Peculiarities of Female Character.
“The peculiar attributes of woman are _softness_, _tenderness_, _love_;
in fact, she has more heart than man.”
BENJAMIN PARSONS.
_WOMAN IN RELATION TO MAN._
We have it upon the best authority, that woman was created “because it
was not good for man to be alone,” and the maintenance of the sex, in
at least equal numbers, is the emphatic proclamation of the same truth
throughout all ages. In paradise man enjoyed the sunshine of God’s
favour, earth presented nothing but pleasure, and heaven unfolded
nothing but bliss. Celibacy was thus tried under the most favourable
circumstances, and it failed. Multitudes seem to think that women are
little more than a superior description of domestic animals; but in the
state of primeval innocency, Adam lived on the fruits of paradise: Eve
was not needed to cook his meals, and there was no wardrobe to be
looked after. The laundress and the laundry were not then in use. A
suitable companion was what man required, and woman was formed and
constituted the meetest help for him. The service of the sexes is
reciprocal, and when man isolates himself, he not only suffers an
injury but inflicts a wrong. The Bible declares that a wife is the gift
of God, and when a good woman, there is a double blessing in the nature
of the relation. But if a bad woman, her position as a wife greatly
augments her power for mischief. Woman and man, however, are not
intended to be rivals or opponents of each other. Of design God made
neither complete. There is a want in each, that the two might coalesce
into one. Duality is necessary to completeness.
. . . . . “Each fulfils
Defect in each, and always thought in thought,
Purpose in purpose, will in will they grow,
The single pure and perfect animal;
The two-celled heart beating with one full stroke
Life.”
As we note the chief peculiarities of female character, it will be seen
that woman fills up the vacuum in man, balances his defects, absorbs
his cares, and increases his joys.
_CORPOREAL ORGANIZATION._
We believe scientific inquirers are not quite unanimous, as to whether
woman really is by nature physically inferior to man, and it must be
admitted that among the aboriginal inhabitants of at least one-half of
the globe, she is treated as if she were physically superior. In
France, Belgium, and other continental countries, she may be seen
carrying the heaviest loads, guiding the plough, and performing the
severest labours. Trained to gymnastic feats, she performs them with
quite as much ease and intrepidity as man, while her power of enduring
pain and fatigue, when fairly called into operation, is proverbial.
Nerve and muscle depend chiefly upon exercise, hence women who engage
in hard manual labour surpass in bodily vigour multitudes of recluse
and retired scholars of the other sex.
The extraordinary career of a female sailor recently went the round of
the newspapers: in consequence of information supplied by Captain Lane,
of the _Expedient_, then lying in the Victoria Dock, Hartlepool,
regarding a young woman, Charlotte Petrie, who shipped with him as an
ordinary seaman, under the name of William Bruce, and whose sex was not
discovered until she arrived at Palermo. The girl had been employed as
a labourer at the works for about ten months, and though working
alongside of about one hundred and fifty men, she was never suspected
to be a woman until one of her fellow-workmen read to her the account
of her adventures in the _Express_, which she admitted to be
substantially correct, and that she was Charlotte Petrie. This account
was read to her on Saturday, and on Monday morning she disappeared, and
has not since been heard of. During the period in which she was
employed at the lead works, she resided in Newcastle, and left every
morning by the five o’clock boat in time to commence work with the
other men. She was generally dressed in loose sailor’s clothes, was
known to be an industrious and hard working man, and was generally
liked in the works. She mingled freely in a social way with the other
labourers in the factory, and was never, in fact, supposed to be a
female. While in Newcastle, she was taken ill, and was attended, we
understand, by one of our eminent medical men, who also failed to
discover that ‘William’s’ Christian name was ‘Charlotte.’ On one
occasion, this extraordinary girl was the ‘spokesman’ in an appeal for
an increase of wages at the lead factory, in which she was to some
extent successful. Her remarkable history has caused considerable
excitement at St. Anthony’s, and many of the workmen regret the
discovery, as, they say, she was such a pleasant fellow to work with,
and it has even been mooted among them to get up a presentation in her
behalf. Charlotte Petrie, still in male habiliments, was last seen on
board one of the river steamers, and it is supposed she was on her way
to Shields, in order to again proceed to sea as a sailor.
