伊’莎白’凱’’斯’’
(ELIZABETH CALM STANTON)
’我之’’ The So1itude of Self
’’’’’’’’’’’風暴’’’生’打擊’’種說’’’足’’’’’’生’’風暴對’’’’對’’’樣’’’面’方襲擊’們’由’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’抗’’’’’’’’’’’’’打擊’結’’’’ ’’’國’’’動領’’伊’莎白’凱’’斯’’輝煌’’生’’滿成’’’’’國’1892’’’’’’’我之’’’’’’’’’六歲’’們普’’’’’’’’’’’’’最’’言’’中’有任’’’’傲’’’’喜’’’’有’’’’婦’’生’’’個領域’’“’’’”’’’’’’’立’’之’’必’’’’我們’個’最終都’’’’’’個’必須準備’’’’而’動’’’’而’’’對’’’生’’’部’任’ ’’我’’’’闡’’’’’’’個’’個’’’’’我們’教’’’’’及’個’擁有’’’’’’立’’’’’’’’’我們’’’’’’亦’’個’’公民’’’’論婦’’’’我們首’’考’’’’’’個’’’’身’’裏’’’’個’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’像中’’濱遜’’’個’’’’身邊’唯’’’’有“’期五”’’’’’竟擁有什麼樣’’’’’’種境’’’’’’’’’’’’身’’’’’福而’用’’’’部’’’’智’ ’次’假’’個’’’視’公民’視’’個偉’國’’’個成Ⅸ’那麼’’據我們’’’基本原’’’’應該’有’’成Ⅸ’’有’’樣’’’ ’’’’’把’個’’僅僅視’’個’’’視’文’結’中’個’等重’’’’’’’’’’’任仍’’樣’’個’’’福’’’’ ’’’’有生’中’’’關’’比’’’母親’’’’’’’’’等’’需’’個’’盡’’’’’’任’接’’種’’’’’’’ ’讓婦’’高等教’’讓’們’分’揮個’’’’’智’’’身心’’’面’’’’’還’’有最’’’’’’’動’由’’任’’式’’縛中’’陳’陋習’’’’’及種種’’中徹’解’’’’’’’懼’’’’’殘’之’’’給婦’’有’’機’’最’’’由莫’’’個婦’’對’’’’’’生’完’’’任’我們’’婦’’’’’’’中’有’言’’’讓’們’仰’’教中’有’言’’’’們’當重’角’’’’生’中’’有平等’’’’’們’獲’生’’’’’’中應’有’’之’’之’’’’’最’’’由莫’’’們生’’有’’’’’’’’’’個’’’個婦’都’完’’’’’’不管婦’’麼喜’有’’’’有’’’’有’支援’’不管’’’’’望’們’麼做’婦’都’’’’馭生’之’’’’’關’’脫’’婦’’’對’’’’有’’解’’’’’導’’我們必須’’’’船’’’’引’Ⅸ’’’’’’’舵手之’需’有’’圖’羅’’’’’測風’’’’天’’’’收’’’’’個’’’’’’’’’’’’’關緊’’’’’’’賜不分’’’’視’仁’’’’’’關’’’’’’樣讓’們’’揮’’’技藝’’’’’假’’’’環境匹敵’’’’’樣’’滅頂之’’’’’’’個’都’’立’動’重’’’’考’’’’我’’限’’’’我們隻身’’’’’’’’隻身’’離’’’’’’’環境’’’’’跟’’’不’’’’’’’’都不’’’’’今’正’’’’’’’個’生之’’’個’身’’種種遺傳’用不’’’’’身’’’’’’’個’’幼’’’’’’成’期’環境’不’’’’’’’身’’’’’絕不’舊戲重’’’個’’種種’’絕不’重’’那個’身’’’有’找’’’’’樣’葉’’’’有’’找’’個’模’樣’’’’’考’’’’’’限’樣化’我們’’少少’’領’’’’’’個國’’任’’個階’’’教’’’’’中’有’’’’’’’對’該國’’’’重’’’失’ 我們’’個’’’面’’’首’’’個’’’’’’福考’’’裝備’支’隊’’’給’個’’分’’’’’器’’藥’毛毯’’’’’’及湯匙’我們’給’個’提’’切必需’’’’’個’’’’’’’擔’’ 我們’’個’’’面’’’’樣’’’’’眾’’’’’’有’有識之’’’’類’’’’有方面’’國民生’中’’有問’’’’’識’而個’’’公眾’任中’’’’’擔’’’親’友’’童’’不’分’’’’情’之’’’’不’分’’樂’’’之’’’’早’陷’’立’援’境’’目’’種景’’’不’’’’? 不管’個’’’’’’給予我們’最’教誨’’都’’立’’’’’’衛’’ 失’友’’’’’’之’’我們不’望’’’身’獲’’情’’’奪走我們’’’親’之’’我們’’籠’’’’’陰’裏’’生’’’’’喜之日’我們都’’’而’’當’’’類成’’’’頂’’’’’’雄’’’’’頂禮膜’’’我們仍’’而立’’’’個’’’’’’丐’’犯’我們’’’’’’’竊’我們’’面對’們’’’’’’’’’’黑’’’落’ ’’路’’’’’’’趕’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’之中’食’’’不’’’’’’’走’絞’’結’’切’’’’’’種種關’’我們領略’個’生’’極端’’’’’’’生’’’’’生’’’’’及生’’’任’’’’種種關’’’幼’’最’立’援’’’’關’’’’’我’慰’’’’路’生’永遠’’次’’’’場戰’’’個’’’’’衛必須裝備齊’’有鑒’’’剝奪’個’’任’’種’’’’都’’’’’’’ ’’個’接’’面教’’’路’’’障礙’’異’剜掉’’雙眼’剝奪’’’’’’’異’’’’’雙手’剝奪’’’’平等等’奪走’’’有’’’等’奪走’’市場中’’用’等’奪走’’’’報’’等’奪走’個’選擇’’立’’’’言’’等’奪走’個’選擇’’評’團’’由’等’奪走’個’選擇’’’’’’’’’’’請’目’’婦’’’’’’’們’’’’’’剝奪’’’’及傳統習’’’們’’’’’迫’’們’’而戰’’生’’緊’關’’’’’’’’’’’立’’’’ ’個’輕’’’’’’’’’’母親’’’’’’婦’’有’’’’夫’衛著’’’生’’風’襲擊’而’有’’’有’’’那麼’’擁有’個’’’港’’遠離生’中’見’不’’’’’’’’’’’中產生’’’’’結交’友’’贏’’夫’溫情’’教’’’’’’’’’僕’’’’必須’有’’’’’’識’智’’交際本領’’’還’’解’’本’’’做’’’’’必須’備最’成’’’’’’’備’’’及’’’’’’’個’’’未’’教’’’’’識’而’’成’’’’’習’’’生’中不管做’’都’失敗’疑’’而’’’’’’著’麼’種說’’婦’不需’’’’識’不需’公眾生’’驗’’提’’豐’’’’’’’不需’獲’’學教’’種種’’’’’旦失’’’切’’福化’’有’’婦’’’’’’忍’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’歎’’’’’’’’目’’生’獎賞中’’’成’末’ 當’輕’’’樂趣結’’’當身邊’’’’’成’’結’離’’’當’’’忙’生’接’尾’’’當雙手’’’’’重勞務’’當’樂椅’壁’成’’’之’’’不管’’’還’’’’都’’’’’’’’假’’們’’’’’’’’’’對重’’’問’產生興趣’’心’’’察’’’’’問’’’改革’’’’實’’那麼’們’’快老化’’’’’心智’’’’’’’’’用’’’精’及對’圍’切’興趣’’’’’’假’’個婦’’生參’公’’’’覺’對’成我們教’’’’’’’有’任’對我們’監獄’’’有’任’對’’’’’公’’’及公’’路’衛生條件’有’任’對商’’’’’’交中’個’問’’’有問’有興趣’那麼’’’最’’’’少’’’’’’’而’’’’不’’’’’’’傳播醜’’樂’ 之’’’對’個’打’’’’’’部’任’’福之’’’’’原’’’’有’樣’個’’’’’’’’’有’樣’’個’’’’’種情’’’獲’’’’對’有’’’都不’避’’’’’’’’ ’’’暫’’’’’永’歲月’’’’’樂’’’’’’’樣平分’那麼’’’’投票’’’’’’’’’婦’’’’國’中’婦’投票’’教堂裏’婦’’禱’’’’裏高’’壇之’’扮’’’角’’’’不’’’’極嗎? 