was but expounding the marital code of his age, when he says

"She never once saith nay, when he saith yea;

"Do this," saith he " Already, sir," quoth she!' At the very time that so much mock heroic devotion was professed for woman, her evidence was not relied on in a Court of Justice, and indeed in Scotland was not received; therefore, the remark my brother quoted from King James' Demonology* in which 'bairns and wives' were permitted to give evidence, was as much an extension of privilege in the one case, as in the other. Women in most judicial matters were placed on the same level as children; and if they have attained to any greater consideration in more modern times, it has been by the influence of their virtues and their intelligence, not by any abstract recognition of their rights as responsible rational

creatures.

"When Edward told us of prejudice, he did not tell us how great a prejudice has existed against giving to woman a sound and liberal education how learning in woman has been decried, and the phrase 'learned lady' has been held synonymous with something very unfeminine and ridiculous. Yet no shadow of proof has ever been adduced to show that the really intellectual have failed in any of the requirements of the feminine character.

"Then how common have been the remarks on the vanity and levity of women; more particularly in reference to personal attractions, forgetting that * See page 87.

beauty has been the one theme of man's admiration, the cardinal virtue in his catalogue of feminine attributes. In the times of chivalry, a knight proclaimed the peerless beauty of his lady. Her virtues followed-sometimes only to round a period. For, the assertion that any dereliction from womanly propriety caused a lady the forfeiture of the right of homage, is as little borne out by actual records as any of the other lofty sayings and most humble doings of chivalry. Woman, therefore, has been led to prize that possession most, on which man has set the greatest value. Slowly and timidly has her mind asserted itself, and the result, at length, has been a different estimate of her character, a far nobler standard of requirement. I do rejoice that, if woman has not all that she has a right to claim from society, her influence is more extensive and more intellectual than at any former period. The mock heroic of chivalry has subsided into a real respect, mental companionship, and confidence."

"Well, Etty!" said Edward, as she concluded, "I do not quite agree in all your strictures on chivalry. It was an exaggerated sentiment, doubtless, and I readily admit its frequent and flagrant inconsistencies with itself; but it certainly arose in an earnest religious principle-a desire to compensate to the weaker and the fairer sex for the severities of nature and the injustice of man. It was conservative as to class-womanhood, as such, was neither reverenced nor protected. Nevertheless, out of it grew our social code of politeness and

deference; the merit of which is undoubtedly great. Manners are the outward and visible sign of morals,—they are principles in action. Selfcontrol, gentleness, generosity—oh, they—

"Lay the rough paths of peevish nature even,

And open in each heart a little heaven.'

“I was thinking,” said Ellen, "while Etty was discoursing of chivalry, that it would be interesting to look through the poets from Chaucer's time to our own, and observe the different estimate in which they have held the female character.”

66 Yes; " remarked Jane, "the testimony of the poets is more valuable than that of historians; not only because the latter rarely pause in their narration of public events, to speak of the condition of woman, but because the poet is always the exponent, and often the leader of the opinions of his age. I think the poets are the best historians of woman." "By their testimony, undoubtedly,” said Philip, แ we can learn the estimation in which society held women. When they are praised merely for beauty and submission, it is easy to infer they were often favourites, but rarely intellectual companions. Therefore, it would be interesting, if Ellen would give us her selections from the poets."

แ

"I could give you," said Edward, "plenty of extracts from poets and philosophers of the old classic times, fully proving that the prejudices derogatory to woman are heathen prejudices. They, however, are by no means alone in their conmptuous sentiments. Under every system of ran superstition woman has invariably been

degraded. Among mere barbarians her want of physical strength tended to degrade her, by rendering her less valuable as an article of property. But among polished heathens it has been a deliberate prejudice. In the East, while the poets in gorgeous strains have celebrated her beauty, they have contemned her character. Seldom has a more comprehensive censure been penned than this, which I extracted from that glowing record of Eastern manners, Mr. Lane's 'Arabian Nights.'

"The wickedness of women is a subject upon which the stronger sex among the Arabs, with an affected feeling of superior virtue, often dwell in common conversation. That women are deficient

in judgment or good sense is held as a fact, not to be disputed even by themselves, as it rests on an assertion of the prophet. But that they possess a superior degree of cunning, is pronounced equally certain and notorious. Their general depravity is pronounced to be much greater than that of men. I stood, (said the prophet,) at the gate of Paradise, and lo, most of its inmates were poor; and I stood at the gate of hell, and lo, most of its inmates were women. In allusion to women, the Kaleefeh Omar said-Consult them, and do the contrary of what they advise. But this is not to be done merely for the sake of opposing them, nor when other advice can be had. It is desirable for a man, (says a learned Imaum,) before he enters on any important undertaking, to consult ten intelligent persons among his particular friends: or, if he have not more than five such friends, let him consult each

of them: or, if he have not more than one such friend, let him consult him ten times, at ten different visits: or, if he have not one such friend, let him return to his wife and consult her, and whatever she advises him to do, let him do the contrary; so shall he proceed rightly with his affair, and attain his object. A truly virtuous wife is of course excepted in this rule: such a person is as much respected by Moslems, as she is (at least according to their own account) rarely to be met with by them. When woman was created, the Devil, we are told, was delighted, and said-Thou art the half of my host, and thou art the depository of my secret, and thou art my arrow with which I shoot and miss not.'"

"Oh, capital!" laughed Etty. "That is decided, at all events. A strong wholesale censure, after all, is refreshing-one knows what the writer means; insinuations and half-uttered objections are my abomination. After that, and all the sayings Edward has suppressed of the sages of antiquity, do you, Ellen, sweeten our imagination with the melodious breath of the poets.'

"I am glad," said Mrs. Vernon, "that our evening recreations have a suggestive tendency— that one subject leads so to another. There was a remark Edward made, about politeness, which I should like to dwell on some future evening. Literature is not very much in my way, but there are many things in life more valuable than mere booklearning. I shall contribute to our little stock some thoughts on social morals and domestic amenities."