But although modes of life, if alike in the sexes, might produce a
closer resemblance; taking them generally, the difference between their
physical organizations is both palpable and significant. Woman’s
stature is inferior, her touch is softer, her tread is lighter, her
form is more symmetrical, and her embrace is more affectionate. Thus
nature herself has interdicted identification of character and
condition. In the language of Scripture, woman is “the weaker vessel,”
and her feebler frame and more delicate constitution indicate plainly
that she should be regarded with special kindness and attention, and
not exposed to the rough and stormy scenes of life.
_PATIENT ENDURANCE._
There is reason to think that woman owes this valuable quality to the
fact of her being “the weaker vessel,” and thus her physical
inferiority instead of being an hindrance becomes a help. Not having
bodily vigour equal to the other sex, and placed in circumstances which
would make masculine daring unseemly, she cultivates the power of
patient endurance. The history of woman in almost every land and age
illustrates this fact. When man fails in an enterprise, he too often
gives up all for lost, or perhaps lays violent hands upon himself; but
woman endures her lot with commendable patience, and
“Calmly waits her summons,
Nor dares to stir till heaven shall give permission.”
She believes the eloquent sentences of Bishop Horne: “Patience is the
guardian of faith, the preserver of peace, the cherisher of love, the
teacher of humility. Patience governs the flesh, strengthens the
spirit, sweetens the temper, stifles anger, extinguishes envy, subdues
pride; she bridles the tongue, refrains the hand, tramples upon
temptations, endures persecutions, consummates martyrdom. Patience
produces unity in the Church, loyalty in the state, harmony in families
and societies; she comforts the poor and moderates the rich; she makes
us humble in prosperity, cheerful in adversity, unmoved by calamity and
reproach; she teaches to forgive those who have injured us, and to be
the first in asking forgiveness of those whom we have injured; she
delights the faithful, and invites the unbelieving; she adorns the
woman, and improves the man; is loved in a child, praised in a young
man, and admired in an old man; she is beautiful in either sex and
every age.”
The following lines from the pen of the Hon. Mrs. Norton are not more
beautiful than just.
“Warriors and statesmen have their meed of praise,
And what they do or suffer men record!
But the long sacrifice of woman’s days
Passes without a thought—without a word;
And many a holy struggle for the sake
Of duties sternly, faithfully fulfilled—
For which the anxious mind must watch and wake,
And the strong feelings of the heart be stilled—
Goes by unheeded as the summer’s wind,
And leaves no memory and no trace behind!
Yet it may be, more lofty courage swells
In one meek heart which braves an adverse fate,
Than his, whose ardent soul indignant swells,
Warmed by the fight, or cheered through high debate!
The soldier dies surrounded; could he live
_Alone_ to suffer, and _alone_ to strive?
“Answer, ye graves, whose suicidal gloom
Shows deeper horror than a common tomb!
Who sleep within? the _men_ who would evade
An unseen lot of which they felt _afraid_,—
Embarrassment of means which worked annoy—
A past remorse—a future blank of joy—
The sinful rashness of a blind despair—
These were the strokes which sent your victims there.
“In many a village churchyard’s simple grave,
Where all unmarked the cypress branches wave;
In many a vault where death could only claim
The brief inscription of a woman’s name;
Of different ranks and different degrees,
From daily labour to a life of ease,
(From the rich wife who through the weary day
Wept in her jewels, grief’s unceasing prey,
To the poor soul who trudged o’er marsh and moor;
And with her baby begged from door to door,)
Lie hearts, which ere they found the least release
Had lost all memory of the blessing ‘peace;’
Hearts, whose long struggle through unpitied years
None saw but He who marks the mourner’s tears;
The obscurely noble! Who evaded not
The woe which He had willed should be their lot,
But nerved themselves to bear.”
Yes man is often conquered by his calamities, but woman conquers her
trials and troubles. The former cannot bear a tithe of what the latter
endures without manifesting a hundred times as much impatience. Woman
suffers, and suffers well. There are more heroines than heroes in the
world.
_CAUTION._
Woman is more thoughtful and provident than man. She guards more
carefully against catastrophes, and practices assiduously the motto,
“Sure bind, sure find.” Animals which are very defenceless are endowed
with the acutest senses, and some are said even to sleep with their
eyes open; and if, as poets have sung, heaven intended that woman
should be not only a “ministering,” but a _guardian_ angel to man, then
her timidity, by the watchfulness it induces, especially qualifies her
for her post. This may account for that prophetic character which has
been particularly attributed to females. Most of the heathen oracles
employed priestesses rather than priests; and, as all error is the
counterfeit of truth, even “old wives’ prognostications” are only an
abuse and exaggeration of that foresight which the timidity and caution
of woman prompt her to exercise.
