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Show Mark Twain' Tribute to "Woman. At the annual banquet of the Washington Wash-ington Correspondents' Club, the following fol-lowing toast was read: 'W"MA.v: The pridaofprole-s-ioua, and the of ours." To which JIark Twain responded in pait as follows : "Human intelligence cannot estimate what we owe woman, sir. She sews on our buttons ; she confides con-fides in us : she ropes us in at the church lairs ; she tells whatever she can find out about the little private affairs af-fairs of the neighbors ; she gives us good advice and plenty of it ; she gives us a piece of her mind sometimes, and sometimes all of it. In all the relations rela-tions of life, sir, it is but a just and grateful tribute to say of her that she is a 'iri'c'r.' Wheresoever you place woman, sir, in whatsoever posiuon or estate, the is an ornament to that place she occupies and a treasure to the world. Look at the noble names of history ! Look at Desdemona ! Look at Lucretia Borgia! Look at Joice Heth I Look at Mother Eve ! I repeat, re-peat, sir, look at the illustrious names of history ! Look at the Widow Mach-ree Mach-ree ! Look at Lucy Stone ! Look at Elizabeth Cady Stanton! Look at George Francis Train! Also, sir I say it with bowed head and deepest veneration look at the mother of Washington ! She raised a boy who could not lie could not lie. But he had never had the chance. It might have been different if he had belonged to a Newspaper Correspondents' Club. (Mark looked around placidly upon his excited audience and resumed : ) I repeat, re-peat, sir, that in whatever position you place a woman she is an ornament to society and a treasure to the world. As a sweetheart she has few equals and no superiors. As a wealthy grandmother grand-mother with an incurable distemper she is precious. As a wet nurse she has no . equal among men. What, sir, would the people of the earth be without with-out women? They would be carce, sir; almighty scarce! Then let us give her our support, our encouragement, encourage-ment, our sympathy ourselves, if we get a chance !" |