Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 82.djvu/605

Rh the use of the pen. It is probable that woman has had more opportunity in literature than in any other line of work. Her actions have been restricted in various degrees at different times, and in different localities, and, to a certain extent, her thought has been regulated. It is, undoubtedly, her innate right to reign supreme over her feelings. An analysis of the group of 337 writers shows a large per cent, of feminine literature to be of an emotional or imaginative nature. If, to the group of writers we add the women classed under "Religion," the actresses and the musicians, we note that we have 506, or 58.2 per cent., of the entire group of eminent women before we reach the small group of scholars who have exercised the power of reason. Add to this the artists and dancers as further illustrations of emotional activity, and we still see that the common concept of a woman as a creature of feeling rather than a creature of reason may not be without foundation. If this conception is just, our classification tends to show that when woman has attained eminence, it has not been in spite of her femininity, but rather because of it.

As remote as the seventh century before Christ women became eminent in literature. This early work is poetry and undoubtedly represents the outburst of genius rather than the result of training. In the early centuries, a woman might be born to eminence, and in a few instances she was allowed to govern, but a large percentage of the names that have come down to us as late as the sixteenth century are those of women who were wives of men more distinguished than themselves. The Christian religion made a strong appeal to womanhood, and no century has been without its representative in this field. In the group of 64 eminent women classed under "Religion" in our study, five were founders of sects known respectively as Christian Science, the Buchanites, the Southcottians, the Countess of Huntingdon's Connection, and the Shakers. In addition, Saint Clara founded the Franciscan Order of Nuns; Saint Theresa, the Barefooted Carmelites; Angela Merici, the Hrsuline Order; and Jeanne Chantal, the Order of Visitation. Sixteen, or one fourth of the group, suffered martyrdom. Motherhood, heroism and beauty occur-occasionally without reference to time or nationality. Actresses date only from the seventeenth century, and musicians from the eighteenth. The reformers, dancers, educators, revolutionists, travelers and physicians are products of the last two centuries. For those who are interested in the problem of the modern woman the record for the nineteenth century ought to be of interest. Of the 335 women of the century, 184 are writers. The stage has been the stepping stone to eminence for more than eight times as many women as became noted because of their religion. If, however, we allow a broad interpretation of religion to include social service, and thus combine the groups "Reformers" and