THE DUTY
OF
AMERICAN WOMEN
TO THEIR
COUNTRY.
NEW-YORK:
Harper & Brothers, 82 Cliff-St.
1845.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1845, by
Harper & Brothers,
In the Clerk’s Office of the Southern District of New-York.
THE DUTY OF
AMERICAN WOMEN
TO THEIR COUNTRY.
My countrywomen, you often hear it saidthat intelligence and virtue are indispensableto the safety of a democratic government likeours, where the people hold all the power.You hear it said, too, that our country is ingreat peril from the want of this intelligenceand virtue. But these words make a faintimpression, and it is the object of what followsto convey these truths more vividly toyour minds.
This will be attempted, by presenting somerecent events, in a country where a governmentsimilar to our own was undertaken, by apeople destitute of that intelligence and virtueso indispensable; and then it will be shownthat similar dangers are impending over ourown country. The grand point to be illustratedis, that a people without education havenot intelligence enough to know what measureswill secure safety and prosperity, norvirtue enough to pursue even what they know[4]to be right, so that, when possessed of power,they will adopt ruinous measures, be excitedby base passions, and be governed by wickedand cruel men.
Look, then, at France during that awful periodcalled the Reign of Terror. First, observethe process by which the power passed intothe hands of the people. An extravagantking, a selfish aristocracy, an exacting priesthood,had absorbed all the wealth, honour,and power, until the people were ground tothe dust. All offices of trust and emolumentwere in the hands of the privileged few, alllaws made for their benefit, all monopoliesheld for their profit, while the common peoplewere condemned to heavy toils, with returnsnot sufficient to supply the necessities of life,so that, in some districts, famine began to stalkthrough the land.
Speedily the press began to unfold thesewrongs, and at the same time, Lafayette andhis brave associates returned from our shores,and spread all over the nation enthusiastic accountsof happy America, where the peoplegovern themselves, unoppressed by monopoly,or king, or noble, or priest. The press teems[5]with exciting pages, and orators inflame thepublic mind to a tempest of enthusiasm. Thecourt and the aristocratic party cower beforethe storm; and ere long, the eleven hundredrepresentatives of the people are seen marching,in solemn pomp, through the streets of thecapital, while the whole land rings with acclamationsof joy. They take their seats, on anequality with nobles and king, and proceed toform a constitution, securing the rights of thepeople. It is adopted, and sworn to, by thewhole nation, with transports and songs, whilethey vainly imagine that all their troubles areat an end. But the representatives, chosen bythe people, had not the wisdom requisite forsuch arduous duties as were committed tothem, nor had the people themselves the intelligenceand virtue indispensable for such achange. Men of integrity and ability were notselected for the new offices created. Fraud,peculation, rapine, and profusion abounded.Everything went w