But if these abuse, and
none make the best of their vocation, yet it has not failed to produce
some 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 others. It has been seen that, as the breaking of no bond
ought to destroy a man, so ought the missing of none to hinder him
from growing. And thus a circumstance of the time, which springs
rather from its luxury than its purity, has helped to place women on
the true platform.
Perhaps the next generation, looking deeper into this matter, will
find that contempt is put upon old maids, or old women, at all, merely
because they do not use the elixir which would keep them always young.
Under its influence, a gem brightens yearly which is only seen to more
advantage through the fissures Time makes in the casket. [Footnote:
Appendix F.] No one thinks of Michael Angelo's Persican Sibyl, or St.
Theresa, or Tasso's Leonora, or the Greek Electra, as an old maid,
more than of Michael Angelo or Canova as old bachelors, though all had
reached the period in life's course appointed to take that degree.
Pages:
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125