Caution just means _rational fear_, and had some of the vaunted sons of
valour exercised a little more prudence at the commencement of their
speculations or enterprises, they would have had less cause for
apprehension at the close. Solomon has said, “Blessed is the man that
feareth always.” Strange as it may seem, this blessedness is in a
remarkable degree the possession of woman, and hence her timidity
produces fortitude. It is told of Coleridge, that he was accustomed on
important emergencies, to consult a female friend, placing implicit
confidence in her first instinctive suggestions. The most eminent men
have found it great advantage to have advice from this quarter. How
many a husband would have been saved from commercial ruin, if he had
only sought or attended to the prudent advice of his wife. How many a
son would have been saved from an early grave if he had listened to the
warning of his mother. We shall furnish one example out of a million
that might be given. “Mother,” said a young farmer who was a free
liver, “I am going to be inoculated.” “Dick,” exclaimed his mother,
emphatically, “if thou dost, thou wilt die.” Cautious ever are a
mother’s counsels, but he disregarded them, and in a few days was in
his grave.
_SYMPATHY._
The term sympathy is one of very wide application. It comprehends the
whole of the kindly relational feelings, and invests even inanimate
nature with the attributes of life. Dr. Lieber, in his “Political
Ethics,” defines it to be “a feeling for the pains and feelings of
others, though unconnected with any interest of our own, and standing
in no direct connection with us, even in the way of fear for our own
future protection.” Sympathy is peculiarly expansive. It fixes upon the
essentials of humanity, and disregards the accidents. Tenderness of
affection is indeed a noble quality. There is much sound philosophy in
the following lines:—
“How oft the sterner virtues show
Determined justice, truth severe,
Firmness and strength to strike the blow,
Courage to face the peril near,—
Yet wanting hearts that feel the glow
Of love, or for the rising tear
Responsive sympathy ere know,
Life’s light, without life’s warmth to cheer.”
Woman is constitutionally sympathetic. She delights, unbidden, to
soothe the sorrows of the distressed. When that celebrated traveller,
John Ledyard, approached the frontier of Poland, after his arbitrary
detention in Russia, he exclaimed, “Thank heaven! petticoats appear,
and the glimmering of other features.” Women are the sure harbingers of
an alteration in manners. All succumb to their irresistible influence:
the “divine ichor,” as Homer calls it, mounts the stolid brain, and
intoxicates both rich and poor, philosopher and clown. Elsewhere he
says, “I have observed among all nations, that the women ornament
themselves more than the men; that wherever found, they are the same
kind, civil, obliging, humane, tender beings; that they are ever
inclined to be gay and cheerful, timorous and modest.” The adventurous
traveller further remarks, “I never addressed myself in the language of
decency and friendship to a woman, whether civilized or savage, without
receiving a decent and friendly answer. With man, it has been often
otherwise. In wandering over the barren plains of inhospitable Denmark,
through honest Sweden, frozen Lapland, rude and churlish Finland,
unprincipled Russia, and the wide-spread regions of the wandering
Tartar, if hungry, dry, cold, wet, or sick, woman has ever been
friendly to me, and uniformly so; and, to add to this virtue, so worthy
of the appellation of benevolence, these actions have been performed in
so free and kind a manner, that if I was dry, I drank the sweet
draught, and if hungry ate the coarse morsel, with a double relish.”
Park, the African traveller, experienced much kindness from females in
the wilds of that country, and is no less vehement in their praise. The
men robbed him, and stripped him, and left him to die; but the women
pitied the fatigued and hungry man, and sang, as they prepared his
food, a touching extempore melody, of which the refrain was, “Pity the
poor white man, no mother has he.” Yes, as the poet has well sung:
“Woman all exceeds
In ardent sanctitude, in pious deeds;
And chief in woman charities prevail,
That soothe when sorrows or disease assail;
As dropping balm medicinal instils
Health when we pine, her tears alleviate ills,
And the moist emblems of her pity flow,
As heaven relented with the watery bow.”
Deep in the sufferer’s nature springs the desire to feel woman’s hand
binding his wound or wiping his brow, and to hear soft words dropping
from a woman’s lips.