最’提高’’’’’’最’’’’’’’’莫’’個’’’任’最’’’個’’’’莫’’’’個’’’’’莫’’’’’’普’’’’’’’擁有平等’’’’’’’種’’’’個’’’’獲’’而不’’’襲’’’’’’’’’望’巧’豪奪’’’’’’’’樣’生’’任’有著’樣’’’’那麼’’都’’’’及’’歲月做’’樣’準備’’’’’’’’’’’’風暴’’’生’打擊’’種說’’’足’’’’’’生’’風暴對’’’’對’’’樣’’’面’方襲擊’們’由’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’抗’’’’’’’’’’’’’打擊’’結’’’’個’’’’’任正’’類’驗證’’’實’’’’’’’智’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’不管’誰都’’’’’’’’’’’’’ 儘管有關婦’’賴’’’’論’種’樣’’婦’’生’緊’關’’’’’’’’’婦’’’’重’’’當’個’生’降’’’’’婦’’’邁’’’之’’’’’’分擔’’’懼’’’’’減輕’’’’’當’’’’’個’’’’忍’’極限’’’’’’’跨’’’’ ’’’’ 由’’見’’個’’’’’生’’戰場’’漫’’’憊’’’中’’’’’’我們’’擁有’’’友’擁有’’’’情’仁’’’’天’’’順’’’’’’生’’’’’喜’’之’’’個’仍’’’’’身’’ ’整個’’領域’’藝’’’學’文學’’’’’裏’婦’’’’有’’’’’平等’’’’’本’’有’’’們之手’詩’’’說’’們參’’’教’’’’’’生’’重’改革’’們’有’輯’教授’’’’’’’醫’’’裏有’們’身’’教堂’’’壇’’學’’講’’’有’們’’音’今天’’’’公眾輿論’’’’正’’種類’’’’’生’’實’’’虛假’論’鬥’’贏’’’正’’’勝’’ ’’婦’圍著手’車’’織’轉’’’’動’圍極’有限’而今天’’’’’成’’’’’’仍’’’們局限’’’’’’’’圈裏’’夠’調嗎? 不’’絕不’!機器不’’倦’’’’扛’’’身’’重’’織布機’手’車’’’日舊夢’’而’之’’筆’’’’’’’’’’’婦’’’’’’’’生’’本’’變化’ ’’’’條件’’說’個’’’由’’’’’’由’’而’當我們考’’’個’都’’’’’’’我們覺’’不管’’’還’’’’都需’’備’’’需’’察’’’需’調動身心’’器’’’’’用中’’’’’’’’ 不管’’’’’情’’’對’’有’’’’’’’’旦’’天’’禍’’生’攸關’關’’婦’仍’’’’對’’’’環境’’’’婦’準備’不’’’’條平’’’’’’’’’心’’情心’’我們’生’’’’’’’結’限’’’’’’’’我之’’’’個’魂永遠生’’’’之中’.. 有’種’’’我們’個’’身’有’’’’比那’雪覆’’’’’’’望不’及’比那午’’’’’’’不’測’’’’’我之’’’我們稱’’我’內心’’’不管’’’還’天’都’不’’’不’’它’比’’’’’’’’穴’隱’’’比’殿’內’’隱’’’比’’臘’’’斯’裏’’’’隱’’’’唯有’’’’’’’’’’’’’內心’’’ ’個’生’概莫’’’試問’有誰’夠’’有誰敢’’’’’’’’任奪’’有’ The point I wish plainly to bring before you on this occasion is the individuality of each human soul; our Protestant idea, the right of individual conscience and judgment; our republican idea, individual citizenship. In discussing the rights of woman, we are to consider, first, what belongs to her as an individual, in a world of her own, the arbiter of her own destiny, an imaginary Robinson Crusoe, with her woman, Friday, on a solitary island. Her rights under such circumstances are to use all her faculties for her own safety and happiness. Secondly, if we consider her as a citizen, as a member of a great nation, she must have the same rights as all other members, according to the fundamental principles of our Government. Thirdly, viewed as a woman, an equal factor in civilization, her rights and duties are still the same―individual happiness and development. Fourthly, it is only the incidental relations of life, such as mother, wife, sister, daughter, which may involve some special duties and training..... The strongest reason for giving woman all the opportunities for higher education, for the full development of her faculties, her forces of mind and body; for giving her the most enlarged freedom of thought and action; a complete emancipation from all forms of bondage, of custom, dependence, superstition; from all the crippling influences of fear―is the solitude and personal responsibility of her own individual life. The strongest reason why we ask for woman a voice in the government under which she lives; in the religion she is asked to believe; equality in social life, where she is the chief factor; a place in the trades and professions, where she may earn her bread, is because of her birthright to self-sovereignty; because, as an individual, she must rely on herself. No matter how much women prefer to lean, to be protected and supported, nor how much men desire to have them do so, they must make the voyage of life alone, and for safety in an emergency, they must know something of the laws of navigation. To guide our own craft, we must be captain, pilot, engineer; with chart and compass to stand at the wheel; to watch the winds and waves, and know when to take in the sail, and to read the signs in the firmament over all. It matters not whether the solitary voyager is man or woman; nature, having endowed them equally, leaves them to