Woman in the Nineteenth Century

an in the Nine

an article published in "The Dial, Boston, July, 1843," under the

nterest. It is in compliance with wishes expressed from many q

y, more just to my desire. I meant by that title to intimate the fact that, while it is the destiny of Man, in the course of the ages, to ascertain and fulfil the law of his being, so that his life shall be seen, as a whole, to be that of an angel or messenger, the action of prejudices and passions which attend, in the day, the growth of the individual, is continually obstructing the holy work that is to make the earth a part of heave

t for any, the largest, extension of partial privileges that I seek. I ask them, if interested by these suggestions, to search their own experience and intuitions for better, and fill up with fit materials the tr

fishness, be granted daily more and more as the due o

ber,

he Ninetee

thy name

waits for

us, but it is strict. Yet would any contradict us, if we

thy nam

waits fo

ail he is indeed,-how frail! how impure! Yet often has the vein of gold displayed itself am

. We see that in him the largest claim finds a due foundation. That claim is for no partial sway, no exclusive possession. He cannot be satisfied with any one gift of life, any one department of knowledge or telescopic peep at the heavens. He feels himself called to un

t; the bright signs they left hang in the heavens, as single stars or constellations, and, already, a thickly sown radiance consoles the wanderer in the darkest night. Other heroes sin

men, Herc

urus erit, daia

i sciet, invitu

nser

se who, if not so immediately, or so consciously, in connection with the eternal truth, yet, led and fashioned by a divine instinct, serve no less to develop and interpret the open secret of love passing into life, energy creating for the purpose of happiness; the artist whose hand, drawn by a preexistent harmony to a certain medium, moulds it to forms of life more highly and completely organized than are seen elsewhere, and, by carrying out the intention of natur

e it was needed, as that upon the hill, In close alleys, in dismal nooks, the Word has been read as distinctly, as when shown by angels to holy men in the dar

ll-Creating wandered on the earth to taste, in a limited nature, the sweetness of virtue; that the All-Sustaining incarnated himself to guard, i

Hirten gnadig

shown himself favor

first among men, the holy child, whose life and death were to present the type of excellence

late within the breast somewhat that promised nobler stature and purer blood. They were impelled to forsake their evil ways of decrepit scepticism and covetousness of corruptible possessions. Convictions flowed in u

on the lower nature took its turn, and th

soul knows how to seek, it cannot fail to obtain. This is the Law and the Prophets. Knock and it shall be opened; seek and ye shall find. It is demonstrated; it is a maxim. Man no longer paints his proper nature in some form, and says, "Prometheus had it; it is God-like;" but "Man must have it; it is human." However

, there is a great difference of view as to

h of life its seed of thought; look behind every symbol for

agmentary state. Follow thy light for as much as it will show thee; be faithful as far as thou canst, in hope that

d not learn through facts of thought or action, but express through them the certainties of wisdom. In quietness yield thy soul to the causal soul. Do not disturb thy a

expression of what was required by the coming era, the time drew nigh. But we say not, see not as yet, clearly, what we would. Those who call for a more triumphant expression of love, a love that cannot be crucified, show not a perfect sense of what h

sod, or use the freedom of their limbs only with wolfish energy. The tree cannot come to flower till its root be free from the cankering worm, and its whole growth open to air and

ritten some thirty years ago, is not yet outgrown; and it has the merit of being a po

at he may purge the terrestrial atmosphere from the poisons that infect it; that he may preserve the bodies of men from the corrupt influences that surround, and the maladies that afflict them; still more, that he may keep their souls pure from the malignant insinuations which pollute, and the gloomy i

s garret at Rome, making choice of this subject, that of Americans here at home showing such ambition to represent the character, by calling their prose and verse "Orphic sayings"-"Orphics." We wish we could add that they have shown that musi

Nature as seen in the mind of God. His soul went forth toward all beings, yet could remain sternly faithful to a chosen type of excellence. Seeking w

y, that the sculptor should have represented the seer at th

must to the d

us the Poet

sad Persepho

ove to secon

must lose throu

life by living

ought below i

is all that

being with h

oks free from th

nature with his

all forms in

dy sees wha

his eyes from th

ir ears, with wax, knowing there was in them no power to resist the lure of that voluptuous song. But he, the much experienced man, who wished to be experienced in all, and use all to the service of wisdom, desired to hear the song that he might understand its meaning. Yet, distrusting

rydice; that the idea of Man, however imperfectly brought out, has been far more so than that of Woman; that she, the other half of the same thought, the other chambe

structed by the tyranny of others. The title it gave was "citoyen," "citoyenne;" and it is not unimportant to Woman that even this species of equality was awarded her. Before, she could be condemned to perish on the scaffold for treason, not as a citizen, but as a subject. The right with which this title then invested a human being was that of bloodshed and license. The Goddess of Liberty was impure. As we read the poem addressed to her, not long since, by Beranger, we can scarcely re

ere, has been planted only to be blasphemed by cruelty and fraud. The name of the Prince of Peace has been profaned by all kinds of injustice toward the Gentile whom he said he came to save. But I need not speak of what has been done

and in the continual development of that thought, the thought of human destiny, which is given to eternity adequately to express, and which ages of failure only seemingly imp

l statement has been made, "All men are born free and equal." There it stands, a golden certainty wherewith to encourage the good, to shame the bad. The New World may be called clearly to perceive that it incurs the utmost penalty if it reject or oppress the sorrowful brother. And, if men are deaf, the angels hear. But men cannot be deaf. It is inevitable that an external freedom, an independence o

i a semblan

i d'un sol

in qual par

mo quest'

, siam strett

colui che

za sul fino

a uno spirto

the likenes

ren of on

r, in whatever

this v

we must be boun

he who in

self upon the

s an immor

rit-doomed to infamy in later, wiser ages, doomed in future stages of his own being to deadly penan

not afford to let the larger part of it lie fallow; and what is true of genius is not less so of virtue. The tongue is a valuable member, but should appropriate but a small part of the vital juices that are needful all over the body. We feel that the mind may "grow black and rancid in the smoke" even "of altars." We start up from the harangue to go into our closet and shut the door. There inquires the spirit, "Is this rhetoric the bloom of healthy blood, or a false pigment artfully laid on?" And yet again we know where is so much smoke, mu

shown, than that of the champions of the enslaved African. And this band it is, which, partly from a natural following out of

arge is not so prepared for the demands of this party, but that its members

you must be trying to break up family union, to take my wife away from the cradle and the kitchen-hearth to vote at polls, and preach from a pulpit? Of course, if she doe

ther she was satisfied

nhappy, and too judicious to wish to step beyond the sphere of her sex. I

ent from you that is in questi

the head o

your wife. God has give

ead, and sh

of one accord, and there needs but to present any question to get a full and true answer. There is no need of precaution, of indulgence, nor consent. But our doubt is whether the heart does consent with the head, or only obeys its decrees with

n are considering within themselves what they need that they have not, and what they can have if they find they need it. Many men are considering whet

of Schiller's "Dignity of Woman." In the advertisement of a book on America, I see in the ta

nd find at the head of a column, Juden und Frauenemancipat

n the Democratic Review on the same subject more largely considered, written by a woman, impelled, it is said, by glaring wrong to a distinguished friend, having shown the defects in the existing laws, and the state o

er my view quite accidentally: one who se

model-woman of bride-like beauty and gentleness, by writing and lending little treatises, intended to mark out with precision the limits of Woman'

om the best point of view which to-day offers; no better, it is to be feared, than

with men; so that, if a husband dies without making a will, the wife, instead of taking at once his place as head of the family

y. I have seen the husband who had stained himself by a long course of low vice, till his wife was wearied from her heroic forgiveness, by finding that his treachery made it useless, and that if she would provide bread for herself and her children, she must be separate from his ill fame-I have known this man come to install himself in the chamber of a woman who loathed him, and say she should never take food without his company. I have known these men steal their children, whom they knew they had no means to maintain, take them into dissolute company, expose them to bodily danger, to frighten the po

the wife's favor. But she ought not to need this, nor, I think, can she long. Men must soon see that as, on their own ground, Woman is the weaker party, she ought to have legal protection, which would make such oppression impossible. But I would not deal with "atrocious instances," except in the way of illustration, neither dema

that the gift of reason, Man's highest prerogative, is allotted to them in much lower degree; that they must be kept from mischief and melancholy by being constantly engaged in active labor, which is to be furnished and directed by those better able to think, &c., &c.,-we need not multiply instances, for who c

interests; and, if this is not enough, let them propose and enforce their wishes with the pen. The beauty of home would be destroyed, the delicacy of the sex be violated, the dignity of halls of legislation degr

ment," she is not from drudgery. Not only the Indian squaw carries the burdens of the camp, but the favorites of Louis XIV. accompany him in his journeys, and the washerwoman stands at her tub, and carries home her work at all seasons, and in all states of health. Those w

free agency as there is now to her seizing on the rostrum or the desk; and she is likely to draw, from a pe

t that Woman can express publicly the fulness of thought and creation, without losing any of the peculiar beauty of her sex. What can pollute and tarnish is to act thus from any motive except that

rnor of a state by his; presidents of Washingtonian societies no less away from home than presidents of conventions. If men look straitly to it, they will find that, unless their lives are domestic, those of the women will not be. A house is no home unless it contain food and fire for the mind as well as for the body. The female Greek, of o

ur, but in works intended to give a permanent statement of the best experiences,-when not one man, in the million, shall I say? no, not in the hundred million, can rise above the belief that Woman was made for Man,-when such traits as these are daily forced upon the attention, can we feel that Man will always do justice to the interests of Woman? Can we think that he takes a sufficiently discerning

wn down. We would have every path laid open to Woman as freely as to Man. Were this done, and a slight temporary fermentation allowed to subside, we should see crystallizations more pure and of more va

assumes that one man cannot by right hold another in bondage, so should the friend of Woman assume that Man cannot by right lay even well-meant restrictions on Woman. If the negro be a soul, if the woman be

ot as a woman to act or rule, but as a nature to grow, as an intellect to discern, as a soul to live freely and unimpeded, to unfold such powers as were given her when we left our common home. If fewer talents were given her, yet if allowed the free and full employment of these, so

could speak and go alone, he addressed her not as a plaything, but as a living mind. Among the few verses he ever wrote was a copy addressed to this child, when the first locks were cut from her head; and the reverence expressed on this occasion for that cherished head, he never belied. It was to him the temple of immortal intellect. He respected his child, however, t

with others were established with equal security. She was fortunate in a total absence of those charms which might have drawn to her bewildering flatteries, and in a strong electric nature, which repelled those who did not belong to her, and attracted those who did. With men and women her relations we

d no man stood in her way. Many of her acts had been unusual, but excited no uproar. Few helped, but none checked her; and the many men who knew her mind and her life, showed to her confidence as to a bro

ed, of course. It is true that I have had less outward aid, in after years, than most women; but that is of little consequence. Religion was early awakened in my soul,-a sense that what the soul is capable to ask it must attain, and that, though I might

vain, and wishes to be more important

this disposition t

o overloaded with precepts by guardians, who think that nothing is so much to be dreaded for a woman as originality of thought or character, that their minds are impeded by dou

