LIFE AND LETTERS OF JOSEPH HARDY NEESIMA

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TRIBUTES. 333 press upon the minds of the young girls in our classes is the fact that they have individual rights and duties, that we may thus enlist their interest in the cause of religion. I have seen many girls who, after four or five years of study at the expense of much money and sacrifice on the part of their parents, enter married life to conduct themselves as i£ they had had no edu­cation. They do nothing for society. They are un­der the rule of their husbands. They have no oppor­tunity to show their ability, but are condemned to things in which they have had no schooling, -the kitchen and the care of children. This is deplorable. It is sad that their husbands, in the treadmill of petty conveniencies, do not realize it. It may be the result of custom, but it is a hindrance to the progress of civ­ilization. In matters of social reform woman's influ­ence is greater than man's. Her power is indeed great. But in our country we still find conservative and obstinate-minded men who cling to the old or{ler of things. Looking back over my own life I find great troubles. A man whom I thought my sincere friend and to whom I yielded my secret, turned out to be my enemy. For what I undertook, believing it to be for the best, I received sneers and hatred. There are unspeakable troubles in our path. Equally great are the trials which the women of to-day must meet. To ask you the favor of doing for this cause may be ask­ing you to shorten your life. But we do not live for selfish ends, and you and I, being the servants of God, do the duties appointed for us. Therefore we must not be surprised at the sneers and evil tongues of the world, for we must not forget that the greater the trials we endure the greater shall be our reward. This that I now say is foolishness in the judgment of

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