their own skill and judgment in the hour of danger, and, if not equal to the occasion, alike they perish. To appreciate the importance of fitting every human soul for independent action, think for a moment of the immeasurable solitude of self. We come into the world alone, unlike all who have gone before us, we leave it alone, under circumstances peculiar to ourselves. No mortal ever has been, no mortal ever will be like the soul just launched on the sea of life. There can never again be just such a combination of prenatal influences; never again just such environments as make up the infancy, youth and manhood of this one. Nature never repeats herself, and the possibilities of one human soul will never be found in another. No one has ever found two blades of ribbon grass alike, and no one will ever find two human beings alike. Seeing, then, that what must be the infinite diversity in human character, we can in a measure appreciate the loss to a nation when any class of the people is uneducated and unrepresented in the government. We ask for the complete development of every individual, first, for his own benefit and happiness. In fitting out an army, we give each soldier his own knapsack, arms, powder, his blanket, cup, knife, fork and spoon. We provide alike for all their individual necessities; then each man bears his own burden. Again, we ask complete individual development for the general good; for the consensus of the competent on the whole round of human interests, on all questions of national life; and here each man must bear his share of the general burden. It is sad to see how soon friendless children are left to bear their own burdens, before they can analyze their feelings; before they can even tell their joys and sorrows, they are thrown on their own resources. The great lesson that nature seems to teach us at all ages is self-dependence, self-protection, self- support. ... We ask no sympathy from others in the anxiety and agony of a broken friendship or shattered love. When death sunders our nearest ties, alone we sit in the shadow of our affliction. Alike amid the greatest triumphs and darkest tragedies of life, we walk alone. On the divine heights of human attainment, eulogized and worshipped as a hero or saint, we stand alone. In ignorance, poverty and vice, as a pauper or criminal, alone we starve or steal; alone we suffer the sneers and rebuffs of our fellows; alone we are hunted and bounded through dark courts and alleys, in by-ways and high-ways; alone we stand in the judgment seat; alone in the prison cell we lament our crimes and misfortunes; alone we expiate them on the gallows. In hours like these we realize the awful solitude of individual life, its pains, its penalties, its responsibilities, hours in which the youngest and most helpless are thrown on their own resources for guidance and consolation. Seeing, then, that life must ever be a march and a battle that each soldier must be equipped for his own protection, it is the height of cruelty to rob the individual of a single natural right. To throw obstacles in the way of a complete education is like putting out the eyes; to deny the rights of poverty is like cutting off the hands. To refuse political equality is to rob the ostracized of all self-respect; of credit in the market place; of recompense in the world of work, of a voice in choosing those who make and administer the law, a choice in the jury before whom they are tried, and in the judge who decides their punishment. [Think of] . . . woman's position! Robbed of her