The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1864-06-08
Woman's Devotion.

!
History is full Of the stsblimc .instancoa
OF the devotion Of tho sex. Wo will not6
one or two in passing and choose those Of
ancient times, partly TO do justioc Vt the.
anoionts, and partly because those Of out,
own times are 80 familiar to our-readerps
that il is scarcely necessary to mention
them. We learn from the pages Of Tacitus
that pompeia paulina, the wife Of Seneca,
the philosopher, furnishes ona Of the most
noble examples Of the ancient world.
While she was young and beautiful. and
her husband dropping with age, site refus-
cd to survive him, when Nero hiS former
pupil, condemned him to death. After he
had bid her an atfcctionate farewell, she
said mo, Seneca, am not a woman to
suffer you to 90 alone on suoh q Journeys
[ will not have you 10 think that the vir-
tuous examples of your rfe have not yet
taught mo how to die; and when can
ever better, or more becomingly doit, OF
more to my desire, than with you and.
! therefore, assure yourself, | will bo with
yon' Nor was this any idlo promises
She subjected herself to tho same means OF
producing death that her husband had,
That is, sIe had her veins opened; and
she finally survived, only because the tys
rant, afraid of the effect Of hor youth, beauty
and great family influence, caused her
wounds to he bound up while she was iny
seusjble from loss of blood OF character
equally noble was tho wife Of Pilny tho
| younger. Wo have the testimony OF her
husband who knew her bcst in proof OF
this. Her affection" he says, I" for me
has given me q turn for books, and my
compositions, which she takes a pleasure
in reading, and even getting by heart, are
continually in her hands, How full of ten
der solici,ude is she when | am entering
on any causel How kindly does she rej
/ ipice with me when it is over While
am pleading, she places persons to inform,
her from timo to timo how | Inn heard,'
what applausos receive, and what success
attends tho cause. When at any time ro-
cite my works, she coYceals herself behind'
some curtain, and with secret rapture en-
! Joys my praises. She sings my vetsge To
! her Tyre, with no other master but love,
the best instructor her guide" II Is
true that all the great Romans do not speak
with equal enthusiasm in favor Of the sex;
but, on the contrary, none have passed q
harsher judgement than the countrymen OF
Seneca and Pliny
Thus for examples "Mutellus Nnmidius,
the censor, declared to the Roman people ia
a public oration, that, had kind Nature al
! lowed us to exist without woman, we
should DO delivered from very trouble1
some companion; and he could recommend
matrimony only at the sacrifice of private
pleasure to public duty" But Metellus
Numinius had probably met with the worst
specimens. We have no authentic ac-
count of his having been married; but il
is clearly proved TINT he was severely
Tilted by moro than ono Of the Roman
beauties. BE this as it may, his stock Gf
gaantry must have been very slight; and
his conduct was very different from that of
his brother censor, honest old Cato, or
Mark Antony, each of whom allowed more
liberty to his wife than the most liberal
'mo lei husband even of tho present day
would be wiling to gra I. But whether
he was right or not--no matter what cause
he may have had to dislike the sex--suf-
ficient testimony remains in the history of
even pagan Rome to show that self sacri-
ficing devotion and fidelity are no new at
tributes OF woman That her best qllali-
ties have boon improved, however by the
humane and gentle spirit of Christianity,
far be it from us to deny. On the contrary
nole ace more wiling to render homage to
its ennobling Influences, although we be-
lieve that MS long AS the world lasts, there.
will be Xantppes. Without departing
! from our prescribed plan of passing over
instances that are sufficiently familiar, we,
may notc the case of Christian lady of
the beginning Of the seventeenth century,
one as much distinguished for her piety as
for her devoted affection for her husband
Thus, we are told that when the famous
Gro ius was condemned TO prisonfor life,
he owed his liberation to the tenderness
and solcitule of his wife, after captivity
of little more than two years. On pre-
tence of removing hooks which she sail
proved injurious TO her husbands health,
She was permitted to send away smile
chest Of drawers three feet and a half in,
length, in which the author OF "De Jure
helli CT Hacis" was concealed. Thus ho
was carried by two soldiers from the for
tress. The chest was removed to dis
tance on horseback; and the illustrious
captive was set at liberty, pursuing his
fight afterwnrd in the guise of a miasoh'
with rule and trowel. aalysaT 81,