I do now. I saw so many of them wretched in the connections they had formed in

t discerning spirits, 'will not suffice for me, un

espair, wished to be women. On the contrary, they were eve

ot like the

en treated with great sincerity; and I look upon it as a signal instance of this, that an intimate friend of the other sex said, in a fervent moment, that I 'deserved in some star to be a man.' He was much surprised when I disclosed my view of my position and hopes, when I declared my faith that the feminine side, the side of love, of beauty, of hol

in speaking of a character in lit

ble passage o

y-star should n

nfluence, from

uld be courteou

solemn vice of

ftest virtue th

softer bos

rned and a

, that should

pindle, and the

d spin her own

nson, in using the word 'manly,' only meant to heighten the picture o

womanly no less than the most manly qualities, that I would exchange these words for others of a larger sense, at the risk of marring the fine tissue of the verse

f generosity toward Woman. Man is as gen

lingly, but with triumph. Their encomiums, indeed, are always, in some sense, mortifying; they show too much surprise. "Can this be you?" he cries t

not feel strong enough to retain a life-long ascendency over a strong nature. Only a Theseus could conquer before he wed the Amazonian queen. Hercules wish

affects him morally, prevents his intellectually discerning the destiny of Woman: The boy

ought about a wife was that she would "cook him something good." But as this is a delicate subject, and we are in constant danger of being accused of slighting what are called "the functions," let me say, in behalf of Miranda and myself, that we have high respect for those who "cook something good," who create and preserve fair order in houses, and prepare therein the shining rai

rarely done in the general life. Man has gone but little way; now he is waiting to see whether Woman can keep step with him; but, instead of calling but, like a good brother, "You can do it, if you only think so," or impersonally,

, the calm, deep enthusiasm, which yet could, when occasion called, sparkle up a holy, an indignant fire, make of this young maiden the figure I want for my frontispiece. Her portrait is to be seen in the bo

ne. They thought she could not have acted heroically unless in buskins; had no idea that such deeds only showed the habit of her mind. Others talked of the delicacy of her sex, advised her to withdraw from perils and dangers, and had no comprehension of the feelings

sort viewed her with a tender enthusiasm worthy of her. "Her name," said her biographe

was no room for a private love in her consecrated life. She inspired those who knew her with a simple energy of feeling l

und a biographer. Only a near friend could have performed for her this task, for the flower was reared in feminine seclusion, and the few and simple traits of

himself an elevated being. He cries, with sneering scepticism, "Give us a sign." But

gland, a Catharine of Russia, makes her place good, whether in a large or small circle. How has a little wit, a little genius, been celebrated in a Woman! What an intellectual triumph was that of the lonely Aspasia, and how heartily acknowledged! She, indeed, met a Pericles. But what annalist, the rudest of men, the most plebeian of husbands, will spare from his page one of the few anecdotes of Roman women-Sappho! Eloisa! The names are of threadbare celebrity. Indeed, they were not more suitably met in their own time than the Countess Colonel Plater on her first joining the army. They had much to mourn, and their great impulses did not find due scope. But with time enough, space enough, their kindred appear on the scene. Across the ages, forms lean, trying to touch the hem of their retreating robes. The youth here by my side cannot be weary of the fragments

hristianity, if you say it has made no improvement in her condition. Indeed, those most op

learned women, if not insufferably ugly and slovenly, from the Italian professor's daughter who taught behind the curtain, down to Mrs. Carter and Madame Dacier, a

re should be encouragement, and a free genial atmosphere for those of move timid sort, fair play for each in its own kind. Some are like the little, delicate flowers which love to hide i

hey have grown out of his own imperfections. If there is a misfortune in Woman's lot, it is in obstacles being interposed by men, which do not mark her state; and, if they express her pas

udest tar brushes off a tear with his coat-sleeve at the hallowed name. The other day, I met a decrepit old man of seventy, on a journey, who challenged the stage company to guess where he was going. They guessed aright, "To see your mother." "Yes," said he, "she is ninety-two,

ps had language!

ghly since I he

ay before sudden tears s

f not before, in the eyes of the mother of his child they again are seen, and dim fancies pass before his mind, that Woman may not have been born for him alone, but

dred points of H

ignis fatuus that shone. But, as a Rosicrucian lamp, it burns unwearied, though condemned to the solitude of tombs; and to its permanent life, as to every truth, each age has in s

Greece, Ceres and Proserpine, significantly termed "the great goddesses," were seen seated side by side. They needed not to rise for any worshipper or any change; they were prepared for all things, as those initiated to their mysteries knew. More obvious is the meaning of these three forms, the Diana, Minerva, and Vesta. Unlike in the expression of their beauty, but alike in this,-that each was self-sufficing. Other forms were only accessories and illustrat

the manners of Etruria, where the priestess Queen, warr

that is told us of Brutus and Portia. Shakspeare has seized on the relation in its native lineaments, harmonizing the particular with the universal; and, w

at gre

corporate an

yourself, yo

are heav

but in t

pleasure? If

tus' harlot,

nswer. Who would not have lent a life

true and hon

e as are the

t this sa

t tells the moral of his

ntry

joy, that, yet

an but he wa

derful that it

et Portia rest her plea for confidence on

am a woman;

lord Brutus

m a woman;

reputed-Cat

m no stronger

hered and so

suffering under that "insupportable and touchi

love enough to

humor which m

me for

Cassius, an

ver-earnest wi

mother chides, an

rited from the mother, the soul from the father. As in that noble passage of Ovid, already quoted,

rna Vulcanum p

m est, à me quod

eois, nullaque

nctum terrà co

tisque meum la

ore c

ne of gross m

ur; while that

mortal and it

dead, I'll raise

ers the righteo

t expresses the common Roman thought as to marriage,-the same which p

the suburbs of h

spect as in all others, was expressed in the characters of real life, and the women of Sparta were as much Spartans as the men. The "citoyen, citoyenne" of Fran

e men t

one, all

ver have

The sage, had he lived in that community, could not have thought the souls of "vain and foppish men will be degraded a

of the merely mannish mind, to speak thus of birds, chosen alwa

nge and dignity of thought on the subject in the mythologies, and find the poets producing such ideals as Cassandra, Iphigenia, Antigone, Macaria; where Sibyll

goddesses, arranged in pairs. The circle breathes the music of a heavenly order. Male and female heads are distinct in expression, but equal in beauty, strength and calmness. Each male head is that of a br

te that he could be drawn from heaven by one beneath him,-one made, he says, from but a small part of himself. But in the same nation, educated by time, instructed by a succession of prophets, we find Woman in as high a position as she has

ing the bloom of youth in separation and loneliness, for the sake of duties they thought it religion to assume, with innumerable forms of poesy, trace their lineage to this one. Nor, however imperfect may be the action, in our day, of the faith thus expressed, and though we can scarcely think it nearer this ideal than that of India or Greece was near their ideal, is it in vain

o Petrarch's Hymn to the Madonna, 5 cannot have spoken to the world

devotion, the betrothed of Heaven. Her upturned eyes have drawn down the light that casts a radiance round her. See only such a ballad as that of "Lady Teresa's Bridal," where the Infanta, given to the Moorish bridegroom, calls down the vengeance of Heaven on his unhallowed passion, and thinks it not too much to expiate

raves in stone, expressing the meaning of all the by-gone pilgrimage by hands folded in mutual prayer, yield not a nobler sense of the place and powers of Woman than belonged to the altvater day. The holy love of Christ which summoned t

he more justice. The idea of Woman in their literature is e

stances the theme

rough, in various and beautiful modes, both from sin and other dangers; and, when he died, a plant sprang

f "the dragon's fabled brood," to be their prey. She was left alone, but undismayed, for she knew in whom she trusted. So, when the dragons came rushing towards her, she

aches on the tide; it pauses at their foot. It brings, perhaps, some joyous message, fresh dew for their flowers, fresh light on the wave. No! it is the usual check on such great happiness. The father of the count departs for the crusade; will his son join him, or remain to rule their domain, and wed

gathered into the vintage, and he came not. Year after

ll, at last, his patron saint appeared in vision and announced his release, but

uch the strand to which she, with outstretched arms, has rushed. He dares not trust himself to land, but in low, heart-broken tones, tells her of Heaven's will; and that he, in obedience to his vow, is now on his way to a convent on

interview with the abbot, and devotes her Elysian isle, where vines had ripened their ruby fruit in vain for her, to the service of the monastery where her love was to serve.

t show a sufficiently high view of Woman, of Marriage? Th

a has given, in the picture of Panthea, a view of Woman which no German picture can surpass, whether lonely and quiet with veiled lids, the temple of a vestal loveliness, or with eyes flashing, and hair flowing to the free win

should perish than one ma

caught glimpses of the ideal Woman also. From the figure of a Cyrus the

ward to show that, though there has been great disparity betwixt the nations as between individuals in thei

erever Man is sufficiently raised above extreme poverty, or brutal stupidity, to care for the comforts of the fireside, or the bloom and ornament of life, Woman has always power enough, if she choose to exert it, and is usually disposed to do so, in proportion to her ignorance and childish vanity. Unacquainted with the importance of life and its purposes, trained to a selfish coquetry and love of petty power, she does not look beyond the pleasure of making herself felt at the moment, and governments are shaken and commerce broken up to gratify the pique of a female favorite. The English shopkeeper's wife does n

mands, made in their behalf, lay stress on any of these particulars, those who make them have not searched deeply into the need. The want is for that which at once includes these and precludes them; which would not be forbidden power, lest there be temptation to steal and misuse it; which would not have the mind pe