natural rights, handicapped by law and custom at every turn, yet compelled to fight her own battles, and in the emergencies of life to fall back on herself for protection. . . . The young wife and mother, at the head of some establishment, with a kind husband to shield her from the adverse winds of life, with wealth, fortune and position, has a certain harbor of safety, secure against the ordinary ills of life. But to manage a household, have a desirable influence in society, keep her friends and the affections of her husband, train her children and servants well, she must have rare common sense, wisdom, diplomacy, and a knowledge of human nature. To do all this, she needs the cardinal virtues and the strong points of character that the most successful statesman possesses. An uneducated woman trained to dependence, with no resources in herself, must make a failure of any position in life. But society says women do not need a knowledge of the world, the liberal training that experience in public life must give, all the advantages of collegiate education; but when for the lack of all this, the woman's happiness is wrecked, alone she bears her humiliation; and the solitude of the weak and ignorant is indeed pitiable. In the wild chase for the prizes of life, they are ground to powder. In age, when the pleasures of youth are passed, children grown up, married and gone, the hurry and bustle of life in a measure over, when the hands are weary of active service, when the old arm chair and the fireside are the chosen resorts, then men and women alike must fall back on their own resources. If they cannot find companionship in books, if they have no interest in the vital questions of the hour, no interest in watching the consummation of re- forms with which they might have been identified, they soon pass into their dotage. The more fully the faculties of the mind are developed and kept in use, the longer the period of vigor and active interests in all around us continues. If, from a life-long participation in public affairs, a woman feels responsible for the laws regulating our system of education, the discipline of our jails and prisons, the sanitary condition of our private homes, public building and thorough- fares, an interest in commerce, finance, our foreign relations, in any or all these questions, her solitude will at least be respectable, and she will not be driven to gossip or scandal for entertainment. The chief reason for opening to every soul the doors to the whole round of human duties and pleasures is the individual development thus attained, the resources thus provided under all circumstances to mitigate the solitude that at times must come to everyone. . . . Inasmuch, then, as woman shares equally the joys and sorrows of time and eternity, is it not the height of presumption in man to propose to represent her at the ballot box and the throne of grace, to do her voting in the state, her praying in the church, and to assume the position of high priest at the family altar? Nothing strengthens the judgment and quickens the conscience like individual responsibility. Nothing adds such dignity to character as the recognition of one's self-sovereignty; the right to an equal place, everywhere conceded― a place earned by personal merit, not an artificial attainment by inheritance, wealth, family and position. Conceding, then, that the responsibilities of life rest equally on man and woman, that their destiny is the same, they need the same preparation for time and eternity. The talk of sheltering woman