DR. GILES'S LECTURE ON "WOMAN'S PLACE IN CREATION."

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 571, 23 October 1869, Page 2

DR. GILES'S LECTURE ON "WOMAN'S PLACE IN CREATION."

A lecture on the .ihove subject, in aid of the funds of the Nelsonlustitute, was given by Dp Giles, the Resident Magistrate and Warden at "Westport, in the Nelson Provincial Hall, on Friday evening. The attendance was numerous. W. Wells, Esq., in the chair. Subjoined is an abstract of the lecture, as published in the Examiner : The lecturer began with a quotation from Byron:— There is a tide in the affairs of women, Which, taken at the flood, leads— Heaven knows where. —a passage which, though meant as a jest, has turned out to be a prophecy. There is at the present moment a movement going on in civilized countries, the object of which is to enlarge the career and extend the influence of woman by removing all those restrictions which at present impede the exercise of her faculties.

The chief practical points to which the movement seems directed, are:— The laws relating to property; the franchise; the admission to professions and civil callings ; and a higher education.

Some look upon the realization of these schemes with nothing hut apprehension, others with nothing but hope. In judging which is nearer the truth, there are three ways of approaching the subject. The a priori method, which assumes some particular view of woman's character or functions, and builds its argument on that. There are also the historical and the experimental methods. History presents us with two distinctive aspects of the position of women—the barbarous, in which woman, being the weaker, was cade a menial drudge; and the chivalrous, of which the essence was the worship of beauty. Some little vestige of each of these systems clings to modern society. On the one hand, woman is still to some extent a household drudge; or, on the other, we exalt her to an impracticable height—where she is to be safe from all the roughness oi the world. These two elements combine to prevent reform. We fear that, if woman's career were enlarged, she would be less useful as a assistant, a view which is essentially selfish. And in our care to preserve her from contact with all great or difficult subjects, we narrow and weaken her mind, and drive her into frivolity, and the mere pursuit of pleasure. The experimental method is the only true mode of proceeding. All artificial restrictions upon woman's career are either superfluous or unjust. If she will fill a larger sphere when it is open to her, it is right that she should do so, for that is sufficient proof that nature intended her for it. But if she will not, then the restriction is plainly unnecessary. Tae only way to find out woman's place in creation is to give her the fullest use of her powers, and let her find her place for herself.

The opinion of Dr Carpenter is, that in intellect woman is inferior to man, but that she is superior to him in quick perception, in tact, and in the purity and elevation of her moral feelings. In considering the question of superiority it is probable that the best minds of each sex will accord their warmest admiration to those qualities of the other, which are most different from their own, a principle which lies at the bottom of Comte's direction that in his fantastic worship of humanity each sex should become the object of adoration to the other. The powers of woman being in some respects diverse from those of man, she will probably find for herself employment to a great extent different from his, but in any case she will harmonize with him, as the poet says, Like perfect music unto noble words. The laws relating to the property of married women are simply oppressive and iniquitous. They alone are sufficient to justify women in demanding the franchise. The franchise must be extended to women it' only on the constitutional ground that those who pay taxes are entitled to vote. The vote may not seem important per se, but to withhold it involves a legal stigma upon women which ought to be removed. If our politics are contaminating, women will purify them. There is no reason why all professions should not be thrown open to woman. She must take the chance of failure if she engages in what she is not fit for. In many respects medicine seems peculiarly suited to her, and the latest intelligence from England announces that the University of Edinburgh has resolved to throw open its medical degrees to women. A higher education for woman is the most important part of the subject. The fear of "blue stockings" is dying out. A fuller education is necessary to make woman a companion to man. The sentiment I cannot understand—l love, put by the laureate into the mouth of a wife, is more fitted for a Newfoundland dog. The names of Mrs Somerville, Mrs Browning. George Eliot, and of some American ladies who have achieved high distinction in science, are sufficient proof of the extensive range of the intellectual powers of woman. In America the plan has been tried, and with great success, of promiscuous education for the two sexes in the universities. A larger university education for woman is recommended to the consideration of the people of Nelson—a place which was called by Sir George Grey the Athens of New Zealand. Ail thebranches of education which men cultivate ought to be open to women, and particularly those which strengthen the reasoning powers. Prominent among them is physical science, a study for which woman's mind is well adapted, and which, by the grand conceptions of natural law to which it introduces, is singularly adapted to enlarge and strengthen her powers. Moreover, when woman has studied science, she will appreciate the intellectual difficulties which alienate men of science from the received systems of religion. Her more subtle tact and delicate moral feelings may then find some reconciliation between science and religion, and alleviate that painful doubt so well described by Tennyson in the question— Are God and Natnre, then, at strife ? At all events, men of science are entitled to claim the aid and sympathy of woman in their intellectual difficul-

ties on this subject—for man will never again find his place in the Church until woman has taken her seat in the Temple of Science. The general conclusions are— That woman is capable of a considerable enlargement of the sphere in which she moves. That tho limits of this enlargement can never be known but by experiment, and that the only way to determine woman's place in creation is to give her the freest scope for all her powers, and trust to her to make the proper use of them. Our belief in the value of the movement which has been discussed, will depend on our general faith in the progress of the world. All admit that— Tile great world spins for ever Down the ringing groove of change. But some go further and believe that—■ Through the ages One increasing purpose runs And the thoughts of men are widened With the process of the suns. In that widening of mens' thoughts, woman must contribute her assistance by an enlargement of her sphere and an increased exercise of her influence; and we ought to look to such an experiment with no feeling but hope: for if that influence has never yet failed to refine and beautify human life wherever it has come in contact with it, who shall assign its limits when her noble powers are renewed and strengthened by a larger, a more liberal, and generous intellectual culture ? At the conclusion, a vote of thanks to Dr G-iles was proposed by Dr Irvine, and carried by acclamation.