hardships and risk they have encountered. You say, man is not ungenerous; we women well know that, and none so well as clever women, man's equal. Only let us manage them rightly, and we always gain our point. They will do anything for us, and so will we in return. Lastly, to say that man is woman's superior, I should say that he is more sinned against than sinning himself. — From A Woman. October 15, 1866.

To the Editor of the Daily Southern Cross. Sir, — The account you give of Mr. Bree's lecture at the Young Men's Christian Institute has very much excited my womanly curiosity, as I have not heard •uch views publicly advanced and dilated upon. As Mr. Bree considers the position held by women in Egypt, Greece, and Rome to be more natural and advantageous than that she now occupies, and as the majority of us are not well acquainted with ancient history, would he not be conferring a great obligation on those who may be sinning in ignorance of what their position ought to be, by repeating his lecture for our especial benefit ? Or if, as is possible, that would be above our comprehension, he might lecture down to our capacities rather than let us remain in ignorance. At the fame time he would perhaps explain how a being so inferior could so far influence one her superior as to cause him to become that awful and almost unheard-of phenomenon — a bad husband ; and also, how it is that the religious, and especially the temperance publications of the day, give so many instances of women bringing up families morally and respectably, who hare had— oh, I mistake ! not bad — only drunken husbands. I am afraid, Mr. Editor, 'you will consider I am tresspassing on your good-nature j but you will be so magnanimous as to forgive A Womak. P.S. I think, Mr. Editor, the women of ancient times had slaves. Where are we to get ours ? But perhaps that is the position Mr. Bree intends us to occupy.

To the Editor of the Daily Southern Cross. Sib, — I am sure we all ought to be very thankful to Mr. Bree, for trying to set the world right about the women. Will you kindly ask him to give a lecture on Sunday night, when the females could get to hear him ? I'll stop at home and mind baby, whilst my Mary goes to church. I think it would benefit her, for she is very uppish in her notions, and I know where she gets them from. She has a sister in America, who sends her papers full of stuff about woman's rights and woman's mission — I think she calls it. She is a decent body for all that, but she fancies she knows a good deal more than I do, which, you know, is not likely. I think there ought to be an Act of Parliament to prevent women learning to read, and then they would be more like the .Romans, and not waste their time in reading newspapers, novels, and such rubbishing things. It's the little learning they get upsets 'em. Wishing Mr. Bree may set the women right, — I am, <fee, Jacob Sopht.