The native American., 1838-06-23
MAN AND W WOMAN.
ny WASHINGTON IRVING,

been brought mp i'll the gay henrilessness ol dssi-
patea ite TO laugh all love stories, ana TO treat
the tales of romantic passion as mere hcuons oil
noyelists and poets. Ny observations on human
nature have induced me TO think otherwise. They
havcsconvinced me that, however the surface oi
the character may be chilled and frozen by the
cares of the world, or cultivated into mere smiles
hy the art of Society, still there are dormant fires
lurking in the breast Of the coldest BOSOM which
when once enkindled become iinpetuous, and arc
sometimes desolating in their effects Indeed,
am a true believer in the blind deity, and 90 the
full extent of his s'docrinos. Shall | confess it!
! believe IN broken hearts, and the possibility OF
dying of disappointed love- ! do not consider it
malady often fatal to my own SEX but lrmiy
believe ii withers down many lovely woman
into an early grave.
Man is a creature of interest and ambition. Ills
nature leads him forth into the struggle and hustle
OF the world. Love is but the cmbellshmont ot
his early life or a song piped in the interval OF
the acts. lie seeks for fortune, Tor space
in the worlds thought, and dominion over his
fellow men but woman's whole liie is histo-
ry OF the affections. The heart is her world; it
is there her ambition Strives for empirc-lt is
there her avarico seeks for hidden treasures. She
sends forth her sympahes on adventure; she en-
harks her whole soul i'll the traffic Of affection
and if shpwrecked her case is helpless, for it is
a bankruptcy of the heart. ... .."
To man, the lisappointmnt of love may occa-
sion some bitter pangs; it wounds some feeling
of tenderness, it blasts some prospects OF iahcily
but he is an active bcing--he may dlssipae his
thoughts in the whirl of varied occupations, or
may plunge into the tide of pcasure-or if the
scene of his disappointment be too full OF pain
ful associations, he can shift his abode at will.
But woman's is comparatively fixed, secluded,
and a meditatiye life. She is more the companion
Of her own thoughts and feelings; and ii they
are turned to ministers of sorrow, where shall she
look for consolation If unhappy in her love,
her heart is like some fortress that has been cap
tured, and sacked, and abandoned, and left desc
late. With her the desire of the heart has failed;
the great charm of existence is al an end. She
negects all the cheerful exercises which gladden.
the tide of life i'll healthul currents through the
veins. Her rest is broken--thc sweet refresh
mcnt OF sleep is poisoned by melancholy dreams,
"untll her enleebled frame sinks under the slight
est external injury. Look for her, after a little,
and you find friendship weeping overhcr untmcly
grave, and wondering that one who but lately
glowed with all the radiance Of health and beauty
should so speedily be brought down to ''larkness
and the worm." You will be told of some wintry
chill, some casual indisposion that laidher low (;
but few know OF the mental malady that previously
sapped her strength, and made her SO easy a prey
TO the spoier How many bright eyes grow dim!
how many soft checks grow pae!-how many
lovely forms fade away into the tomb; victims of
blasted hopes and withered Joys!
Woman is like some tender tree, the pride and
beauty Of the gsove-graceful in its form, bright
III It's foliage, hat with the worm prcying at It's
heart. We find it suddenly whitening when it
should be most fresh and luxuriant. We see it
dropping its branches to the earth, and shedding
leaf by leaf, until wasted and pcrshed away, il
falls in stiffness of the forest; VIC muse over
the beautiful ruin, VIC strive in vain to rccolcct
the blast th,nderbolt that could have smittcn it
with decay.
| have seen many instances Of woman thus
disappearing gradually from the earth, and have
repeatedly fanced that could trace their DEATH
through the various decensons of consumption,
cold, debility, langor, and melancholy, until first
reached the symptom of disappointed love. The
canker worm of grief preys slowly, but alas! too
surely, upon the heart Of its devoted victim. Ils
ravages arc unnoticed by the casual observer, but
the keen and discerning eye of the human mind
that most mysterious emanatlon from the crea.
tive power of the observation-disclosures in the
half-chccked SIGH the olt-starting tear, the heavy
cloud OF sorrow casting its shadows upon the
brow, the occasional lapse into melancholy, and
anon the forced and unnatural bursts Of apparently
Il5H SplrltS, sure tokens OF that mental cODsunlD-
tion which bids defiance to the ilc-reyyine powers
of medicine, to the utmost care and skill Of the
ablest physician Wo, then, be to that man, who
trihes with the human heart if it were thing
flight import, who having sought till he obtained
the answering look oflove from woman's cyc,''
that undcniable proof of the return of his affection
casts aside as valuelcss the heart he then knows
TO be his own! No word of reproach from the
injured one may assail his ear and this absence
OF reproof from without may lulI the accusations
of his inward monitor, hut he may rest as
suredD that in the eye of God, lie is regarded as
murderer. His strict tables of justice admit
not of the palations that man will conure up
to clear him in his eyes, and this he will feel
when reason, asserting her sway over his pas
sions, convinces him of the cruelty and injustice
OF his conduct He will then seek to hide his
very head for shame. But his rcmorse is now in
VAIN Tor her whom death has already secured as his
prize; no earthly power can rcanimac the heart
now cold IN the grave, and the conviction that she
whom hls neglect has placed beyond the reach of
reparaion, embitters reflection to the last momen,
ofhis existence.