Were they free, were they wise fully to develop the strength and beauty of Woman; they would never wish to be men, or man-like. The well-instructed moon flies not from her o

en, wenn er di

n Menschen er

e man, but before the slav

o more! In perfect freedom, such as is painted in Olympus, in Swedenborg's angelic state, in the heaven where

mmlische

icht nach Ma

kielder, k

en verkla

uld not remain here, but was translated to another air. And it may be that the air of this earth will never be so tempere

temper than any has yet done, there are many tokens; indeed, so

th the wants of their time. One showed that this strength did not unfit a woman for the duties of a wife and a mother; the other, that it could enable her to live and die alone, a wide energetic life, a coura

dden greatness or of crime, but not of a steadfast wisdom, nor self-restraining virtue. The second reveals Woman half-emancipated and jealous of her freedom, such as she has figured before or since in many a combative attitude, mannish, not equally manly; strong and prudent more than great or wise; able to control vanity, and the wish to rule through coquetry and passion, but not to resign these dear deceits fro

with the means of coming hither. This land must pay back its debt to Woman, witho

in all the various difficulties of his career. She stood at his side, on the walls of the besieged palace, to plead with her enraged countrymen. By her name he was known in N

the presence of a woman on the throne always makes its mark. Life is lived before the eyes of men, by which their imaginations are stimulated as to the possibilities of Woman. "We will die for our king, Maria, Theresa," cry the wild warriors, clashing their swords; and the sounds vibrate throu

aria of Greece, the Britomart of Spenser. Ford and Massinger have, in this respect, soared to a higher flight of feeling than he. It was the holy and heroic Woman they most loved, and if they could not paint an Imogen, a Desdemona, a Rosalind, yet, in those of a

the Christian nations who were capable of grave and deep fee

love thee,

not hono

indow to see him, for the last time, on his way to the scaffold. He stood up in the cart

Hutchinson's, "on this side idolatry," because it was religious. The meet

rt wrote t

ur souls im

ves can make

the famous one of Calanthe, is made to present to the mind the most beautiful picture of what these r

e utmost ardor is coincident with the utmost purity. It

se, O then Heave

ks into deep melancholy when he finds his natural expectations disappointed. He has n

thy name

of my work. But, as a lover, surely Hamlet would not have so far mistaken, as to have finished with such a conviction. He wo

resists all the temptation of the Demon, and raises her lover, with her, above the sweet lures of mere temporal happiness. Their ma

spoke of his love, not as a flower to place in his bosom, or hold carelessly in his hand, but as a light toward which he must find wings to fly, or "a stair to heaven." He delighted to speak of her, not only as the bride of his heart, but the mother of his soul; for he saw that, in cases where the right direction had been taken, the gre

ual effulgence, not to be misinterpreted; and their thought is reverenced by the world, though it lies

th it, but looked only to the advantages it brought of perpetuating his family on the basis of a great fortune. He paid, in act, what he considered a dutiful attention to the bond; his thoughts travelled elsewhere; and while forming a high ideal of the companionship of minds in

n union where

if the scholar and poet, especially, could expect nothing but

tries, be given away by her father, with scarcely more respect for her feelings than is shown by the Indian chief, who sells his daughter for a horse, and beats her if she runs away from her new home. Nor, in societies where her choice is left free, would she be perverted, by the current of opinion that seizes her, into the belief that she must marry, if it be only to find a protector, and a home of her own. Neither would Man, if he thought the connection of permanent importance, form it so lightly. He would not deem it a trifle, that he was to enter into the closest relations with another soul, which, if not eternal in themselves, must eternally affect his growth. Neither, did he

overness, rather than that of parent. Her influence with them is sure; but she misses the education which should enlighten that influence, by being thus treated. It is the order of nature that children should complete the education, moral and mental, of parents, by making them think what is needed for the best culture

ity begins to diffuse itsel

relation is one of mutual esteem, mutual dependence. Their talk is of business; their affection shows itself by practical kindness. They know that life goes more smoothly and cheerfully to each for the

The parties weaken and narrow one another; they lock the gate against all the glories of the universe, that they may live in a cell together. To themselves they seem the only wise

ntellectual development of Woman has spread wider and risen higher, they have, not unfrequently, shared the same employment; as in the case of Roland and his wife, who were friends in the household and in the nation's councils, read, regulated

basis was esteem; probably neither party knew love, except by name. Roland was a good man, wo

, "Return with it or upon it;" and this, not because she loved little, but much. The page of her life is one of unsullied dignity. Her appeal to posterity is one against the injustice of those who committed such crimes in the name of Liberty. She makes it in behalf of herself and her husband. I would put beside it, on the shelf, a little volume, containing a similar appeal from the verdict of contemporaries to that of mankind, made by Godwin in behalf of his wife, the celebrated, the by most men detested, Mary Wolstonecraft. In his view, it was an appeal from the injustice of those who di

, at last, to light and air, but the world will not take off the brand it has set upon them. The champion of the Rights of Woman found, in Godwin, one who would plead that cause like a brother. He who delineated with such purity of traits the form of Woman in the Marguerite, of whom the weak St. Leon could never learn to be worthy,-a pearl indeed whose price was above rubies,-was not false in life to the faith by which he had hallowed his romance. He acted, as he wrote, like a brother. This form of appeal rarely fails to touch the basest man:-"Are you acting toward other women in the way you would have men act tow

bad institutions, indeed, it may always be replied, prevent individuals from forming good character, therefore we must remove them. Agreed; yet keep steadily the higher aim in view. Could you clear away all the bad forms of society, it

k in the heat of wild impulse; their lives must be unstained by passionate error; they must be severe lawgivers to themselves. They must be religious students of the divine purpose with regard to man, if they would not confound the fancies of a day with the requisitions of eternal good. Their liberty must be the liberty of law and knowledge. But as to the transgressions against custom which have caused such outcry against those of noble intention, it may be observ

which I have alluded some pages back, published five or six years ago in one of the English Reviews, where the writer, in doing fall justice to El

and freedom. Of a like promise are the tracts lately published by Goodwyn Barmby (the European Pariah, as he calls himself) and his wife Catharine. Whatever we may

ur comparatively free life, have not been obliged to run their heads against any wall. But the principles which guide them might, under petrified and oppressive institutions, have made them warlike, paradoxical, and, in some sense, Pariahs. The phenomena are different, t

oduced, which can buckler them against a million. They work together for a common, purpose, and, in all these instances, w

, now we find them man and wife. In his late work on Germany, Howitt mentions his wife, with pride, as one among the constellation of distinguished English-women, and in a graceful, simple manner. And still we contemplate with pleasure the partnership in literat

key-note govern both parts. Woman the poem, Man the poet! Woman the heart, Man the head! Such divisions are only important when they are never to be transcended. If nature is never bound down, nor the voice of inspiration stifled, t

the kitchen; but difference of occupation does not prevent that

, to him gives

dedicates h

l wisdom, has preserved a virgin mind, the author dedicates this 'Adelchi,' grieving that he could not,

eauty would have been the result; as we see, in pictures of Arcadia, the nymph singing to the shepherds, or the shepherd, with his pipe, alluring the nymphs; either makes a good picture. The sounding lyre requires not muscular st

now how to assist each other along the dusty way; intellectual communion, for how sad it would be on such a journey to have a companion to whom you could not communicate your thoughts and aspirations as they sprang

ndorf seems to have found in his

ole economy so wisely, richly and hospitably, when circumstances commanded? Who have taken indifferently the part of servant or mistress, without, on the one side, affecting an especial spirituality; on the other, being sullied by any worldly pride? Who, in a community where all ranks are eager to be on a level, would, from wise and real causes, have known how to maintain inward and outward distinctions? Who, without a murmur, have seen her husband encounter such dangers by land and sea?

had not reason, with this air of solemn rapture and conviction, to challenge comparison? We are

od and Man, ac

10 adds th

be led and directed by him as by a father. But it was not so with the count and his consort. She was not made to be a copy; she was an original; and, while

e) was the wife of a barbarous chief, who had six others; but she was his only true wife, because the only one of a strong and pure character, and, having this, inspired a veneration, as like as the mind of the man permitted to tha

ying P

en the really poor came in, it was like a strainer full of holes, letting all she held in it pass through. In the exercise of generous feeling she was uniform, It was not indebted for its exercise to whim, nor caprice, nor partiality. No matter of what nation the applicant for her bounty was, or whether at war or peace with he

Her conscience is represented to have been extremely tender. She often feared that her acts were displeas

as ideal and the eyes and lids as devout and modest as the Italian picture of the Madonna, while the lower part of the face has the simplicity and childish strength of the Indian r

er or no they accomplish all they hope for the sad Hindoo, or the nearer savage, we feel that in the burning waste their love is like to be a he

beautiful picture presented by ancient lite

on, the chivalrous Greek, presents his

st worthy of his acceptance. Cyrus visits the lady, and is filled with immediate admiration by the modesty and majesty with which she receives him. He finds her name i

itude to her magnanimous and delicate protector. And as she has nothing so precious to give as the aid of Ab

rting when she sends him forth to battle. I shall copy both. If they have been read by any of my readers, they may be so again with profit in this

she had made, unknown to her husband, and by taking the measure of his armor. He wondered when he saw them, and inquired thus of Panthea: 'And have you made me these arms, woman, by destroying your own ornaments?' 'No, by Jove!' said Panthea, 'not what is the most valuable of them; for it is you, if you appear to others to be what I think you, that will be my greatest ornament.' And, saying that, she put on him th

endship of mine and yours, that I certainly would rather choose to be put under ground jointly with you, approving yourself a brave man, than to live with you in disgrace and shame; so much do I think you and myself worthy of the noblest things. Then I think that we both lie under great obligations to Cyrus, that, when I was a captive, and chosen out for himself, he

on her head, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, made this prayer: 'Do thou, O greatest Jove! I grant

riot then moved, and she, unknown to him, followed, till Abradatus turning about, and seeing her, said: 'Take courage, Panthea! Fare you happily and well, and now go your ways.' On this her women and servants carried her

the

laced it in the carriage that she herself was conveyed in, and to have brought it hither to some place on the river Pactolus, and her servants are digging a grave on a certain elevation. They say that his wife, after setting him out with all the ornaments she has, is sitting on the ground with his head on her knees.' Cyrus, hearing this, gave himself a blow on the thigh, mounted his horse at a leap, and, taking with him a thousand hor

of the least concerned in these his sufferings, and, perhaps, you were not less so; for I, fool that I was! frequently exhorted him to behave in such a manner as to appear a friend to you, worthy of notice; and I know he never thought of what he himself should suffer, but of what he should do to please you. He is dead, therefore,' said she, 'without reproach, and I, who urged him on, sit here alive.' Cyrus, shedding tears for some time in silence, then spoke:-'He has died, woman, the noblest death; for he has died victorious! Do you adorn him with these things that I furnish you with.' (Gobryas and Gadatas were then come up, and had brought rich ornaments in great abundanc

shall have lamented my husband as I please.' Her nurse she bid to stay, and gave orders that, when she was dead, she would wrap her and her husband up in one mantle together. The nurse, after having repeatedly begged her not to do this, and meeting with no success, but ob

what had been done, drew their swords and killed themselves, as they stood at the place where she bad ordered them. And the monument is now said to hav

was struck with admiration of the woman, and, having lamented over her, went away. He took care, as was proper, that all t

eath "would see one another never more." Thousands of years have passed since, and with the reception of the Cross, the nations assume the belief that those who part t

ssages from Xenophon, for he i

the Armenians who

of your wife?' Now Tigranes happened to be but lately married, and ha

would ransom her at th

own to yourself

ess of his person, and, on that, Tigranes asked his wife, 'And do you, Armenian dame, think Cyrus handsome?' 'Truly,' said she, 'I did not look at him

he Ban

the opinion I have had, for a long time, that the female sex are nothing inferior to

eman; gentle in breeding and in soul. All the men he describes are so, while the shades of manner are distinctly marked. There is the serene dignity of Socrates, w

on. Such would know how to give counsel, for they would know how to receive it. They would feel that the most intimate relations claimed most, not least,

she is expected to face calamity with courage, she must be instructed and trusted in prosperity, or, if they had failed in wise confidenc