“Ask the poor pilgrim, on this convex cast,
His grizzled locks distorted in the blast;
Ask him what accents soothe, what hand bestows
The cordial beverage, raiment, and repose?
Oh! he will dart a spark of ardent flame,
And clasp his tremulous hands, and woman name.”
The most beautiful features in human nature, as well as the most heroic
elements of character, are called up and brought into action by
sympathy. The women, who, during the late war, smoothed the pillow of
the sick soldier in the hospital, have as high a place to-day in the
esteem and affection of the nation as the heroes who turned the tide of
battle on the heights of Alma and amid the hills of Balaklava. In
thoughtless flattery, woman is sometimes called an angel; but an angel,
in sober truth, she is,—a messenger sent by God to assuage the sorrows
of humanity. Through sympathy, she lives in high communion with the
great workers and sufferers of the past, and imbibes the spirit which
stimulated and sustained them.
“O woman! in our hours of ease,
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please,
And variable as the shade
By the light quivering aspen made;
When pain and anguish wring the brow,
A ministering angel thou!”
Daniel bestowed the highest encomiums on the affection of Jonathan,
when he exclaimed—
“I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan!
Very pleasant hast thou been unto me:
Thy love to me was wonderful,—
_Passing the love of women_!”
We could fill a book with facts illustrative of the sincere and strong
affection of sisters, aunts, and grandmothers. But perhaps widows
afford the most affecting examples of the constancy of woman’s love.
“The new-made widow, too, I’ve sometimes spied;
Sad sight! slow moving o’er the prostrate dead;
Listless she crawls along in doleful black,
While bursts of sorrow burst from either eye,
Fast falling down her now untasted cheek.
Prone on the lonely grave of the dear man
She drops, whilst busy meddling memory,
In barbarous succession, musters up
The past endearments of her softer hours,
Tenacious of its theme. Still, still she thinks
She sees him, and, indulging the fond thought,
Clings yet more closely to the senseless turf,
Nor heeds the passenger who looks that way.”
_LOVE OF APPROBATION._
Woman intensely desires admiration, praise, and fame. This quality is
an excellent guard upon morals as well as manners. The loss of
character, to those largely endowed with it, is worse than death. “It
gives,” says Mr. Combe, “the desire to be agreeable to others; it is
the drill-serjeant of society, and admonishes us when we deviate too
widely from the line of march of our fellows; it induces as to suppress
numberless little manifestations of selfishness, and to restrain many
peculiarities of temper and disposition, from the dread of incurring
disapprobation by giving offence; it is the butt upon which wit
strikes, when, by means of ridicule, it drives us from our follies.” A
faculty thus beneficial ought to be carefully cultivated. By all means
indulge in a generous emulation to excel. Say nothing and do nothing
disgraceful. Assume those pleasant modes of action and expression which
are calculated to elicit encomiums. Mind appearances in those little
matters which win a good name. No sensible man likes to see a slattern;
nor admires a wife or sister who appears before him neat and clean, but
dressed after the fashion of a charwoman. The Creator has seen fit to
give you a fair form, and it is ungrateful to His beneficence not to
robe that form in suitable apparel. At the same time, it is well to
remember that the epicureanism of the toilet and the patient study of
costumial display, are neither female duties, nor primary requisites
for a finished woman.
How supremely ridiculous many women are rendered by the excess and
perversion of approbativeness. Not long ago young ladies, and some
rather old dowagers too, wore little hats with round crowns, and
beautiful lace fringe, edged with bugles and fancy bead-work, hanging
like a flounce round their eyes. The gauzy medium mightily improved the
looks of a certain class; but the beauties soon discovered the
disadvantage under which they laboured, and immediately betook
themselves to broad brims. As regards bonnets, once they were so large
that it was difficult to find the head; then the difficulty was, not to
find the head but the thing that was said to cover it. We wish our
sisters would always emulate their gracious sovereign, who “wears her
bonnet on her head, and _pays her bills quarterly_.” Mantles seem to us
both comfortable and becoming, and we may add economical.
