The native American. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1840, 1840-10-17
ON THE SOCIAL AFFECTIONS.


Man is social as well as solitary being
and much of the happiness which he enjoys
here springs from the social principle, when
properly directed. Away, then, with that
stoical philosophy which, by destroying sym
pathy, would render us Indifferent to the
groan of agony, or the sigh of the afflicted
heart; and away, too, with that selfshness
which, wrapping man up In self alone, would
make all his desires, acts and aspirations, ter
inmate only in himself. We allow that the
social principle, carried to an extreme, may
be productive Of much evil. 1t may require
Il sacrifice of that time which should be APP
piled to the calls of duty, or demand conces-
|sions which conscience should not weld;
but even in this case-even in its widest lux
uriance, it is better, still better far, than its
contrary. The first is as rich soil, which
under injudicious cultivation, produces rank
and noxious weeds, but yet is capable Of
yielding an abundant harvest of excellent
grain. The second is as the arid soil of Ara
bia, swept by the winds of the desert, and
parched by the rays of vertical sun. The
first is like prodigality, which, amidst the
evil it spreads, produces some good; the Sc
cond is like avarice, which for the injuries il
inaicts, produces not one solitary advantage.
Man has an understanding as we'll as heart.
For the first he Graves knowledge; for the Sc
cond, he desires some object to love. Hence
marriage, source of SO many joys and sor-
rows, of so many pleasures and pains; and
hence, too, the foundation of friendships
formed between persons of our own sex.
Although we are by no means disposed to
contest the truth Of the adage, that love con
quers all things, yet we ale convinced, from
our own experience and observation, that
friendship founded upon virtue and SINH
larity of taste and disposition affords as rich
banquet to the heart as can be found in a
world where every rose has its thorns, and
every pleasure its alloy. But we repeat,
that for friendship TO have this quality, i,
must be based upon virtue; and the moment
that either party swerves from the principle
of recttude, the foundation is gone, and the
superstructure falls to the ground: for friend
ship is not the mere feeling of the heart, but
it is also the sentiment of the mind Thus,
we may admire man on account of his quail
tiles, natural or acquired. We may be charm
ed by his eloquence and instructed by his
wisdom. We may honor him for his patri-
otism and praise him for hia valor. But in
all this there may not be mixed one particle
of esteem. and esteem is an essential ngre-
dent in friendship; and without it there is
no attachment which should be dignifed with
this name. In thus speaking Of our own sex,
we would not be understood as in the slight
est degree undertaking the character Of wo-
man. The loveliest being of exislance, she
commands the Tonnage of our love BY the
charms Of her person, and deserves our
esteem by the virtues which adorn her. In
mind, she is inferior to man; and in physical
power, she must also yield to him superior
ity. But, in modesty and in virtue-in ten
derness of feeling and constancy in lovc-in
the endurance Of suffering, and patience un-
der the most torturing atf1ictions-who, shat
does her justice, will place her below man
We know woman well; and This is our testi-
,imony concerning her: In all that adorns
and sweeens domestic lile-in all that is
soothing in the hour Of adversely and sorrow
in all that stills the throbbngs Of an ago.
nized heart, and, in the language of the elo-
quent Burke, "cheats life of its burthens -
woman, the bone Of mans bone, and the
flesh of mans flesh, stands superior to this
lord Of creation. He is not wise man who
would assign TO her position for which
Providence does not intend her; and he is
not good one, who would place her below
that for which she was designed. Such is
woman, beautiful flower in the waste of
human li(e--a lovely star, by whose mild
and silvery beams we may be directed in our
pilgrimage through this world; and altho gh
the cause Of "man's first disobedience, and
the fruit Of all our woes" yet, by the dispen-
satons of mercifu Providence, she has been
the instrument Of their ransom and the foun-
dalton Of their hopes-beng /" the first at the
cross, and the last at the grave"
The elections that have taken place in !
Maine, Georgia, and Delaware, have been
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