, of coloring evidence and infusing feelings in hours when the-patient, shall I call him?-is off his guard. Those who understand the wife's mind, and think it worth while to respect her springs of action, know be

to the thread

antly increasing. Women have taken possession of so many provinces for which men had pronounced them unfit, that,

erville has achieved so much, will any young girl be prevented from seeking a knowledge of the physical sciences, if she wishes it? De Stael's name was not so clear of offence; she could not forget the Woman in the thought; while she was instructing you as a mind, she wished to be admired as a Woman; sentimental tears often dimmed the eagle glance.

n taught themselves at college, while methods and topics need revision for these new subjects, which could better be made by those who had experienced the same wants. Women are, often, at the head of these institutions; but they have, as yet, seldom been thinking women, capable of organizing a new whole for the wants of the time, and choosing persons to officiate in the departments. And when some portion of instruction of a good sort is got from the school, the far greater proportion which is infus

g,-whether they will carve marble, as well as draw and paint,-is not important. But that it should be acknowledged that they have

en established. Earth knows no fairer, holier relation than that of a mother. It is one which, rightly understood, must both promote and require the highest attainments. But a being of infinite scope must not be treated with an exclusive view to any one relation. Give the soul free course, let the organization, both of body and mind, be fr

and fulness of being, we must hail as a preliminary the in

e failed, and their imperfections have been in every one's way. They have been more partial, more harsh, more officious and impertinent, than those compelled by severer friction to render themselves endurable. Those who have a more full experience

these despised auxiliaries; and detachments from the army of aunts and uncles are wanted to stop gaps in every hed

te to the character of the Aunt and the Uncle, recognizing in these personages the spiritua

ntly linked with others, are thrown upon themselves; and, if they do not there find peace a

e one. Such a use is made of it by saints and sibyls. Or she may be one of the lay sisters of charity, a canoness, bound by an inward vow,-or the useful drudg

centre, and she may, by steadfast contemplation entering into the secret of truth and love, use it for the good of all men, instead of

ed by the pressure of near ties, they would give themselves up to the inspiring spirit,

e good results. It has been seen by others, if not by themselves, that beings, likely to be left alone, need to be fortified and furnished within themselves; and education and thought have tended more and more to regard these beings as related to absolute Being, as well as to

s young. Under its influence, a gem brightens yearly which is only seen to more advantage through the fissures Time makes in the casket. 11 No one thinks of Michael Angelo's Persican Sibyl, or St. The

lovely girl, in the coarse, full-blown dahlia flower of what is commonly matron-beauty, "fat, fair, and forty," showily dressed, and with manners as broad and full as her frill or satin cloak. People observe, "How well she is preserved!" "She is a fine woman still," they say. This wom

beam of a tender enthusiasm. This woman is not so ornamental to a tea-party; yet she would please better, in picture. Yet surely she, no more than the other

d her country; the sacrifice she had made pure for herself and those around her. Wandering alone at night in the vestal solitude of her imprisoning grove, she

to the must. But her eye, that torch of the soul, is untamed, and, in the intensity of her reading, we see a soul invincibly young in faith and hope. Her age is her charm, for

had been, not merely a bride, but a wife, and each hour had helped to plume the noble bird. A cor

f course looks with no kind eye on celibacy in Woman, it was excused in the following instance mentioned by Mrs. Jameson. A woman dreamt in youth that she was betrothed to the Sun. She built

rothed to the Sun, would be tolerated, and the rays which made

improvement here must coincide with that in the view taken of marriage. "We must

sure of a band of disciples; Ecstatica, Dolorosa, of enraptured believers who will visit them in their lowly huts, and wait for days to revere them in their trances. The foreign noble traverses land and sea to hear

de of universal growth. Whenever a mystical whisper was heard, from Behmen down to St. Simon, sprang up the thought, that, if it be true, as the legend says, that Humanity withers through a fault committed by and a curse

then again Plato, the man of intellect, treats Woman in the Republic as property, and, in the Tim?us, says that Man, if he misuse the privileges of one life, shall be degraded into the form of Woman; and then, if ho do not redeem himself, into that of a bird. This, as I said above, expresses most happily how antipoetical is this state of

y saying that her intuitions are more rapid and more correct. You will often see men of high intellect absolutely stupid in regard to the atmospheric changes, the fine invisible links which co

them, and their quick impulses seem folly to those who do not discern the motives. This is an usual effect of the apparition of genius, whether in Man

be enslaved by an impassioned sensibility. The world rep

room, I am what the French call herissé," said a man of petty feelings and worldly character of su

rs. He will detest her with all the bitterness of wounded self-love. He will take the whole prejudice of

g, though too French, analysis of the character of Mademoiselle Rachel, by a modern, La Rochefeucault. The Greeks thus represent the muses; they have not the golden serenity of Apollo; they are ove

umptuous carelessness, belong the phenomena of magnetism, or mesmerism, as it is now often called, where the trance of the Ecs

ligion. "The churches can always be filled with women"-"Show

ntellect was developed in proportion to the other powers. They would then have a regulator, and be more in

d develop the nature on more sides. When the intellect and affections are in harmony; when

she who

rous, lyri

song of the

n to th

a mad-woman, nor shr

mbodied all this in the form of Cassandra. Cassandra was only unfortunate in receiving her gift too soon.

a. Hecuba shows that mixture of shame and reverence that prosaic kindred alw

istress of Agamemnon, Hecuba answers, with indignation, betray

f Phoebus, to whom

rivilege a

ierced him. Hec. Then cast away, my chi

garlands which

pears, singing, wildly, her inspired so

is in her tragic rapt

ly at thy house's

haply, thou wil

e vulgar mind of the herald Talthybius, a man not without feeling, but with no princ

able, and that

tter than tha

est king of a

Atreus, a posses

Woman. I, in

ot receive he

e beauty of Cassandra; he was no

Seeress of Prevorst, the best observed subject of magnetism in our present times, and who, l

ate in not understanding what was involved in this relation, but acted ignorantly, as their friends desired. They thought that this was the inevitable destiny of Woman. But when engaged in the false position, it was impossibl

observation. Fenelon learns from Guyon, Kerner from his Seeress, what we fain would know. But to appreciate such disclosures one must be a child;

eadier to let Woman learn and manifest the capacities of her nature than it ever was before, and here is a less

s to outward reigns, it is not without significance that the name of the queen of our motherland should at this

that she sprained her foot the other day, dancing in her private apartments; of Victoria, that she reads aloud, in a distinct voice and agreeable manner, her addresses to Parliament on certain solemn days, and, yearly, that she presents to the nation

ot as she walks, and priding himself on its beauty. It is so natural to wish to find what is fair and p

ual changes, incident to our society, make the blood circulate freely through the body politic, and, if not favorable at present to the grace and bloom of life, they are so to activity, resource, and would be to reflection, but for a low materi

reason why they should not discover that the secrets of nature are open, the revelations of the spirit waiting, for whoever will seek them. When th

ore favorable to medita

or the companion of some good man.' But in many, many instances, she has already learned that all bribes have the same flaw; that tru

ng girls on the great theme: What sha

quent admission, not only to lectures of all sorts, but to courts of justice, halls of legislature, reform conventions. The newspaper editor "would be better pleased that the Lady's Bo

saw actualized in his friend and patroness, the Grand Duchess Amelia: "The excellent woman is she, wh

is, if they speak for conscience' sake, to serve a cause which they hold sacred,-invariably subdue the prejudices of

so happily illustrates this,

in the Town

at in the desk amid the great noise, and in the throng, full, like a wave, of something to ensue, I saw her humanity in a gentleness and unpretension, tenderly open to the sphere around her, and, had she not been supported by the power o

a want of actualness. She is as earnest, fresh and simple, as when she first entered the crusade. I think she did much good, more than the men in her place could do, for Woman feels mor

ore this time, any written observations on

religious. He regarded them as souls, each of which had a destiny of its own, incalculable to other minds, and whose leading it must follow, guided by the light of a private conscience. He had sentiment, delicacy, kindness, taste; but they were all pervaded and ruled by this one thought, that all beings had souls, and must vindicate th

d, is, by many, especially cherished f

, because, if they express themselves on such subjects with sufficient force and clearness to do any good, they are exposed to assaults whose vulgarity makes them painful. In intercourse with such a woman, he had shared her indignation at the base injustice, in many respects, and in many regions, done to the sex; and been led to think of it far more than ever before. He seemed to think that he

that the inevitable means of this would be an increased predominance given to the idea of Woman. Had he lived longer, to see the growth of the Peace Party, the reforms in life and medi

e first pulse-beats in the present reform-growth. He, too, abhorred blood and heat, and, by his system and his song, tended to reinstate a plant-like gent

to favor measures which promise to bring the world more thoroughly and deeply into harmony with her nature. When the lamb takes place of the lion

he soul, and not from society, and the depth and leading of his thoughts are proportionably remarkable. He views the feminine nature as a harmonizer of the veheme

indicate, as to her superior susceptibility to magnetic or el

s Muse and Minerva. It is the former to which the writer in the Pathfi

a plac

r should forfeit

She excels not so easily in classification, or recreation, as in an instinctive seizure of causes, and a simple b

t in so far as it is modified in her as Woman, it flows, it breathes, it sings, rather than deposits soil, or finishes work; and that which is especially feminine flushes, in blossom, the face of earth, and pervades, like air and water, all this seeming solid globe,

act, they are perpetually passing into one another. Fluid hardens to solid, sol

. She sends women to battle, and sets Hercules spinning; she enables women to bear immense burdens, cold, and frost; she enables the man, who feels maternal love, to nourish his infant like a mother. Of late she plays still gay

ne in the Apollo, Woman of

enabled the daughter of Linn?us to see the soul of the flower exhaling from the flower. 12 It gave a man, but a poet-man, the power of which he thus speaks: "Often in my contemplation of nature, radiant intimations, and as it were sheaves of light, appear before me as to the facts of cosmogony, in which my mind has, perhaps, taken especial part." He wisely adds, "but it is necessary with earnestness to verify the knowledge we gain by these flashes of light." And none should forget thi

nergy, one incessant revelation. Let it take what form it will, and let us not bind it by the

from society no less than the soul,-let it be pardoned! It is love that has caused this,-love for many incarcerated souls, that might be

comprises, within himself, the other twelve powers, which stand thus: The first triad is demiurgic or fabricative, that is, Jupiter, Neptune, Vulcan; the second, defensive, Vesta, Minerva, Mars; the third, viv

inally, subjugated its brute elements and Titanic childhood; criticism will have perished; arbitrary limits and

