WOMAN'S POSITIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume VIII, Issue 2358, 16 August 1871, Page 3

WOMAN'S POSITIONS.

To tho Editor of the llkimi.d,

Sir, —Would you allow m ■ a short space in your columns, in orje.* to try ami show poor "Polly Plum" (what sh» c Mainly does not 3-el seem to know), man an 1 wmviu's [jo-i----tion. With regard to woman, m:ui is the positive and operative principle, ami therefore compared with this son ami lig'it. Woman stands oppose.l to him as a restraining paw.-r, without whom lie would be lost, in an immeasurable and boundless speculation, forgetful of his highest relationship. Woman is man reversed, his mirrored image, whilst he is 11 scll-acting principle, productively striving outwards, and ever the universal, the inlinite, — the woman is the negative principle, acting from without inwards, ftvm the circumference to t hecentre,receptive,—ready from man's expansive energy to reduce concrete forms. Man and woman are an inseparable whole, one formin:; the ideal the other the real. In man tho ideal has swiy 111 wo:n:ei'j feelings ; thus she adheres more to the concrete and external, anil has an innate living sense; —she is possessed of an inward presentiment. of the world : thus she is endowed with unerring tact and arrives at ma'uri'y sooner than man, who desires to attain all !aio\vle.lne through his own exertions. The aspiration of woman is towards tin' pure and the noble, and she attracts to hers ell 111:111, who is ever seeking after tint peculiar nature with which she us woman 13 endowed. She is his Collide, wandering hy his side through the labyrinths of life, and by her gentleness, patiauce, and love, softening and restraining ]d s fiery impatience of character. In this sense, woman may he called the " crown of man." 15ut high as is the destiny of woman, yet •she has a closer aflinit.y to the of nature than man, and is especially exposed to temptations, such as deceit, curiosity, indiscretion, tho desire to tiislurc man by her charms, and to see the creations of her imagination realised. These aro the shadow side. So, where would woman be if she usurped man's position ? And if woman was what " Polly" wishes her (o be, it would be changing tho whole course of nature. So I would advise " Polly" to rurefuiiy study the letters of " Nemo" and " Janie Plum," and for ever after hold her peace.—l am, ic., Mount Albert. GRAFTON ROAD T TIG IT WAY DI3TRIC T. To tho Editor of the Heiuld. Sir, —In your issue of Saturday last, T find a report of what is termed a meeting of the ratepayers of the above district, in which my narao is unwarrantably made use of, and identified with sentiments I have never sympathised with. Ist. I did not know, through tho prcs3 or otherwise, that there was to bo such a meeting. 2nd. Having been a trustee myself for two years out of three, it is not likely I should endorse tho sentiments expressed at tho meeting. 3rd. I publicly protest against any man's name being made use of for any purpose, without his knowledge and consent. 4th. I claim for the trustees and ex-trustees, tho same justice any ratepayers would expect should they occupy tho trustees' places. sth. I would remind all ratopavers that as long as the six-pronged fork of proxies transfixes them, they must e en grin and bear it. —I am, See., James Charles Soall. ICyber Pafs Road. ME PROPOSED AMALGAMATION OP CLAIMS. To tho Editor of the Herald. Sin, —In reply to " No Sharebroker," let me firstsay tbatmy letterwassigned "Shareholder," but was altered, I presume, by the irrepressible imp in your oflice, to 11 fehareoroker; therefore, his pretty little lecture is lost. 11 No sharebroker's" argument is simply this, that bccauso the Long Drive Company has tho largest piece of ground, therefore it ought to have the greatest value iu shares allotted to it. To value land for mining purposes simply by its area, seems to me a monstrous absurdity. Will " No Sharebroker" presume to say that the 10 acres held by tlio Long Drive Company is ■worth two and a-lialf times as much as the four acres held by the Caledonian ?—yet, thi3 is ■what his argument amounts to. Granted that the Long Drive lias paid goo 1 dividends ; but it is equally true that the leaders from

which the gold wa? obtained that p:rd those dividends are thoroughly worked out, and that the I-ong Drive, for a considerable time past, has been o.lc of the most barren mines on the field. "iour correspondent, who, I presume, is a Drive shareholder, " concludes " that I have " written without duly weighing the relative merits of the companies." It is evident that ho has bestowed little care on the subject himself, as he is ignorant of the acreage held hy bin own ccmpanv. "When I tell him that it is t.n, nc.t five acres, ho -Kill probably conclude that it ought to get 1424ths instead of 7-17ths. In conclusion, let me say, that I thoroughly advocate amalgamation on just and equitable term?, but not oil such terms as those proposed.—l am, &c., SnABEnoLrEE.