Woman and Her Wishes - 1853

The most fascinating of modern Catholic writers, Digby, brings it as a charge against republican institutions, that they are "in the highest degree inimical to the influence and importance of women." And one can hardly deny their tendency to fix more permanently that withdrawal of rights and substitution of favors, which has always been the ground of complaint among intelligent women. It is singular, too, that in a country where the customary standard of female schools is higher than any where else, the opportunity of females for public service should be less than in most of the nations of Europe.

In England, "in a reported case, it is stated by counsel, and substantially assented to by the Court, that a woman is capable of serving in almost all the offices of the kingdom; such as. those of Queen, Marshal, Grand Chamberlain, and Constable of England, the Champion of England, Commissioner of Sewers, Governor of a Workhouse, Sexton, [parish clerk,] Keeper of the Prison, of the Gate House of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, Returning Officer for Members of Parliament, and Constable, the latter of which is in some respects judicial. The office of Jailor is frequently exercised by a woman."

In an action at law, it has been determined that an unmarried woman, having a freehold, might vote for Members of Parliament; and it is recorded that Lady Packington returned two. The office of Grand Chamberlain, in 1822, was filled by two women; and that of the clerk of the crown, in the Court of Queen's Bench, has been granted to a female.

At the coronation of King Richard II., Dame Margaret Dimock, wife of Sir John Dimock, came into court and "claimed the place to be the king's champion, by the virtue of the tenure of her manor of Scrinelby, in Lincolnshire, to challenge and defy all such as opposed the king's right to the crown." The Countess of Pembroke, Dorset and Montgomery, had the office of hereditary sheriff of Westmoreland, and exercised it in person. At the assizes at Appleby, she sat with the judges on the bench.

In the reign of Henry VIII., when, during some family quarrels, Maurice Berkely and others entered the park of Lady Anne Berkely, at Yate, and committed depredations, the lady complained to the king, who immediately granted her a special commission under the great seal, to inquire into the matter. She then returned to Gloucester, opened the commission, sat on the bench in the public Sessions Hall, impanelled a jury, received evidence, and finally sentenced the rioters.

A statement has passed current, originating with Gilbert Stuart, to the effect that the Anglo-Saxon Queens were accustomed to assist at the Parliaments convoked by their husbands. But I have not been able to find confirmation' of this in the authorities to which he refers -- William of Malmesbury and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It is not improbable, however, in view of the fact that during that period, a prioress might preside over a meeting of ecclesiastics, and legislate for the government of the church; and might take precedence in rank in the assembly, as was the case in the Council of Becanceld, convoked in the year 694.

It is a remarkable fact, that one of the most important treaties of modern Europe --the peace of Cambray, in 1529--was negotiated by two women --Margaret, the aunt of Charles V., and Louisa, mother of Francis I.

It is strange to turn from such a wide variety of public stations to the very different provisions of our own nation, which is yet so much more liberal of office to its male population. "In the United States," says Judge Hurlbut, "a woman may administer upon the estate of her deceased husband, and she has occasionally held a subordinate place in the Post Office Department. She has, therefore, a sort of post-mortem ,and post-mistress notoriety; but with the exception of handling letters administrative and letters mailed, she is the submissive creature of the old common law." This would seem rather an inadequate result, for woman, of American Revolution, Declaration of Independence and Constitution; and even suggests doubtful comparisons with the days when "the Great Squaw Sachem" ruled the inhabitants of Eastern Massachusetts, from Mystic to Agway.

It would seem that under the circumstances, the rising protest of American women, though it may annoy men, can hardly surprise them. I have chosen to begin with the consideration of education, because that is a point commonly conceded, and therefore a good fulcrum for the lever. But much more remains behind. It is not the sole grievance of woman that she has not even her full share of school-education.