Vulcan forges on the anvil, and the Mus

given to Minerva. The power of continence must establish the legit

only to the soul which is poised upon itself, and to whom no loss, no ch

d of the traditionary or instinctive means of passing a cheerful existence, must find help in self-impulse, or perish. It is therefore that, while any elevation, in the view of union, is to be hailed with joy, we shall not decline celibacy as the great fact of the time. It is one from which no vow, no arrangement, can at present s

dian girl, dedicate herself to the Sun, the Sun of Truth, and go nowhere if his beams did not make clear the path. I would have her free from compromise, from

the slavery of habit. I have seen with delight their poetic impulses. A sister is th

you feel as if the man would aid in the noblest purpose, if you ask him in behalf of his little daughter. Once, two fine figures stood before me, thus. The father of very intellectual aspect, his falcon eye softened by affection

. If she knows too much, she will never fin

ish Maria to be as good and wise as she can,

have a sphere and a home, and some

mind. If this man, indeed, could have looked at it on the other side, he was the last that would have been willing to have been taken

ir peculiar secret. Then, when they come forth again, renovated and baptized, they will know how to turn all dross to gold, and will be rich and free though they live in a hut, tranquil

the press of other minds, and meditate in virgin loneliness. The same idea sha

embles the change from girlhood, with its beautiful instincts, but unharmonized thoughts, its blind pupila

for width of culture, power of self-concentration and dignity of aim, take rank as th

es the New Church that is to prepare the way for the New Jerusalem, a city built of preciou

links that bind together the realms of nature, the mysteries that accompany her births and growths, were unusually plain to him.

dless-fancies that show the marks of old habits, and a nature as yet not thoroughly leavened with the spiritual leaven. At least, so it seems to me now. I speak reverently, for

her progress. His idea of marriage is consequently sufficient. Man and Woman

its ranks, the needs of Wo

arrow, and its influence, having established a certain amount of good and made clear some truth, must, by degrees, be merged in one of wider

ear, was, in some respects, superficial. He was a stranger to the highest experiences. His eye was fixed on the outward more than the inward needs of Man. Yet he, too, was a seer of the divine order, in its musical expression, if not in its poetic soul. He has filled one departmen

wishes to give to one as to the other that independence wh

to give her the needed means of self-help, that she might dignify and unfold her life for her own happiness, and that of society. The many, now, who see their daug

results of solitary thought. Fourier, whose nature was, above all, constructive, looked to them too exclusively. Better institutions, he thought, will

o the men! All follies are excusable

ns! There is no excuse for ignorance and fol

prison-walls and impure air, that make

generations," by arrangement of groups and series, or flourish of trumpets for

stion of Goethe. Both are educating the age to a clearer conscious

n his youth, over whose sickly solitude "the Holy Ghost brooded as a dove;" his sister, the intellectual woman par excellence; the Duchess Amelia; Lili, who combined the character of the woman of the world with the lyrical sweetness of the shepherdess, on whose chaste and noble breast flow

gnorant in mind, is misled and profaned by man abusing her confidence.14 To the Mater Dolorosa she appeals for aid. It is given to the soul, if not against out

, owes to the interposition of her whom he had betrayed his salvation. She

her now, pure, thoughtful, refin

whom a man will wish, even if he has chosen his wife from very mean motives. She is

s contain the sum of the Sage's observations during a long life, as to what Man should do, under present circums

d expresses ascent in the scale of being. At first, he finds charm in Mariana and Philina, very common forms of feminine character, not without redeeming traits, no less than charms, but without wisdom or purity. Soon he is attended by Mignon, the finest expression ever yet given to what I have called the lyrical element in Woman. She is a child, but too full-gr

n Natalia (instructed, let us observe, by an uncle); practical judgment a

gence embodied in feminine form, and the centre of a world whose members revolve harmoniously around her. She

led so far, seen and suffered so much, in vain, He now begins to study how he may aid the next generation; he sees objects in harmonious

of any powers with which they may be gifted by nature as much for them as for men. They are units, addressed as souls. Accordingly, t

r this name. Macaria, the daughter of Hercules, who offered herself as a victim for the good of her country, was canonized by the Greeks, and worshipped as the Goddess of true Felicity. Goethe has embodied t

cal nature. And wherever it appears we e

e seem un

he white r

*

ved without

sharp pai

gain fore

unrelated. They all are very individual, yet seem nowhere restraine

have chosen a path, but their thoughts are not narrowed to it

rs have fair play, and each is beautiful in its minute indications, for nothing is enforced

r them to do so, while Macaria is confined to her arm-chair behind the gr

ust as "there is room for everything out of doors." Yet all is rounded in by natural ha

king," and new revelations. New individualities shall be developed in the actual w

human nature. But, for our present purpose, it is sufficient to show how surely these different paths have conducted to the same end two earnest thinkers. In s

r a better care of the sex, and have thrown out hin

to recommending domestic life. But the methods she recommends are such as will fit a character for any position to which it may be called. She taught a contempt of falsehood, no less in its most graceful, than in its meanest apparitions; the cultivation of a clear, independent judgment, and adherence to its dictates; habits of various and liberal study and empl

courage when she finds it necessary. She does not appear to have thought out, thoroughly, the subject on which we are engaged, and her opinions, expressed as opinions, are

encounter; but on which she neither can nor will restrain the indignation of a full heart. I refer to the degradation of a large portion of women into the sold and polluted slaves of men, a

forts and commercial advantages of his London, Vienna, Paris, New York, by conniving at the moral death, the

of perception destroyed in your mental and bodily organization; God and love shut out from your hearts by the foul visitants you have permitted there; incapable of pure marriage; incapable of pure parentage; incapable of worship; O wretched men, your sin is its own punishment! You have lost the world in losing yourselves. Who ruins another has admitted the worm to the root of his

a few words may not be addressed in

ndmaidens. The chastity and equality of genuine marriage, with "the thousand decencies that flow" from

hid in vile lurking-places and dens, like the banquets of beasts of prey. Those women were not lost, not polluted in their own ey

d work; those women were but servants, still they enjoyed the respect of others and their own. They lived together, in peac

not speak of the Pagan nations, but come to those which own the Christia

of the "down-trodden million." We know that, down to our own time, a principle never had so fair a cha

passions,-that honorable employments and temperate habits would not keep him free from slavery to the body? O no! Love was to them a part of heaven, and they could not even wish to receive its happiness, unless assured of bein

ho, if not so fair, art yet of that unpolluted nature which Milton saw when he dreamed of Comus and the Paradise. Thou, child of an unprofaned wedlock, brought up amid the teachings of the woods and fields, kept fancy-free by useful employment and a free flight into the heaven of thought, loving to please only those whom thou wouldst not be ashamed to love; I ask of thee, whose cheek has not forgotten its blush nor thy heart its lark-like hopes, if he whom thou mayest hope the Father will send

, many times seen the image of a future life, of a des

t some time in their lives; they had a great many temptations.' Frederick would be so happy at home; he would not want to do wrong." She turned to the married women; they, O tenfold horror! laughed at her supposing "men were like women." Sometimes, I say, she was not true, and either sadly accommodated herself to "Woman's lot," or acquired a taste for satyr-society, like some of the Nymphs, and all the Bacchanals of old. But to those who could not and would not accept a mess of pottage, or a Circe cup, in lieu of their birthright, and to these others who hav

too strong for the will of man, if he invokes the aid of the Spirit instead of seeking extenuation from the brute alliances of his nature. In short, what the child fancies is really true, though almost th

emple

n the pleas

ir col

marble pi

sustain

d tempe

which, the l

y as it

udien

ree

re

r worshi

uide o

rving

inmos

he image

y s

se deeds hav

tlike

ho initi

cl

he h

rying hopes

nges i

nges i

ng, beami

storia

the pure

pe of pr

e is

th see

d com

surp

eaches na

re our anc

ses from t

flows

t below, clear ga

he way through life, a

ast aside the

s silve

pure as

as worthy weed as

convenance. This was scarcely an improvement An attempt was then made to substitute genuine marriage (the mutual choice

sty of sensuality; in the country of Lady Russell, the custom of English peeresses, of selling their daughters to the highest bidder, is made the theme and jest of fashionable novels by unthinking children who would stare at the idea of sending them

he novels which purport to give the picture of English fashionable life, which are read with such favor in our drawing-rooms, and give the tone to the manners of

bathing and exercise will not suffice to keep a life pure, without an inward baptism, and noble, exhilarating employment for the thoughts and the passions. Early marriages are desirable, but if (and the world is now so out of joint that there are a hundred thousand chances to one against it) a man does not earl

my business to address myself on this subject,

ls from the ta

re may be seen by other women, or for the pleasure of rousi

not be held guiltless, either as to the unhappiness or injury of the lover. Pure love, inspired by a worthy object, must ennoble and bless, whether mutual or not; but that which is excited by coquettish at

p the

e, and it will

person of a special object or not, will have power to save you from foll

nd gave our country such a sunlight of hope in the eyes of the nations, the same who lately, in Boston, offered anew to the young men

of Mr.

ress of Miss Foster, as to be for some time

rust that all the ladies present will be able sufficiently to enter into my feelings

ld, as a person having personal responsibilities, with the Declaration of Independence, which constituted us a nation. I was a child at that time, and had then perhaps the greatest of blessings that can be bestowed on man-a mother who was anxious and capable to form her children to be what they ought to be. From that mother I derived wha

love and revere the female sex. And in order to carry that sentiment of love and reverence to its highest degree of perfection, I know of nothi

usual, in the intercourse of Man with the other sex-and especially for young men-to think that the way to win the hearts of ladies is by flattery. To love and to revere the sex, is what I think the duty of Man; but not to flatter them; and this I would say to the young ladies here-and if

ion of me has affected me, as you perceive, more than I can express in words; and that I shall offer my best prayers, till my latest hour, to the Creator of us

Adams' mother, as drawn by her husband, the first John A

e herself; for, at that time, I thought it extremely probable, from the daring and dangerous career I was determined to run, that she would one day find herself in the situation of Lady Russell, her husband without a head. This lady was more beautiful than Lady Russell, had a brighter genius, more information, a more refined taste, and, at least, her equal in the virtues of the heart; equal forti

r of her mind on transitory sentiments, ever be loved with a love like that, w

handed warrior for her, not hi

, to him gives

s relation, in the two epithets by whi

urse of every

od and man, ac

t of stron

God and man,

ne; what dignity, what reverence in t

essed, She is not immortal so far as her will is concerned, and every woman who does so creates miasma, whose spread is indefinite.

