A position which so constantly admonishes, may be of inestimable
benefit. The person may gain, undistracted by other relationships, a
closer communion with the 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 drudge of all men, the Martha,
much sought, little prized,--or the intellectual interpreter of the
varied life she sees; the Urania of a half-formed world's twilight.
Or she may combine all these. Not needing to care that she may please
a husband, a frail and limited being, her thoughts may turn to the
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 a
chosen few, and interpret through it all the forms of life. It is
possible, perhaps, to be at once a priestly servant and a loving muse.
Saints and geniuses have often chosen a lonely position, in the faith
that if, undisturbed by the pressure of near ties, they would give
themselves up to the inspiring spirit, it would enable them to
understand and reproduce life better than actual experience could.
How many "old maids" take this high stand we cannot say: it is an
unhappy fact that too many who have come before the eye are gossips
rather, and not always good-natured gossips.
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