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    (194 )

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    XXVIII.—FROM PARIS. ¦

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    ._———— —^^»— ^ A phil 17, 1860. To the c...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    (194 )

    ( 194 )

    Xxviii.—From Paris. ¦

    XXVIII . —FROM PARIS . ¦

    ._———— —^^»— ^ A Phil 17, 1860. To The C...

    _. _———— _—^^»— _^ A _phil 17 , 1860 . To the intelligent stranger " who looks leisurely into the windows

    of Parisian booksellers , few signs of the times are so remarkable as the number of works upon the position , the duties , the health , the

    beauty , and the moral nature of women . An English gentleman passing through the streets one day last weekwas so struck by

    , these books that he took the trouble of copying several of the titles in his note-book , and two points "were immediately observable in

    looking over the list : that they were nearly all written by men , and that ( so far as could -be judged by the suggestion of their titles )

    they were not written for the perusal of women ; of English women at least , who have no time to waste in reading questionable

    literature . The total fact is , however , full of interest to every thinking

    person ; the French have caught the infection of a new idea ( presented consciously for the first time in history ) fromthe Anglo-Saxon

    , races in England and America , and they are trying in their own way to solve the problem of woman's work in the world . Very

    strange and twisted appears their solution to our English ears . I hardly know whether the conservative or the intensely democratic

    elements of French thought appear the worst to me ! whether the hilosophy of repression or the philosophy of licence is most

    injurious p to the moral interests of society . Happily we in England are not called upon to decide so knotty a question . All I know is , that

    having asked numerous intelligent French people to indicate one book from which I might draw facts or thoughts likely to be

    acceptable to my own country-women , I have been able to hear of only one .

    I find , however , in the " Revue Europeene " for last month , a paper from the pen of a ladyentitled " LaFemme dans la Societe Anglaise , "

    ¦ which contains some , excellent remarks well worth translating , because they afford insight into the tone of French thought on these

    subjects , and are presented by a refined and educated woman . I must premise that the first impetus to this universal discussion

    appears to have been given by Proudhon and Michelet . M . Proudhon is profoundly opposed to feminine influence and development ,

    as we understand those words . M . Michelet , the celebrated historian , ison the contrayan adorer of women in the family and in society ;

    , , and loses no opportunity of saying what he conceives to be a good word for them and their highest interests .

    This , however , demands a little explanation ; M . Michelet ' s famous works" L'Amour " and " La Femme" whichone meets

    with in Paris at , every turn , were written with an , avowed , high moral purpose ; the first in particular was written to persuade his young

    countrymen of the happiness of married life , and the charming excel-

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), May 1, 1860, page 194, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01051860/page/50/