tyle of devotion, almost an open sneer, which it pleased those ladies to receive from men whose expression marked their own low position in the moral and intellectual world. Those women went to their pillows with their heads full of folly, their hearts of jealousy, or gratified vanity; those men, with the low opinion they

e shut up in a prison. The causes were not difficult to trace: love of dress, love of flattery, love of excitement. They had not dresses like the other ladies, so they stole them; they could not pay for fl

at the fashionable house be not answer

ter life, nearer truth and good. This was no merit in them, being an effect of circumstance, but it was hopeful. But you, my friends (and some of you I have already met), consecrate yourselves without waiting for rep

d way. If it do not suit you to act with those who have organized measures of reform, then hold not yourself excused from acting in private. Se

seek oblivion again in their old excitements,-you will at least leave a sense of love and justice in their hearts, that will prevent their becoming utterly embittered and corrupt. And you may learn the means of prevention for those yet uninjured. The

lculably more general), through mere vanity and folly; there still remain many, the prey and spoil of the brute

s a still more general and worse in the male. Where so many are weak, it is natural there should be many lost; where legislators admit that ten thousand prostitutes are

arguments the counsel against the prisoner had the assurance to use in their true light to the public. She put the case on the only ground of religion and equity. She was successful in arresting the attention of many who had before shrugged their shoulders, and let sin pass as

ns of the old regime. Still, falsehood may be permitted for the sake of advancing truth, evil as the way to good. Even George Sand, who would trample on every graceful decorum, and every human law, for the sake of a sincere life, does not see that s

od on good al

ry triumph th

tte, from the distortion given to Matilda's mind, by the present views of marriage, and from the truly noble and immortal character of the "hump-backed Sempstress" in the "Wandering Jew," may be gathered much that shall elucidate d

an of Sue is as pure as

"must frown upon vice; you must decline the attentions of the corrupt; you must not submit to the will of your husband wh

with regions which women are forbidden to explore, and the curiosity that ensues, than a corrupt heart in the woman. As to marriage, it has been inculcated on women, for centuries, that men have not only stronger passions than they, but of a sort that it would be shameful for them to share or even understand; that, there

e all alike;" the unmarried are assured by the married that, "if they knew men as they do," tha

r. Let Sir Charles Grandison preach to his own sex; or if none there be who feels himself able to speak with authority from a life unspotted in will or deed, let

iter, on female affairs, expresses a pr

celibacy, may explain such a resolution. If, however, she were to endeavor to surmount a personal repugnance, we should look upon this as injudicious. Such a rebellion of nature marks the limit that the influence of parents, or the self-sacrifice of

marriage "by advice of friends," was treated by an eminent physician as sufficient pro

ouraged to vice by impunity, and corrupting the atmosphere of homes,-that there should be a senate of the matrons in each ci

ficient that I do not think him unfit to visit you." And so, this man, who would not tolerate these pages in his house, "unfit for family reading," because they speak plainly, introduces there a man whose shame is written on his brow, as well as the open secret of the whole town, and, presently, if respectable still, and rich enough, gives him his daughter to wife. The mother affects ignorance, "s

care that they be not accompanied with too much pain. In other respects, also, spare her delicacy. Let all the antecedent parts of your life, if there are such, which would give her pain, be concealed from her; her happiness and her respect for you would suffer from this misplaced confidence. Allow her to retain that

n a virtue which aimed at a fitness for a divine life, and involved, if not asceticism, that degree of power over the lower self, which shall "not exterminate the passions, but keep them chained

will be fit for the senate, and one such senate in op

, In place of an oath, they should have a religious faith in the capacity of Man for virtue; instead of a badge, should wear in the heart a firm resolve not to stop short of the

ld not be by their connivance at its stay,

orship by seeking to emulate them. They would not denounce the willingly bad, but th

on from the time-serving,

es that were not innocent

the title now given these children by the world: Los Exaltados, Las Exaltadas; but the world woul

thoughtful; both capable of deep affection; both of strong nature and sweet feelings; both capable of large mental development. They reside in different regions of earth, but their

not easily formed under the present influences of society. As there are more

man who despises him when he has only the brilliant mask of fortune and beauty to cover the poverty of his heart and brain, but kn

tada, be example and instruction for the rest. It was not the opinion of Wom

s through Woman Man was lost, so through Woman must Man be redeemed, the time must be at hand

med of under the circumstances advised in the last quotation. Where love is based on co

how worthless every plan

and her apples of pure gold. He lured her out, by promising to show, on a marvellous tree he had discovered, apples beautiful as her own, if she would on

more. At last, however, the gods, discovering the treachery of Loke, obliged him to win back Iduna from the prison in which she sat mourning. He changed himself into a falcon, and brought her back as a swallow, fiercely pursued by the Giant King, in the

Iduna takes, as she moves along the declivity of centuries to th

re,", Woman's "Mission," and Woman's "Destiny," I believe that almost all that is extant of formal precept has come under my eye. Among these I read with refreshment a little one called "The Whole Duty of Woman," "indited by a noble lady at t

e Necker de Saussure, of Geneva, translated from the French." This book was published at Philadelphia, and has been read wi

que si elle sert a' l'educ

o, and, therefore, the qualifications she makes, in the instructions given to her own se

ling and good suggestions; but, taken in t

to aid her, we must anxiously avoid anything that can be misconstrued into expression o

ble. But we must sedulously avoid encroaching on the territory of Man. If we study natural history, our observations may be made useful, by some male naturalist; if we draw well,

cannot exist on earth. She must stifle such aspirations within her secret heart,

e, he will be capable of the refined service of love. The man is not born for the woman, only the woman for the man. "Men cannot

in such heart-breaking tones that her mother did not kill her the hour she was born,-"her mother, who knew what this life of a woman must be;"-

ences feelings a little different, according as t

st of all these fine titles with this being, so humble, soon strikes her. At the aspect of this frail treasure, opposite feelings agitate her heart; she seems to recognise in him a nature superior to her own, but subjected to a low condition, and she honors a fu

A deep sympathy-a sentiment of identity with this delicate being-takes possession of her; an extreme pity for so much weakness, a more pressing need of prayer, stirs her heart. Whatever sorrows she may have felt, she dreads f

of a daughter I have heard mo

rit of races allied to our own. "If he is to be my bridegroom and lord" cries Brunhilda, 23 "he must first be able to pass through fire

l power, in refined sense of beauty. You who give yourselves "to be supported," or because "one must l

ned, as a bitter censure on a woman who had influence over those

l that h

They will find none, and so

e speakers, on this occasion, were persons too outwardly refined to use it. They were asham

them in two heaps, and then summon the reader to choose; giving him first a near-sighted glass to examine the two;-it might be a Christian,

rolonged analysis. I have giv

ssage, on the phenomena of what I have spoken o

ts used a language unknown to themselves, and, the performance once over, their inspiration was a forgotten dream. Without doubt there is an interior dev

se to genius; but, apparently, without a thought that these rare powers belonged to no other planet, but were a high development of the growth of this, and might, by wise and rever

le writer, whom I have selected as the clearest, wisest, and kindliest,

sets limits nowhere, and her objects and inducements are pure. They are the free and careful cultivation of the powers that have been

absorb or weaken, but rather will refine and invigorate, the affections,-the teachings of her practical good sense come with great force, and cannot fail to avail much. Every way her writings please me b

h in the indispensable form of cleanliness, and of that love of ord

e life. We are now to have, as a remedy for ills, not orvietan, or opium, or any quack medicine, but

ut to be re?nstated, and the body to claim care as the abode and organ of the

d never been wholly lost, "for," said she, "I would always have good under-clothes;" and,

but to her one of the most favorable signs of the times

ece. Miss Sedgwick, in teaching that domestics must have the means of bathing us much as their

p of life which, if it had been fed only by the affections, depended on precarious human relations, would scarce have been able to maintain a

houghts available. A few more such, and "old woman" 24 shall not be the synonyme for imbeci

e, but his eye shines clearer than ever, and we feel that age brings him maturity, not decay. So would it be with all, were the springs of immortal refreshment but uns

ear. Just now, at high and solemn mass, thanks were returned to the Virgin for having delivered O'Connell from unjust imprisonment, in requital of his having consecrated to her the league formed in behalf of Liberty on Tara's Hill. But last week brought news which threatens

o all our designs,-the thought that the progress of history had brought on the era, the tissue of prophecies pointed out the spot, where humanity was, at last, to have a fair chance to kn

Mrs. Hutchinson, Lady Russell, and the mothers of our own revolution,-have you nothing to do with this? You see the men, how they are willing to sell shamelessly the happiness of countless generations of fellow-creatures, the honor of their count

y mean to offer you through those means. Tell them that the heart of Woman demands nobleness and honor in Man,

reason why the foes of African Slavery seek more freedom for wo

s around the men. If you will but think, you cannot fail to wish to save the country from thi

the voice in public, and lifted the latch of the stranger. But were these acts, whether performed ju

an, who left her accustomed haunts and took service in a New York boarding-house, said "she had never heard talk so vile at the Five Points, as from the ladies at the bo

, coupled with idle blame, as to have upon your soul the weight of not tryin

might be done by women, if they would only consider the subject, and enter upon it in the true spirit,-a spiri

not in fulness, the stream which is eve

llustrate it in various ways, and may have been guilty of much repetition. Yet, as I am anxious to leave no room for

above him. The earth is his school, if not his birth-place; God his objec

f any one man. Its entire accomplishment is to be hoped only

ion to a part, or to the meanest member, affects the whole. Man

orget that his life is partly animal,

ou consider him still more as soul, and ap

is two-fold, mascu

ethods can be disting

and H

and

ect an

we have not language primitive and pure e

but only in preponderance. There are also exceptions in great number, such as men of far more beauty than power, and the reverse. But, as a general ru

e in perfect harmony, they would correspond to and fulfil o

e another only now and then; or, if there be a persistent consonance, it can

the caus

veloped first; as energy comes be

care as an elder. He might hav

nd then reaction in an undulated course, he misunderstood and abused his

d Woman more as a servant than a daughter,

equal natures, and, more and more, men seeme

st grew frightened and indignant. They laid the bla

ne the fewer Ishm

incts of Woman's breast. For, as too much adversity is better for the moral nature than too much prosperity

d more justice, and gr

alf himself; that her interests were identical with his; and that, by the law of their common

under a clearer recognition of truth and justice, which would have permitted the sexes

e, the natural influences w

d expressed it in worthy forms, for these men especially share and need the femi

of sect and dogma) had its course, the original design was apprehend

entirely without a witness of the equali

t the less power for their want of light and noble freedom. But it was power which hurt alike them and th

are possible-when Man and Woman may regard one another, as brothe

is hope would receive an ampler fruit

carry out the principles from

ent, women are the best

them act; till they

re. But I believe it needs that Woman show herself in her native dignity,

packs from the squaws and carry them. But we do not read that the red men followed his example, though

sty of Ceres, and rudest churls w

of liberty, when she has so lo

that is preparing for the needed instruction. The men learned visibly as they spoke. The champions of Woman saw the fallacy of arguments on the opposite side, and were startled by their own co

enhanced from generation to generation, which many years of other life could not efface, but a native love, in Woman as Woman, of proportion, of "the simple art of not too much,"-a Greek moderati

ce, and teach the rest to regulate t

, if you will. I do not doubt there are women well fitted for such an office, and, if so, I should be as glad to see

