Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-01-24

ance we owe our health our beauty, and
our wealth, an agreeable life, loIss life, a
happy life, and useful life 1t is to thee
society owes its purity, its fragrance and
its preservation. All good things tend to
this one thing. 1t is for this end that
Young men have joined themselves in
bonds of fraternity, and by SO doing have
added much lustre TO their names, and to
the age in which they fourished. Let us
take by way Of example, short RETROSPECT
tive view of the past, of those olden days
wherein knlght-errantry, and chivalry was
cultivated when gentlemen rode all over
Christendom, encased in armor, to poise
the lance, and tilt for no other purpose
than for that of redressing grievances, and
of rendering protection to Innocent, fee
Die and afflicted persons, against the en-
croachments of tyranny and OPPRESSION
/ axe Il glance at those ages which have be-
come SO notorious for their cruSadeS, and
behold the many and noble deeds of great
ness and goodness, performed by the
Knights of Malta, the Templars and Hos
pitaIlers. What may not be learned from
this source They were associations of
Christian men adapted to the times in which
they lived, but they are nevertheless orna-
ments, and worthy our imitation. Each
age, each revolution in the advancing pro-
gress of the human race, has its own pecu-
liar wants, and it's best suited society
Hence we need not have any reference
whatever to any age, or to any order of
the past, to encourage the propag cation of
societies, for we have in the midst of our
own great people societies as pure, as re-
fined, as magnanimous, and as proud as
could ever boast any era of antiquity. But
all these, and such, reflect the minds and
the characters of the young men that have
formed them. When they say that in the
Sdnctuna of their circle nihI dictw fod,tms
riSuque, will be permitted, then will a
healthy glow warm up and beautify every
christian organization. And with this or
der, and with this controlling influence Of
young men, there is another to which we
would refer--the refining influence of wo-
man. Indeed the very mention of-man
was made for other society than mans
would sufficiently explain our meaning
AS Tor ourselves we prefer at any time the
society of refined and christian woman
to that of any man living. There is then
another companionship whose presence is
perfume and purity, whose conversation
makes man throw off his grosser nature,
and robe himself in womanly gentility and
civilization, without which he could never
be anything else than q rude, unpolished
heap. Who has not felt the magic of the
family circle Is it complete without
mother ? Do we miss a sister What
makes the circle happy ?-woman. Bereft
Of her what would men do What could
they say so, woman, lovely woman !"
Mature made thee to temper man; we
had been brutes without thee !"
The power of woman is insurmountable;
her influence Irresistible; her congeriality
is indispensable. Without her man cannot
lvc-eXistence would be blank, a desert
waste; life's field would be barren, without
a single flower without a sole verdant
fruitful spot where he could in blissful Sc
curity rest his weary head, and in his
wrongs, and in his woes, and in his tolls,
I ba co1opo find