THE MISSION OF MRS. BAEYERTZ— SUGGESTIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8374, 30 September 1890, Page 3

THE MISSION OF MRS. BAEYERTZ— SUGGESTIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—l have nob listened to any of the orations of Mrs. Baeyertz. Carrier-pigeons on pinions of love have borne the apples of gold in pictures of silver, and though second-hand the effusions have been musical as is Apollo's lute. Not having taken the field, I am at a great disadvantage. The presence of the individual, who addresses us, her whole personality brought before us, face, figure, voice, motion, are immense levers of our feelings of sympathy. Sight is undoubtedly the clearest, hearing the deepest, of our senses. The nerve of the eye is nearer to the frontal region of the brain, and being nearly allied to the intellectual organs conveys impressions which appeal at once to the understanding. The nerve of the ear being nearer to the cerebrum is more closely allied to the region of passion and sentiment. In view of these facts I have doubtless lost much. Three generations ago woman's mission was not supposed to be the acquirement of knowledge; it was then thought that a mother's solicitude for her children depended on her ignorance of Greek and mathematics, and that she would be likely to desert an infant for a quadratic equation. The true theatre for woman was then regarded as the sick chamber, the only thing she, need know was how to take care of children. This is what she was made for, and hence there was no use attempting to overstep the intentions of nature. How different now! Experience demonstrates we want the religious and moral intuitions of women so as to complete those of men, hence we have stereoscopic view by which we see truths in such a way as we could not by single vision. Old Jamblichus tells us that the genius of woman is most adapted to piety. The ancient Germans, as Tacitus tells us, thought that their women could approach nearer to Deity than

themselves. The piety of females in all ages has been conspicuous, because theii gentler natures and more retired livei, peculiarly fitted them to receive in their unruffled hearts the breath of divine love. Wo come nearer to God through the affections which is the forte of a woman's great power than through the intellect wherein man excels. It is not the marble-palacedf mind of the philosopher, which God will visit, so often as the hi inble heart, which lies sheltered from the storms of passion, and all trailed over by the blossom of sweet human affection. Yet it i 3 to be feared that all the light which the Divine Spirit has shed on so many thousands of pious women's hearts has been allowed to die, without illuminating farther than the narrow circles around them. Hardly any of us know the spontaneous religious sentiments of women, for when developed hitherto it has often been under the influence of some monstrous creed, imposed on her uncultivated understanding. We have had a good deal of man's thoughts of God, of God first as the King, the Man of War, the Demiurge, the Mover of all things, and then at last, since christian times, as God the Father of the world. Not always have men been competent to teach these things, even this side of the truth alone, for during more than 1000 years the religious teachers of Christendom knew not a father's feelings. Might we not now give woman her innings ? We want her sense of the law of love to complete man's sense of the law of justice. We want her influence inspiring virtue by gentle promptings from within to complete man's external legislation of morality } - and then we want woman's practical service. We want her genius for detail, her tenderness for age and sufferings, her comprehension of wants of childhood to complete man's gigantic charities and nobly-planned hospitals, orphanages, and asylums. I might eloquently expatiate in words that breathe and thoughts that burn on the unique grandeur of woman's work in the great realm of social science. Yes, pureminded, large-hearted, noble - spirited heroines have herein distinguished themselves as work-women who need not be ashamed. Often unprotected under the scathing fire of masculine batteries has their righteous war been waged. The fierce missiles of , irony, ridicule, invective, and contumely thick and fast have been showered upon them. But the rare tact, fervent prayer, earnest zeal, patient effort, loving and self-sacrificing devotion, has carried her victories, which have brought succour to the helpless, joy to the sorrowful, life to the dead, heaven to the hells of the suffering sons and daughters of the race. The men who once ridiculed, now applaud ; those who laughed, now admire. Her triumphs have brought " Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and goodwill to men." lam warming to the collar, must slip traces, and in the process wish God-speed to the lady abovenamed, as she carries the Bread of Life to other shores. I would infinitely rather listen, even to this second-hand music from this Jewess's iEolian harp than to the patent and blatant blasts of sounding brass, though they reverberate as the product of stentorian lungs through the orifice of a Varleyan trumpet. —I am, &c., John Abbott. St. George's Bay Road, Parnell, September 29, 1890.