. A party of travellers lately visited a lonely hut on a mountain. There they found an old woman, who told them she and her husb

tent to act, without knowing why, upon "t

. Where these tastes are indulged, cheerfulness and good-humor are promoted. Where they are

, except where they make to themselves a serene little world by art of some kind. He, therefore, in proposing a great variety of employments, in manufa

before restless or fretful, by engaging in gardening, building, or the lowest department of ar

others will delight to make the nest soft and warm. Nature would take care of that; no need to clip the wings of any bird that wants to soar and sing, or finds in itse

orms of self-reliance and self-impulse, because I belie

ne another, but because in Woman this fact has led to an excessive devotion, which has cooled lov

nk to idolatry. Then she will not take what is not fit for her from a sense of weakness and poverty. The

l not be less Woman, for natu

woman, only an

able of such relations as are depicted by Landor in his Pericles and Aspasia, where grace is the natural

gods

not the tumul

not ungover

resent the female world, for she belongs to her husban

he sexes, that the woman does belong to the man, instead of forming a whole w

n is her whole existence; she also is born for Truth and Love in their universal energy. Would she but assume her inheritance, Mary would not be the only virg

them what to claim, and how to use what they obtain? Shall not her name be for her era Victoria, for her c

mes the form, first of Man, then of Woman, and takes the chances, and reaps the benefits of either lot. Why then

its kind-apple as apple, Woman as Woman. Without adopting your theory, I know that I, a daughter, live through the life of Man; but what concerns

elf or not (and the supposition is false,-but suppose it true), am I to be indifferent about it? Not

ng thy beneficence to the fruitful summer! Thou didst smile on thy day's work when it was done, and adorn thy down-g

aled. Climbing the dusty hill, some fair effigies that once stood for symbols of human destiny have been broken; those I still have with me show defects in this broad light.

fered shipwreck, stil

es as a faith, and abide by them in action. Such shal

ower to w

s pledge tha

re and ste

xalted, tr

ll music lou

notes they v

t thou to wi

d gnome thy c

castle's Kin

e rout may r

enseless to

rk beset

ask, and it

r rest in h

u see, what

home of Kin

ovembe

. Ma

anz

r mind of cant." But Byron, to whom it was so acceptable, in clearing away the

r cant, not

escription of the I

pend

pend

ndix D, Sp

ion, is here omitted, because it is incorporated in another art

pend

pang

ppen

ove it, as a red flame. It is true, this, like many fair spirit-stories, may be explained away as an optical illusi

word or deed, the Quakers have placed Woman on the same platform

y fault was a "kindly del

aughter of his mind; but the son, child of his degrading connection in actual life, corresponded with that connection. This son, on whom Goethe vainly lavished so much thought and care, was like his mother, and like Goethe's atta

ibed by the

like what the charact

decorums, attracti

inviting aspec

shippers. See here the

where the most preciou

f the spoiler and th

t from before me for one twinkling of an eye. I am never out of thy heart. And I am contained in nothing but in thy heart, and in a heart like thy heart. And I am nearer unto thee than

cepticism when the history

spondence of Miss Ad

Appen

Necker d

of good women should decide,"-if

rectly translated from the Fren

e Nibelun

passage is quot

end

end

ddess Isis to her vo

ftly defluous. A multiform crown, consisting of various flowers, bound the sublime summit of her head. And in the middle of the crown, just on her forehead, there was a smooth orb, resembling a mirror, or rather a white refulgent light, which indicated that she was the moon. Vipers, rising up after the manner of furrows, environed the crown on the right hand and on the left, and Cerealian ears of corn were also extended from above. Her garment was of many colors, and woven from the finest flax, and was at one time lucid with a white splendor, at another yellow, from the flower of crocus, and at another flaming with a rosy redness. But that which most excessively dazzled my sight, wa

sound through the vibrating motion of her arm. An oblong vessel, in the shape of a boat, depended from her left hand, on the handle of which, in that part which was conspicuous, an asp raised its erect head and largely sw

description the air of being itself a part of the mysteries. Bu

end

anslation. Those who read Italian will judge whethe

reghiere

la che di s

stelle, al

che'n te su

nge a dir d

cominciar se

he amando in

che ben sem

chiamò

e, s'a

trema dell

se, al mio pr

alla mi

terra, e tu de

ia, e del be

ta vergin

a, e con più

do dell' af

i di Morte

si trionfu, n

alcieco ard

mortali

que' be

risti la sp

mbri del tuo

mio dub

ato a te vien

a, d'ognti

gentil figll

esta vita, e

Figlio e quel

del ciel lu

ne in su gli e

i terreni al

fusti

e bene

d' Eva in alle

oi; della sua

a, Glà coronata n

ta d'ogni g

a e altissi

l, onde miel p

ti il fonte

ia il Sol, c

d'errori osc

ari nomi ha' i

igliuola

ne gl

che nostri la

mondo liber

ui sant

ghe il cor, v

a al mondo

i tue bellezz

a fu simil

i, atti piet

sacrato et

tua vergin

mia vita es

preghi,

dolce

abondò, la

chia de la m

e sia mi

ta via drizz

ra et stabil

empestoso m

l nocchier

n che terrib

vo sol, sen

vicin l'ul

e l'anima m

ce, i' n

e; ma

mico del mio

he fece il

io, per s

al tuo virgi

nte lagrime

he et quanti

ena et per mi

acqui in su l

esta ed or que

mia vita alt

za, atti, o p

gombrata

sacra,

i' non forse a

iu correnti

erie e

i, e sol Mor

è terra, e pos

e vivendo in p

miel mali u

o, pur quel

ch' ogni alt

rte, ed a l

del ciel, t

ice, e c

d'alti

utto; e quel

ulla a e la tu

e al mi

re ed a mo

cui ho tutta

gli al gran bi

are in su l'

me, ma chi d

r, ma l'alta

ova a curar d'

ror mio lo han

vano st

e, tu

e adempi 'l m

ultlmo piant

errestr

rimo non d'

na, e nemic

principio a

un cor cont

a mortal t

i mirabil

ar di te co

tato assai m

tue man

è sacro

pensieri e'n

cor, le lagri

al migi

grado i cang

ssa, e non po

il temp

unica,

onscienza, or

i al tuo Fig

e vera

mio spirto ul

e called to counsel by the gods, it represents her in action, decked with jewels and gorgeously attended. But, says the Mythes, when she a

t valiant and the most oppressed. She consoles the gods in some degree even for

end

G OF THE L

art's Span

fth Alphonso in L

f Toledo an em

ter for a wife,

, for he feared A

e his anger, for

n danger much suc

Theresa, when she

e heard them tell she '

ian damsel, a Chri

husband, it well

d all her prayers th

er fate prepares, a

nt his sister to

or Abdalla his ro

he Moslem from his go

eived her, and bade

e pressed her to co

ssed her, but still

I pray thee,"-'twas

e compassion, and

e I may not, unles

oly church of Chri

o serve Mahoun, and i

must bring down upon

ist Jesu, to whom

ul in keeping, i

shonor, he will un

fiercely, at the

ndeth; his sword

bosom the hour th

with a smile; the e

maiden's wile, and d

ed and strove,-she p

kiss of love, and lo

ere she lay, a lo

God did pray her

st Jesu her sore

venly weapon from o

his right hand, and

er limb and joint, be

rom the stroke upon

n daylight broke, but

inly, when he th

is barons, his pi

my liegemen," as roun

ristian lady, els

r girdles, and pre

to Leon, and re

ome to Leon Ther

elling, where her mai

ast visage a white

ent nunnery of

rldly eyes retired,

nt, expired; there sle

end

ich her influence appeals has been left unawakened. He was a man of the largest intellect, of unsurpassed reasoning powers; yet he makes a statement false to history, for we wel

ith it three expressions

arkable for the deep wisdom of its thought and the beauty of its utterance, and

, the friend, "the summer queen," I add one by the author of "Festus," of a w

and appeal to all readers whether a species that admits of three such varieties is so easily to b

atus Politici

ut

ormerly to have held the reins of government, but they drove men from their dominions; the male of their offspring they invariably destroyed, permitting their daughters alone to live. Now, if women were by nature upon an equality with men, if they equalled men in fortitude, in genius (qualities which give to men might, and consequently right), it surely would be the case, that, among the numerous and diverse nations of the earth, some would be found where both sexes ruled conjointly, and others where the men were ruled by the women, and so educated as to be mentally inferior; and since this state of things nowhere exists, it is p

ere

stral heri

d all thought. T

'er thy lot, wh

h in this low

aptivate the

et beauty, must

obdurate sh

panions. Hon

up in their s

ideas of mat

not portrayed,

be all high,

odness with e

eap and sing

uous men,-woul

estering slime,

mmon fate. O

true eyes has

ery breast whe

ne beautifu

natural feelin

dious walks o

Woman,-Woman,

ngs,-Woman t

airest brow, o

s; not that the

tints have m

on her; bu

icate grace,-th

excellent; t

f earth; the

tions nothing b

. And, O! her

is small part

sweet office

d, friend, coun

ith her, naught

man praise. F

ces not wit

beauteous sex

living deat

ds the power, w

rude men of

even in repose

blustering on hig

purely grac

th. To single

rms one onl

pest heart and

contradicti

test blessings,

sudden tears, an

tual love. R

the vast still

es a laughing

ide treads o

ailing voice

ough infallibl

are, the fine

s with what w

e in her-the

ages better

ng on life's

our worth; an

sky as ever,

ystal flames at

purest lustr

river gently flo

leaved corn spre

n the Indian t

ine,-green in th

meaning emble

rps, and the sw

ds crowd their

common eyes,

faded, and the

an, no longer

eling with tr

ld, wood, river

sconsolate.

