WOMAN'S PLACE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16479, 19 February 1914, Page 4

WOMAN'S PLACE.

HER POSITION IN THE WORLD.

ADDRESS BY BISHOP JULIUS. The annual festival in connection with the Mothers' Union was celebrated yesterday. In. the morning a service was held in the Cathedral, the sermon being preached by Bishop Julius, who took as his text St Luke i., 35, " And the angel answered and said unto her the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Bishop Julius said that the call of God which had come i o the Blessed Virgin Mary was a strange one, and impossible for her to understand. Full of doubt and questioning, she had made an answer that rang down through the ages: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord." It was the most submissive and perfect answer, and there were no more helpful words to guide womankind in times of perplexity and doubt. Gcd was calling upon women throughout the world, and if they kept their ears and eyes open they could not mistake- that call. It was a call to womanhood to come out and take a higher place in the life and development of the world to-day. In Great Britain, America and the old countries of the western world that call was most significant, but it was even more so in the East, where women were waking up to the call of God, Who bade them rise to a higher and more perfect life. It was easy to understand the gravity of the problem before women. Many there were in doubt regarding the movement of today, and many were ready to condemn the new movement. Many thought that the proper place for women was in the home alone, and did not believe in the change. Others realised the. perplexities and difficulties of the movement, arid therefore condemned it. Those who heard only of the mad doings of militant suffragettes doubwd that the movement was good. There were those who said that woman should have the 'same rights as man, and that it was all nonsense to talk of submission and obedience to men. Others again said that this was utterly wrong, and that equality was not to be talked of. There were masculine women and effeminate men, and there were women trying to push themselves into positions they could never occupy with profit to themselves or to others. Others approved of the movement, said the speaker, because they believed that God was guiding the world, and that all would end well. He believed that God would work out matters in His own good time, and would lead women to accept His call. God was calling most distinctly every day, and in every part of the world, to women to take a higher place in the world's life; women must submit to man all over' the world, and so gain perfect freedom. There was-a great deal of denying all obedience, and of kicking over the traces in the present day, but obedience and duty must be recognised if woman is to take her higher place in the life of the world. They must not be misguided by those who were running away with only part of the truth, and making a mess of things. The quiet, steady, Godfearing mass of women were pressing oh to the answer of the Divine call. Let them not be afraid of the spurts of folly in others. What place was. woman called for ? Here in Now Zealand they had been exercising the vote for years, and any influence they could bring to bear on the affairs of State would be of in-

finite .value in moral concerns. Women must take their proper part in the framing of legislation making for the moral and social uplifting of the world. And the social life of the men and women in the world could be purified, uplifted and cleansed very large'y by the wovk of women. They should not take things as they found them, but should work to bring in better customs and a higher type of lire. # The Bible in schools question was one in which the mothers and women generally in New Zealand could help greatly. If they realised that religious teaching was the basis of all that was pure and unselfish in life, they would have the Bible in the schools at once. There should be no talk of equality in all things between men and women. God had made a very real and the proper development of human life lay in the co-operation of one with the other. Woman had to be as manly as she could, but womanly withal, but men must be manly and not weak. They must work harmoniously side by side, and women must bring out the best that was in them by cultivating those powers and attributes of tenderness, love and intuition in which they were far above men.