The Quiet Corner
THE QUIET CORNER I counsel thee, shut not thy heart nor thy library.—C. Lamb. It was after that stormy meeting in the library when Dr. Angelicus and Primus Criticus had expressed themselves...
...Angelicus and Primus Criticus had expressed themselves so forcibly if not convincingly, on the intrusion of woman on the sacred privileges of man, apropos of her right to the retention of her maiden name after marriage, that Miss Brynmarian and Miss Anonymoncule held a private conference...
...Did she offer any suggestions toward removing it...
...Overwhelmingly," said Miss Anonymoncule, "and in spite of Miss Laurette Taylor's great charm, lovely clothes, and witty remarks...
...Where is Miss Anonymoncule...
...Exactly," snorted Angelicus...
...The Librarian...
...And we have the judge proclaiming loudly and fussily that 'it is one of the rights of man to snore, ad lib.' He should simply have dismissed the case haughtily, with no remarks...
...I have here a few pertinent remarks of Kipling on the subject of woman, which I should like to read to her...
...It would seem," said the Editor, "that your very concern over them indicates a subconscious fear that they are not futile...
...When he came back to the desk, and looked at the register, he read —'Mrs...
...I believe," said Miss Brynmarian frigidly, "that Miss Anonymoncule will be here presently...
...Naturally she would not have a married man called master...
...She is then, indeed, in a far worse state than I supposed," grouzeled the Doctor...
...As a matter of fact, she is now attending a Junior League debate, the topic of which you criticized last week with more prejudice than illumination, if I may say so...
...I suppose they find such an arrangement pleasanter than two able presentations of both sides to a question...
...for she said that she was sure a woman was far better fitted to be an influence for good in the community if allowed to have her own way about everything...
...You don't mean to say that the affirmative won ?" cried Dr...
...or Miss, but that one was never able to determine, except by rudely asking, whether a man was married or not...
...Not at all, for you see Doctor/' said Miss Anonymoncule sweetly, "they weren't...
...Angelicus, now totally ignoring the Editor's eye...
...demanded the Doctor...
...That was the principle she endorsed...
...Who is proclaiming them now...
...This much is true—that where formerly the rights of man were taken for granted as existing, inherent prerogatives, and never questioned, today they are proclaimed and classified by our sex with such vociferousness that a suspicion of their growing weakness arises...
...I recommend to you the view taken by Frank Crowninshield, who with Ethel Barrymore and Alice Duer Miller, was one of the judges...
...Crowninshield said that he had never married because he was sure that if he had, his wife would not only have called herself anything she pleased, but in addition would have called him anything she pleased...
...To a woman, there is only one side to a question—and that is, as Miss Taylor demonstrated, having her own way...
...I know you will be interested to hear the Junior League's decision on the right of a woman to retain her maiden name after marriage...
...Well, here for instance, is a newspaper which reports the remarks of a California judge in a recent divorce case...
...As soon as you accept this theory docilely, you will be happier," said Miss Anonymoncule...
...Angelicus grumpily, having received the Editor's cautioning glance...
...I'm not interested at all," said Dr...
...Those good, sweet women who looked upon their husbands in that light have passed away...
...demanded Angelicus...
...This she found a great handicap to her approach shots...
...The lady sought her freedom on the ground that her husband's snoring was so orchestral that she could not sleep o'nights...
...asked Dr...
...Then later, when asked 'what is the etiquette of the League in the matter of addressing invitations to a man and his wife,' she said that one thing that the Lucy Stone League was not concerned with was etiquette...
...But didn't Miss Taylor show that all the logic and sense of the question were on her side...
...It was an absolute vindication of the Junior League's ability to remain uninfluenced by these factors, supposedly all-convincing to women, and to judge solely on logic...
...These feminist movements are so utterly futile...
...Thomas Johnson, and husband.'" "Well, what was the matter with that ?" asked Miss Anonymoncule, innocently...
...Well, I admit she confused me a little when she stated at first that the Lucy Stone League was not fighting for the legal right of a woman to retain her maiden name after marriage, but for the social right...
...Well," replied Miss Anonymoncule half-heartedly, "one said that she felt it a great injustice that one was always able to classify at once a woman as married or unmarried by the title of Mrs...
...Quite," replied Miss Brynmarian, "for, as I have frequently stated, it may be a man's world, but not the corner of it that I inhabit...
...Yes," said the Editor reflectively...
...Oh, but you would have been," replied Miss Anonymoncule enthusiastically, "if you could have heard Miss Ruth Hale's able defense of the principles of the Lucy Stone League...
...She said she thought it would be an excellent idea if all unmarried men should be called 'Master,' and all married men, 'Mr.,' " explained Miss Anonymoncule...
...I see that I have work to do...
...Apparently, one of the things in which we should allow women to have their own sweet way is to call, if they choose, two speeches defending the same premise, a debate...
...asked Angelicus with a trace of sarcasm...
...It is time," said Miss Anonymoncule, "that these gatherings in the library should no longer remain inarticulate on the subject of feminist rights...
...At this point Miss Anonymoncule entered hurriedly...
...So it fell out that Monday found Dr...
...But I forget myself...
...We should act upon our principles, rather than proclaim them...
...When we see the young mind showing a tendency toward a mistaken valuation of the feminine sex, we should try to bring it back to sane, conservative thinking...
...Angelicus, the Editor, and Primus Criticus, with their books and papers, gathered about the open fire—while Miss Brynmarian, near a window, was making the most of a fading daylight to insert the e's in an article by a popular contributor whose typewriter is totally paralyzed in that member...
...asked the Editor...
...I remember my friend, Thomas Johnson, who, arriving at a New York hotel, asked his wife to register while he looked after the luggage...
...Did the Junior League members themselves contribute anything to the topic...
...asked the Editor...
...But wasn't this meeting called a debate...
...In fact Miss Taylor's conclusions were that a woman should be allowed to do exactly as she chose, and go by any name she pleased...
...asked Primus Criticus...
...It may be the gentleman who now doth protest too much...
...I'm delighted to find you still here, Doctor," she said to Angelicus...
...But what about Miss Hale's speech...
Vol. 3 • December 1925 • No. 6