Few faculties require right direction more than this. What multitudes
of fathers and husbands have been ruined by daughters and wives whose
whole souls were bent on making a sensation. No wonder the gentlemen do
not propose. The rich silks of the day cannot be had for a wife and
daughters, with the prodigious trimmings that are equally
indispensable, under a sum that would maintain a country clergyman or
half-pay officer and his family. The paraphernalia of ribbons, laces,
fringes, and flowers, is more expensive than the entire gown of ten
years ago. The Hon. and Rev. S. G. Osborne, in the _Times_ of Friday,
July 23, 1858, says that, as a rule, “the acreage of dress and its
value is in monstrous proportion to the persons and purses of the
wearers.” As an illustration, we append a selection of items from a
Regent Street milliner’s bill for £2,754 0s. 6d., which was proved in
the London Bankruptcy Court, in September, 1857. “Bonnet, £12 12s.;
sprigged muslin slip, £11 11s.; six embroidered collars, £15 15s.;
pocket-handkerchief, £4 4s.; another, £5 5s.; moire antique dress, £10
10s.; ditto, £11 11s.; ditto, £12 12s.; ditto, £13 13s.; ditto, £18
18s.; ditto, £19 19s.; brown muslin dress, £17 17s.; court dress, £51
5s.; ditto, £55 10s.; parasol, £10 10s.; ditto, £18 18s.; point lace
cap and pearls, £11 11s.; pair of lappets, £8 8s.; ten buttons, £5;
dressing four dolls, £12 12s...!!” Such bills are sufficient to empty
the purse of Fortunatus, and ruin Crœsus himself.
“We sacrifice to dress, till household joy
And comforts cease. Dress drains our cellar dry,
And keeps our larder lean; puts out our fires,
And introduces hunger, frost, and woe,
Where peace and hospitality might reign.”
So wrote Cowper. Are his lines less appropriate in our day?
Wherefore should there be so glaring a difference between the sexes in
this matter? Why should men think of nothing beyond mere cleanliness,
as regards dress, and women make it a never ending study? Men strutting
along the promenade, dressed off in the height of fashion, and
engrossed with the elegance of their _tout ensemble_, are scorned as
fools and fops. But women decorated with gold lace, jewels, diamonds,
magenta and solferino ribbons, may be seen floating along the pavement,
the admired of all observers. If it be unworthy of a man to be so
impressed with mere outside attire, it is proportionately so of a
woman. Dames who sail along the street in silk and purple which is not
their own, have no right in any respect to the honour which belongs to
women who work with their hands and pay their own way. We plead for no
monotonous uniformity, but warn you of the fact, that love of dress has
often proved a snare both to young men and young women; and that to the
latter it has frequently been among the first steps that led to their
ruin. The love of praise was planted in your nature, not that you might
be the slave of vanity, affectation, and ceremoniousness; but that you
might seek after goodness, shed new light upon the world, and point the
way to a Divine life. Seek therefore to deserve the approbation of the
wise and good, rather than to gain general approbation. Seek to possess
the approbation of your own conscience; to commend yourselves to God;
to receive at last the plaudits of your Saviour and Judge.
_TENACITY OF PURPOSE._
How seldom does a woman give up an object which she has resolved to
attain, and how rarely does she fail in obtaining her end. Obstacles
which would completely overwhelm the other sex, only quicken her zeal
and double her diligence. The inexorable determination of Lady Macbeth
absolutely makes us shrink with a terror in which interest and
admiration are strangely blended.
“I have given suck, and know
How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me:
I would, while it were smiling in my face,
Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums,
And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn, as you
Have done to this.”
If it be objected that Lady Macbeth is only a fiction—the sternly
magnificent creation of the poet; we reply, that in the whole compass
of Shakespeare’s works, there is not one character untrue to nature.
True it is, no women in these civilized times murder sleeping kings:
but are there, therefore, no Lady Macbeths in the world? No women who
mock at air-drawn daggers; in sarcastic mood let fall the word coward;
and disdain the visionary terrors that haunt their vacillating
husbands? There are, and many of them too—unlike Lady Macbeth—full of
virtue and integrity.
“How many a noble enterprise,” to quote from Parson’s “Mental and Moral
Dignity of Woman,” “would have been abandoned but for the firmness of
woman! How often the faint-hearted have been inspirited, and the coward
goaded to valour by the voice of woman. Indeed, it is a query whether
fortitude would not long ere this have been exiled from our world but
for the fostering care and influence of females. Often the martyr for
liberty or religion would have failed and given way, had not the voice
of a wife or mother interposed, and rekindled his dying ardour.” The
most valuable of all possessions—either for man or woman—is a
strenuous and steady mind, a self-deciding spirit, prepared to act, to
suffer, or to die, as occasion requires. A great deal of talent is lost
every day for want of a little courage. The fact is, to do anything in
the world worth doing, you must not stand back shivering and thinking
of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as you
can. History records not a few heroines who suffered not the commotions
of the world, nor even the changes of nature, to shake or disturb the
more steadfast purpose of their souls. In all kinds of serene peril and
quiet horror, woman seem to have infinitely more philosophical
endurance than man.
