KATE FIELD TOASTING "THE MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume XX, Issue 1334, 16 March 1887, Page 6

KATE FIELD TOASTING "THE MEN."

At a dinner given recently to some members o? tbe Grand Army of tbe Republic, Kete Field was asked to respond to tbe b'gbly original toast, "The me 1 )," pnd is reported to have done so as follows : — " When the commander of this gallant post invited me to be present this evening I accepted with pleasure, as some of my dearest friends belong to the Grand A '•my. Bat when your commander blandly insinuated that be wanted me to say something I hesitated, as there w~s nothing for me to talk about, all tbe toasts having been assigned to eloquent speaker \ Tben it oceiiTed to me that I m'gni say a good word for the men, God bless them! They have so long toasted the women as to make it but fair tbrt they at least should be torsied by a womaf . Tbey bave too long had the field to themselves. For nearly 6000. yea^s they bave been talking. But as there is as much sex in mind as the»*e is in matter we have seen all things in profile. Now, an artist will tell you that the two sides of the same face are not exactly alike. I pray, therefore, let us bave the other profile around your camp fire, whereby we may see the entire face, gaze into the telltale eyes, and thus get et the soul of all things. Pray, who does the greater part of speaking ?n private, Mr or Mrs Caudle ? Were I a man I should bail pubh'e speaki jg by women as a blessing in disgu ; &c. When Vesuvius is in a slate of eruption Etna is quiet. If tradition be correct, women are not lacking in fluency or diction. Indeed, itbasbeeu seriojsJy questioned whether women pp.viake of celestial joys, because ouce upon a lijye there was silence in beavfn for tbe spice of hdf an hour. Tbei), if precedent be required, women can trace back tbei*? oratorical p\'evieges much farther than men, fo* Eve was the o.'igioal orator. It is to the persuasive, after-dinner p^ading — for it was, you remember, af fee • the apples — that we owe all knowledge. So in behalf of my suppressed oratorical sex, I loak the men — "God bless them ! Said I to your cornmau<?er, ' No speech at ou? camp-fire sboold be longer than five minutes.' ' Good gracious !' he repl'ed, ' do you think you can do justice to men in five minutes ?' ' No ' but m less than that brief period I can give some sign of my appreciation. A cb ; !d may worship t'je scars, and yet beuuable to select one bnght particular plannet for future abode. Au ardeut fisherman in a cane-brake may seek for tbe best rod until he emevgeb on tbe farther side. So a single woman may respond most waraily to bis toa&b for the special reason that she is committed to no particular type an I is held responsible for no selection. First of all, let me assert that one great virtue in a man loved by aU womanhood is- courage. In this assembly of boys with grey beards, on whose breasts sb ; ne the brouze &t?rs made out of cannon captured ft'om the enemy, I stand surrounded by physical courage, and if your moral courage and your intelligence at the ballot-box be equal to your st'll stavdy right arms this Repoblic will be pei'pei-cated and honoured by the same Grand Army — by its noble remnants at least — that saved the cause of liberty twenty-five years ago.