Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1873-04-19
The sexe. Contracted.

Love has no such sacredness, is inca
pable of such exaltatien with man as 1t
has and is with woman. To him 1t is
the appendage of egotism; it is fattered
vanity; it is selfshness CLOSED with
sentiment. He loves to be loved. She
loves to love. Hence, thrown together
under favorable circumstances, without
conspicuous impediments, they are in
peril Of qualification as the finder is in
peril from contiguous sparks. lmpressi-
bility and passiveness are in him; i'm
pulse and activity are in her. He AN
alyzes love, not difficult as it exists in
the sterner bosom, and to certain extent
masters it. To her it is the one thing
above all others that defies analysis; and
she Yields TO it in delicious abandon
ment. Experience has made him wise
in the emotions. She is but slight,ly
experienced, if at all; and, were she
thoroughly so, where is the wonderful
woman to whom every experience
is not a new revealment, startling
divination2 Romantic passion is very
serious with her at times. She IS
never quite prepared for it, even though
ahe believes herself an artist. And
when it comes to her early, it is fatetul
often, formative always. Mrch as she
may wheedle herself, she cannot play
with FIRE without being scorched. She
can regulate her glances, but her blood
will not obey her. The last act OF her
comedy will turn to tragedy. The
smiles of the morning may set in bitter
est tears. All about her oasis of coquet'
try lies the blistering sand OF desc
lation. Man argues woman can not be
trusted too far. Woman feels man may
not be trusted too near. All she says he
knows. All she knows he cannot guess.
He is delighted with her; she wonders at
him. She is the open page OF romance;
he the last of sibylline books. He. is to
her on vantage ground. Behind her,
mask as she may, is flood of light. de
sits half in the shadow, and beyond is
darkness she cannot penetrate. There
NAV be an equality of sex, can there
ever be equality of situation? She tights
nnhelmeted; he with his visor down
Ere the battle has begun he has won ii
halfby his understanding OF her tachcs;
and the other she loses through his i'm
posing feints. Scarcely any woman car
absorb a man. He is truant almost al
| Ways. She who would keep him musi
stay near, watch close. Even then his
thoughts msy wander. Her kisses or
his Inns may recall the kisses he has re
liuouished; may invite comparison; may
nerchance, excite regret. He is borT
4 inconstant. Fortunate the 0rlans who
can hold him to the end. His hunger
for abstract love is unsppeasable.. de nc
sooner sits at the banquet than he
dreams of the feasts that seem daintle'
i because distant. A morbid epicprean
| he longs for foreign fruitage when th'
hoard before him Is fragrant with abund
ance. Man, though hckis by inherit,
anee, may be firm, frequently is, throGIGl
discinlins. No finer models than pc hal
set Of perfect loyalty, Of absolute devo
tion. He has bean a|l that, woman
wanted, would or could haFe asked; dc
has been, is, and will be an exeqplaE o
fidelity, inspiring and merltlng lmplG:l
confidence. But his tendency, his dis
position, not his conduct, is here at issue
| lie is to be judged, as to stability
by comparison, with his sister, mao
through misrsport the owner OF nj
neculiar weakness, - JaRius HenT
| 10. -Oipus