On the 6th September, 1838, the _Forfarshire_ steamer was wrecked on
the Farne islands. Up to that time Grace Darling had never accompanied
her father on any of his humane enterprises. She knew how to handle an
oar, and that was all. But when she saw the mariners holding on by the
frail planks, which every billow threatened to scatter; she uttered a
cry of thrilling horror, which was echoed by her father and mother. It
seemed as if their lives were in her hand, and so eloquently, wildly,
and desperately did she urge her request, that her father aided by her
mother launched the boat. Despite menacing and potent waves, the father
and the daughter neared the object of their hopes. The nine survivors
were placed in the boat, and conveyed to the Longstone lighthouse,
where the kind hands and warm heart of Mrs. Darling changed their sad
condition into one of comfort and joy. The whole country, and indeed
all Europe, rang with the brave deed Grace had done. How applicable to
such a noble girl are the lines of Cowper:—
“She holds no parley with unmanly fears:
Where duty bids, she confidently steers;
Faces a thousand dangers at its call,
And trusting in her God, surmounts them all.”
In the path of probity and fidelity many a noble struggle has been
maintained by woman. Plied by bribes and fair promises to depart from
rectitude, she has boldly shaken off the tempter, risen superior to the
trial, and nobly conquered. Helen Walker, the Jeanie Deans, of Sir
Walter Scott, refusing the slightest departure from veracity, even to
save the life of her sister; nevertheless showed her fortitude in
rescuing her from the severity of the law, at the expense of personal
exertions, which the time rendered as difficult as the motive was
laudable. Isabel was accused of the murder of her own child! Poor Helen
was called as the principal witness. The counsel for the prisoner gave
her to understand that one means existed by which the unhappy girl
might escape. “If,” said he, “you can declare that Isabel made the
slightest preparation for her expected babe, or that she informed you
by the merest chance word of the circumstances in which she was placed,
such a statement will save your sister’s life!” “I cannot,” she
replied; “not even to save her, will I swear a falsehood; whatever may
be the consequence, I must give my oath according to my conscience.” In
vain Isabel tried to shake her resolution. Though sorely moved, Helen
remained inflexible. Isabel was found guilty, and condemned to die.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Helen drew up a petition, setting forth
the harrowing circumstances of the case; and finding that six weeks
must elapse before the sentence could be carried into effect, she left
Dumfries that same night. Barefooted she commenced her journey, and
reached London in the shortest possible time. Without introduction or
recommendation of any kind, she went at once to the house of her
countryman the Duke of Argyle, and managed to obtain an interview with
him. She entered wrapped in her Scotch plaid, and the statement of her
sister’s unhappy case in her hand. If she had lost heart at this
critical moment, and abandoned her purpose, Isabel’s life would have
been forfeited. But the heroic girl advanced her simple arguments with
such convincing energy and bold determination, that the noble lord
embraced her cause with all the warmth of a generous nature. His
representations were favourably received, the pardon was consigned to
her care, and Helen returned to Dumfries, still on foot, in time to
save her sister’s life. There are on record innumerable instances of
tenacity of purpose displayed by females, but rendered so revolting by
the details of unparalleled cruelty and superstition which accompanied
them, that they are passed over here. It is consolation to know that,
for those heroic women who remained “faithful unto death” is reserved
the “crown of life,” as an imperishable and eternal portion.
_MODESTY._
What Pope said or sung was, we believe, a libel on the sex:
“Most women have no character at all.”