-swelled babble

t adoration

oman. In thes

th and marrow

early years

ulses from na

k hearest such

mon ear strik

around thee!

e, ambition

all, ambition

erish chase fo

virtue to red

tagnant hope to

e to this seems

the glittering

ur brothers

Where lies it,

tant lands, m

remest verge of

s? Better be

irling tide, t

eed upon thy

good man yiel

Idle, dissolute

d thee flattery

aped thy fatal

th in the good

est enjoyment

s counsel an

read the his

th have trod,

ars, changing li

d sings in the w

simple child th

ements of the un

re, those that

azure tide,

rame provides,-f

hild, do the s

aterfalls with

vements. Tend

irding with a z

nging herbs lov

of Angela, f

or that she w

she seemed to

ieties of t

ght in clouds o

laughter in th

stoms nor a

t others only

others did bu

ould but say;

but do; it was t

ver schooled wi

r feeling, bu

she told me

ills; and so s

munion of

other, for we l

nerous as the su

, all budding

*

ul are neve

lway loves the

ns, God himse

s. She whom I

thes its cloud; t

the hand I

iolets; that e

et alike div

moment judge

r; her nature

auty, like a

beautiful. I

art thy soul

urly lengthen

l its pictures

n; passed, not los

e a bright sp

ished to die,

she poured out h

hen this parched

to part, but sh

iscord; it was

bursting, boundi

d, her hands fi

r lay loose and

wild bright eye fl

oved not, but sh

ere action, spe

and came and kn

ch solved both o

feeling which

sea-like soul

in scorn aga

*

dest and the

weeping. But

eeling of the

s the welkin d

ones us with th

t; then closed an

ook this buildi

ngine booming

me like a snow

ss and beauty,

wined together

wild hour to

but a pictur

forever the

*

er than I

w her once

a long black veil, surrounded her thin, wan face with its narrow, hooded border. A great number of deep, transverse wrinkles ploughed her brow, which resembled yellowish ivory in color

n women are possessed of what is called business talent, and when they apply thereto the sharpness of perception, the indefatigable perseverance, the pru

nt prices of shares in all the leading speculations, were perfectly familiar to her. Never had she directed her agents to make a single false speculation, when it had been the question how to invest funds, with which good souls were constantly endowing the society of Saint Mary. She had established in the house a degree of order, of

end

neteenth century. A part I have omitted, because it does not express my own view, unles

h Century should be a p

d by the expansion of her intellectual capacity,

inement of her love for Man, or for any object

powers and all her actions to the source of Universal Love,

ch she needs, she will remain in an indigent state, for he

constructed between Man and Woman are constructed in indigence

cting them were generated, being based on self-delight, or lust, can lead t

is not another selection of individuals for union, that can meli

al or natural laws, in physical chastity, a most beautiful amendment of the

her eternal husband, and become the Free Bride of the One who alone can elevat

end

an American Lady," which I wished to use on t

cause in that trying life, good counsel and sagacity are more prized than charms, Mrs. Gra

ur sex is, that young women are not regarded as

t believe the weight of

end

es. Sop

, I have borrowed from the papers of Miranda some notes upon them. I trust the girlish tone of apostrophising rapture may be excused. Miranda was very young

ioned; our forms dwarfed and defaced by a bad nurture. Yet hearts like yours are in our breasts, living, if unawakened; and our minds are

You believed in your country and the gods of your country. A g

n's nature, virgin and unbiased. You were women; not wives, or lovers, or mo

r to whose destinies we look forward confidently. We care not for their urns; what inscription could we put upon them?

re ther

s caught their glances. But rarely have they been rocked in the same crad

e! we need not follow thee;

n, if only for the heavenly tears I have shed with thee. She will be grateful for them

ve us, at once, the full image of him, strong in will and pride, weak in virtue, weak in the noble powers of the mind that depe

, those cheeks, tho

injustice of the gods, that she, this creature of unblemished loveliness, must perish for t

ath she

aughter, wit

ormer rea

forgoes.

is no

groan, while my aff

use should die, and

aspect of the king of

give me to take

the victory is thine

ashamed to d

op the tear I

oftly on us with every touch of description! After Clytemnestra

les, in

for she is

y my feet,

er, Iphigen

rs how I am b

ress thee to

should I run, wou

my father he

, and, as he holds her in his arms, he seems as noble as Guido's Ar

godlike impulses. At first, he thinks only of his own wounded pride (when he finds Iphigenia has been decoyed to Aulis under t

ng man may, I

at a w

d of the earlier day. His nature is one of the richest capabilities, and therefore less quickly unfolds its meaning. The impression it makes at the early period is only of power and pride; running as fleetly with his armor on as with it off; but sparks of pure lustre are struck, at moments, from the mass of ore. Of this sort is his refus

et? what i

g many falsehood

eads him to speak

het is n

the virgin would not have perished, but Greece wo

gh her gesture be, and true all she says, we feel that truth, thus sauced with taunts, will not touch his heart,

ther, the per

pheus

el m

th to view. I

ther; me thou f

as the first t

d thee, and fr

s. This was th

ild, e'er see t

happy in thy

, as becomes

e was, leaning '

hand I now ca

do for thee?

n grown old,

h each fond o

rture which he

e in my memory

them, and will

ies, and dwells pathetically on the circ

e enamored

at concerns i

to my des

upo

e, give me a k

ds persuade the

his memorial

er tenderness than by Euripides, as in this most lovely passage, or

s wretch now do

use?-sad des

, to sink my s

the house o

ghtful to me,

ere; but she i

iss my check, w

. To a father

arer than a d

higher pitch,

aring fondness

ad me to my

e to darkness,

aste

d

many griefs, O,

finitely melting is her appeal to

all assistance

t for thy siste

ather that sh

ave a sense of

lent though h

gentle to me

y two childre

thy dear child

e to riper ye

, is of a domestic charm that prepares the mind to fe

thou

ling chariot ha

ister's marri

cherished child a parricide. And so, when Iphigenia ta

ce him, for thou ne'er shalt see him more.

ist thy f

her previous expostulations and anguish, we see that a straw may turn the balance, and make her his deadlies

her turn at bay and brave this terrible crisis. He goes out, firm in

n the full, green tree. But, in the next scene, the first impulse of that passion which makes and unmakes us, though unconfessed

o the murderous knife. She sees him, and, fired with thoughts unknown before,

too fon

me; nor for

e, a blessing di

when their countr

ll thousands grasp

vely 'gainst

shall my life,

s? Would this be

Nay more, it

ll the Grecian

ld die, and fo

thousand wom

see the li

Greece I g

ish Troy! for

onuments, my c

als and

e of glory and beauty a true Man would be, as much in our own time as th

age, but it was the first time Iphigenia had felt it. In Agamemnon she saw her father; to him she could prefer her claim. In Achille

ere is his bride; he feels it now, a

Agamemnon,

d make me, if

Greece in thee

e in Gr

in thy

ll; death is a

tender modesty with which she address

not on any,

and slaughters

; but die not

distain thy sw

ave my count

us spirit! naught

uch thy will, fo

should not the

yet, he goes to wait at the alter, resolved

ght overwhelm her in his absence. She raises her mother b

sake fierce contest must he bear. Iphi. For Greece reluctant me

e of an answer, and Ip

hymn which is

ine the glo

n the Phry

sm, she suddenly sinks back into the

try, where

n Pelasg

ins, once

en? wh

OR

seus, name

opean ramp

IGE

red a beam

w I sink

essenger afterwa

Agamemnon,

as a victim

ned, and, burst

sight his head,

be. The virgin

ssed him: 'Fat

or my country

reece, I free

the altar let

he oracle. I

appy, and obt

conquest, an

f the Grecians,

uch me; with

present my nec

heard revered

ue of th

ars, she could not have surpassed this. Goethe's Iphigenia, the mature Woman, with its m

he Apollo Belvidere in a plaster cast, and I cannot doubt it, so great the benefit conferred on my mind by a transcript thus imperfect. And so with these translations from the Greek. I can divine the original through

others; she is a tender virgin, ennobled and strengthened by sen

s women. She advances boldly, though w

e not boldness

rangers; this

ilence and a

nuine praise,

the house. Bu

lamentatio

with no commiss

e usefu

ll through. Iphigenia is too timid and delicate to dwell upon the loss of earthly bliss and the due experience o

these di

prosperous fut

eerful

ken virgin w

riage? Who wou

retched? Bett

uch undeser

trious this mi

*

oul that u

elf, and I p

brothers and

of life, but

prize to di

oposes rather that she shal

l not die, fo

due, or glor

t me, if my

o you, willin

by constraint I

rting advice and inj

red old man, fa

all things to be

ll avail

nd more capable of emotion, but calm; Iphigenia's glisten

ne he has not made a fit picture, but only of the circumstances of the sacrifice. He can never have taken to heart this work of Euripi

for He spake,

n scorn

in this one t

ed me to my

iss he gave m

the spi

is written,

hip and thigh

o Minneth. H

s I look

lips; she left

,' she sang,

sombre boskage

he morni

ra. Hecuba shows that mixture of shame and reverence that prose kindred alway

tress of Agamemnon, Hecuba answers indignant, and betrayin

of Apollo, w

olden looks, a

vow of mai

e raptured virgin

thee, O my daug

; rend off the

naments that gr

ears, singing wildly her ins

antic

is in her tragic phre

thy house's il

aply thou wilt

s of heart, but with no princely, no poetic blood) abide the wild, prophetic mood which insults his prejudices both as to country and decorums o

ands respect, a

othing better

for this mos

ecians, the m

s enamored w

raver. I am

ot receive he

ers, with a ca

s a bus

al understanding between prince and "busy slave!" Not here in adversity only, but in the pomp of power it was so. Kings

is just as lovely

murder, the same that was frightened

thou

hou a sense of

lasp me with th

shelter thee b

ird? No more m

the tomb; he

ear, bringing pro

*

O, soft

her dear. O, f

hed thy infant

ture at this br

are. If ever,

other; throw th

in thy cheek, t

rstand them all. Thy clear, melancholy gaze says, they, at least, had known moments of bliss, and the tender relations of nature

t is in vain to tell me of outward observances. The poets, the sculptors, always tell the truth

ut it down in the full flower of beauty, as an offering to the best known to thee. Thou wert no

o not know that she inspired a deeper and more home-felt reverence than Iphige

otes the words to which Haydn has adapted

front sublime of wisdom deep declares the seat, and in his eyes with brightness shines the soul, the breath and image of his God. With fondness leans upon his brea

Eden when "erect to heaven he stood;" but since, like other institutions, this must be not only reformed, but re

ften reciprocat

e han' she t

e made the

r more frequently passionate and s

end

cred M

er's life as

ue fulfilment

tal to the un

other life, th

ateful prescien

ty, time is st

whole force dra

ther bark on sea

ecret must be

that dim each

that mars the

that seems to fal

full presence

s and tasks,

ots to-day on all t

t mutual circl

r spiritual

that inlock th

to the centre

iving to draw

her groups by cognizanc

ve the wedded

s the two thei

er know, 'mid my

e intellect di

action ener

orms affili

easons bloom fr

ows both startin

ven,-the unio

ype="