from the fierce storms of life is the sheerest mockery, for they beat on her from every point of the compass, just as they do on man, and with more fatal results, for he has been trained to protect himself, to resist, and to conquer. Such are the facts in human experience, the responsibilities of individual sovereignty. Rich and poor, intelligent and ignorant, wise and foolish, virtuous and vicious, man and woman; it is ever the same, each soul must depend wholly on itself. Whatever the theories may be of woman's dependence on man, in the supreme moments of her life, he cannot bear her burdens. Alone she goes to the gates of death to give life to every man that is born into the world; no one can share her fears, no one can mitigate her pangs; and if her sorrow is greater than she can bear, alone she passes beyond the gates into the vast unknown. . . . So it ever must be in the conflicting scenes of life, in the long, weary march, each one walks alone. We may have many friends, love, kind- ness, sympathy and charity, to smooth our pathway in everyday life, but in the tragedies and triumphs of human experience, each mortal stands alone. . . . Women are already the equals of men in the whole realm of thought, in art, science, literature and government. . . . The poetry and novels of the century are theirs, and they have touched the keynote of reform, in religion, politics and social life. They fill the editor's and professor's chair, plead at the bar 'of justice, walk the wards of the hospital, speak from the pulpit and the platform. Such is the type of womanhood that an enlightened public sentiment welcomes to- day, and such the triumph of the facts of life over the false theories of the past. Is it, then, consistent to hold the developed woman of this day within the same narrow political limits as the dame with the spinning wheel and knitting needles occupied in the past? No, no! Machinery has taken the labors of woman as well as man on its tireless shoulders; the loom and the spinning wheel are but dreams of the past; the pen, the brush, the easel, the chisel, have taken their places, while the hopes and ambitions of women are essentially changed. We see reason sufficient in the outer conditions of human beings for individual liberty and development, but when we consider the self- dependence of every human soul, we see the need of courage, judgment and the exercise of every faculty of mind and body, strengthened and developed by use, in woman as well as man. Whatever may be said of man's protecting power in ordinary' conditions, amid all the terrible disasters by land and sea, in the supreme moments of danger, alone woman must ever meet the horrors of the situation. The Angel of Death even makes no royal pathway for her. Man's love and sympathy enter only into the sunshine of our lives. In that solemn solitude of self, that links us with the immeasurable and the eternal, each soul lives alone forever. . . . And yet, there is a solitude which each and every one of us has always carried with him, more inaccessible than the ice-cold mountains, more profound than the midnight sea; the solitude of self. Our inner being which we call ourself, no eye nor touch of man or angel has ever pierced. It is more hidden than the caves of the gnome; the sacred adytum of the oracle; the hidden chamber of Eleusinian mystery, for to it only omniscience is permitted to enter. Such is individual life. Who, I ask you, can take, dare take on himself the rights, the duties, the responsibilities of another human soul? ’ |