At all events, we have never found it applicable to those whom we have
had the honour of becoming acquainted with. Nevertheless, for the last
hundred years our literature has been constantly hurling anathemas at
the instability of female virtue; until even the ladies themselves have
been forced into the belief of it. “Frailty, thy name is woman,” is a
sentiment in the mouth of every dissipated coxcomb. Yet despite the
prevalent idea that the most virtuous woman may easily be made to fall,
we venture to affirm that unchaste thoughts and everything which tends,
even remotely, to impurity, is far less common among women than men. We
know something about the disgusting details whereby the amount of our
most dreadful moral scourge may be estimated; and it only confirms us
in our opinion that woman is more sinned against than sinning. Given
one hundred young men, and ten hundred maidens, of the same age and
station; out of the former, at least fifty will run a course of sinful
pleasure for a period; while out of the latter, not more than six;
after many conflicts, prayers, and convulsive sobbings, to which the
others were strangers, will fall under the power of temptation. On
which side then lies the frailty? According to what is reckoned a
moderate computation, for one abandoned woman there are one hundred
licentious men, therefore there are more “frail” men than women, and
consequently the proverb should be, “Frailty, thy name is man!” Nor is
this all. It would seem that what is wrong in woman is not wrong in
man. While the slightest laxity of conduct irrevocably injures the fame
and worldly prospects of the former, the latter may lead a loose life
with impunity. Society thinks that a young man will be all the better
for “sowing his wild oats;” but unless his sister be as pure as Diana,
society will cast _her_ off and leave her to drink the dregs of her
damning course. Modesty is the sweetest charm of woman, and the richest
gem of her honour.
_DISCERNMENT OF CHARACTER._
Inherent character gushes out through every organ of the body and every
avenue of the soul. Broad-built people love ease, are rather dull, and
take good care of number one. In the nature of things, length of form
facilitates action. Such are always in motion, speak too fast to be
emphatic, and have no lazy bones in their body. Excitability is
indicated by sharpness. From time immemorial a sharp nose has been
considered a sign of a scolding disposition; but it is equally so of
intensity in the other feelings. In accordance with the general law
that shape and character correspond, well-proportioned persons have not
only harmony of features but well-balanced minds. Whereas those, some
of whose features stand right out and others fall in, have ill-balanced
characters as well as an uneven appearance. Walking, laughing, the mode
of shaking hands, and the intonations of the voice, are all expressive
of human peculiarities. In short, Nature compels all her productions to
manifest character as diversified as correct.
The art of judging of character from the external appearance,
especially from the countenance, is founded upon the belief, which
has long and generally prevailed, that there is an intimate
connection between the features and expression of the face and the
qualities and habits of the mind. All are conscious of drawing
conclusions in this way with more or less confidence, and of acting
upon them in the affairs of life to a certain extent. But women are
generally allowed to excel in quick insight into character—to
perceive motives at a glance—to be natural physiognomists: some of
the greatest philosophers that ever lived, have been prepared to
trust their first impressions. We find this rare and valuable
sense—this short-hand reasoning—exemplified in the conversations
and writings of ladies, producing, even in the absence of original
genius or of profound penetration, a sense of perfect security, as we
follow their gentle guidance. Indeed, they seem to read the
characters of all they meet, and especially of the opposite sex,
intuitively, and their verdict may be considered oracular and without
appeal.
“Ye’ll no mind me, sir,” said Mrs. Macgregor to Mr. Godwin the lawyer,
in that touching story, “The Little Rift,” which appeared in _Good
Words_, for 1860, “but I mind ye weel, tho’ lang it is syne ye made my
bit will, and there’s mony a line on your face the day that wasna’
there then. But oh, sir! there’s the same kindly glint o’ the e’e
still, and I never was mista’en in my reading o’ ony man’s face yet; I
hae just an awfu’ insight. It was given me to see fra the very first,
that the major was a dour man, dour! dour!”
That Nature has instituted a science of physiognomy seems to us to be
proclaimed by the very instincts, not only of humanity, but of the
lower animals themselves. Yet the attempt to raise the art of reading
the countenance to the dignity of a practical science, although, often
made, has never yet been very successful. Della Porta, a Neapolitan,
instituted comparisons between the physiognomies of human beings and of
species of animals noted for the possession of peculiar qualities. This
was afterwards carried further by Tischbein. Physiognomy was also
eagerly prosecuted by Thomas Campanella; and when his labours were
nearly forgotten, attention was again strongly directed to it by the
writings of Lavater. But although most other sciences are insignificant
compared with this, the majority of _men_ can hardly be said to know
the alphabet of human nature. Woman in her perceptions of grace,
propriety, ridicule—her power of detecting artifice, hypocrisy, and
affection—is, beyond all doubt, his superior. It is wonderful how
often, in nicely balanced cases, when we appeal to the judgment of a
woman, how instantly she decides the question for us, and how generally
she is right.
