THE CONGRESS OE WOMEN.

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from the condition of absolute poverty in which they were plunged at the beginning of that era, than they discovered that the material interests of the country demanded immediate attention. Waste places must be made to bloom again, railroads had to be built, rivers spanned, and all the wheels of agricultural, manufacturing and commer­cial development set in motion. Little time was there for thought of any art save the art of making money. How admirably they have succeeded in material development is patent to all whose eyes have rested on the waving fields, the com­fortable homes, the prosperous towns and cities that dot these states from center to boundary line.

Eollowing in the wake of industrial progress came the great educational wave that has swept over the entire South. Nothing ever wrought more marvelous changes in the same length of time to any race of people than this new impetus that has been given to the minds and thoughts of its youth. While it has been the means of elevat­ing and rendering more useful the boys of the South, to the girls it has been a precious beacon light, beckoning them on to an entirely new life filled with hope, ambition and consolation.

They are the children, as it were, of two civilizations.

From the old South they inherit gentleness of manner, purity of heart, and nobility of soul; from the transition period they bring persistence, obstinate and marked indi­viduality making them strong and self-reliant. So, from this blending of character colors, the Southern girls, when brought beneath the search-light of this new and progressive civilization, which you in your wisdom and foresight have been so long laboring to effect, are destined to give forth a brilliancy that betrays the presence of the flawless jewel.

Yes, the new woman’s day has dawned in the South-land. And though the prod­uct of the evolution has not yet assumed the exact counterpart of the progressive woman of the East, still it has bidden every daughter of the South throw aside the veil of helplessness and walk forth into the sunlight of independent labor. She has already had an opportunity to test her strength. New chances are daily offered to her; and in every state we find her ready and willing to

Seek Dame Fortune’s golden smile,

Assiduous wait upon her,

And gather gear by every wile That’s justified by honor;

Not to hide it in a hedge,

Not for a train attendant,

But for the glorious privilege Of being independent.

But what has brought about this great change? The marvelous development of the natural resources of the country and the increase of wealth have enabled the South to turn somewhat from the practical affairs of life and give more time and attention to intellectual culture.

Old institutions have been revived, new ones of great merit have been established, and a complete reformation has been wrought in the educational world. A growing interest in solid instruction is everywhere noticeable. In New Orleans, in the Sophia Newcombe Institute and in the Converse College in North Carolina, we find as good work as is being done in any of the colleges for men. The public high schools of the country are accomplishing wonders, and in all of these, the girls lead in numbers and they lead in rank.

Nor is this demand for a higher and more thorough education the only mark of progress. A decided effort toward purifying society by means of temperance and other organizations, indicates that the morals of the country are not being overlooked. A new interest is taken in the affairs of the church, and in all the various charities which many women so willingly, tenderly and gracefully perform.