_PIETY._
There is a passage in the book Ecclesiastes, which that contemptible
class of men—the satirists of the female sex—have delighted to quote
and misapply. “One man among a thousand have I found, but a woman
amongst all these have I not found.” Solomon did not mean that there
were fewer good women than good men in the world. This reference was to
the members of that royal household; and judging from that class of
women with whom unhappily he associated, we do not wonder at the
experience he left on record. The wisest of men did not mean, as a
satirist, to libel one half of the human race, but as a penitent to
admonish others against the snares into which he had fallen. It cannot
be doubted that there are far more pious women in every quarter of the
globe than pious men.
The benign and benevolent religion of Jesus, independent of its
spiritual attractions, met perhaps with a kindlier welcome from woman,
on account of her constitutional sympathies, which are more in harmony
with its messages of mercy and its designs of love than those of man.
It came to purify the springs of domestic life,—and for such work
woman was always ready; to wrap the bandage round the broken
heart,—and for that kind office woman was always prepared; to heal the
sick,—and woman was ministering at their couches; to throw open the
gates of immortality to the dying,—and woman was tending their
pillows. “I have ofttimes noted,” says Luther, “when women receive the
doctrine of the gospel, they are far more fervent in faith, they hold
to it more stiff and fast than men do; as we see in the loving
Magdalene, who was more hearty and bold than Peter.” The eminent Dr.
Doddridge, was of opinion that in the sight of God they constituted
decidedly the better half of the human race. The celebrated President
Edwards considered the proportion within the limits of his observation
as at least two to one. While Professor Dwight says, “women are
naturally more religious than men.” On a retrospect of their ministry,
we believe most divines will find that they have been doubly useful
among the female sex, and have admitted twice as many of them as of
their own sex into the fellowship of the Church. Not one female can be
numbered amongst Christ’s enemies. Even Pilate’s wife advised her
husband to refrain from taking any part in injuring “the just Person.”
When tempted unsparingly to condemn woman because through her came
ruin, let us remember that by her came also redemption.
Need we add that in numerous instances they have been eminently useful
members of the Church. They were so in the apostolic age, and hence
Paul makes honourable mention of the names of Phebe, Priscilla, and
Mary, in his epistle to the Romans. Perhaps then, as now, many would
have sneered at these women toiling on in works of usefulness; not a
few, perhaps, misrepresented them, but Paul commended them. What a
blessing was this! Better the sympathy of one noble soul, than the
hosannas of thoughtless millions. It is clear from the New Testament,
that in the Apostolic Church there was an order of women known as
deaconesses, whose work was to minister to the necessities of the
saints and to teach other women. We see no reason for the
discontinuance of these officers. Those who think they are not needed
now, see with very different eyes from us.
During the entire Christian era, the piety of woman has shone
conspicuous. With equal truth and beauty the poet sang:—
“Peruse the sacred volume: Him who died,
Her kiss betrayed not, nor her tongue denied;
While e’en the apostles left Him to His doom,
She lingered round His cross, and watched His tomb.”
Piety is still woman’s brightest ornament and surest defence. It
heightens all her other attractions, and it will remain when all others
have faded. Even those who are indifferent and hostile to religion
themselves commend it; all good men approve it; it attracts the favour
of God Himself. It has opened the eyes of thousands to the higher walks
of Christian life, and impelled tens of thousands to press for the
mark. The annals of missionary enterprise already supply some of the
loftiest instances of zeal and devotedness from among the female sex.
To quote from _Good Words_, for 1860: “Wherever there has been any
purity, any zeal, any activity, any prosperity in the Church of Christ,
there woman’s presence and aid, as ‘a help meet for’ the other sex,
while they have been bearing the heat and burden of the day, will be
found no unimportant element. It is so at this day in an eminent
degree. Nor do I at all doubt that in the Church’s further efforts to
carry the gospel into all lands, and get for their Lord the sceptre of
the world, the spirit and mind of our Galilean women will be more and
more seen stamped upon Christian womanhood.” But as Keble sweetly
sings, some of the most beautiful specimens of female Christianity will
never be heard of till the resurrection morn.
“Unseen, unfelt, their earthly growth,
And, self-accused of sin and sloth,
They live and die; their names decay,
Their fragrance passes quite away;
Like violets in the freezing blast,
No vernal gleam around they cast:
But they shall flourish from the tomb,
The breath of God shall wake them into odorous bloom.”