The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1875-11-19
Women as Writers.

ROSA V. Ralston in the Sunny Soulful
1t is now almost universally conceded
that the powers of woman's mind are
not inferior to those of men, but only
different. 1t is even granted by men of
intellect that for richness of imagina-
tiou and delicacy of fancy she is supe-
rior. Some one has sagaciOusly OBJ
served that the 'fmaginative disposition
belongs to the feminine nature" and
that "if women have not criticised as
profoundly and created as grandly in
literature as men," it is probably owing
to the disparagement with which their
intellectual efforts have so long been
treated.
Men, owing to their association and
closer contact with the world at large,
may acquire in a wonderful degree the
power of depicting human nature as it
is; but there is in the productions of
women, both prose and poetry, beau
tiful blending of delicacy, pathOs, and
exquisite tenderness that is seldom
found in masculine productions. They
strike sympathetic chord in our hearts
that men seldom touch. Theirs is the
rare faculty of engaging the feelings,
taking possession of sensibilities, and
leading the reader, by fascination Of
.
and character, as deeply interested in
the beings of their creation, in their
Joys, sorrows, and various vicissitudes,
as though they were really possessed Of
life. Who that has ever read the soul
stirring Psyche" by the gifted but
comparatively little-knoWn Mrs. Tighe,
has not followed with undated eager
ness the ill-fated outcast, wandering
through forests and wildernesses, fiat
! tered and betrayed, till at last the gentle
soul, Escaped from tumult," scars
away to other worlds, where she receives
/ the Just rewards of her trials, sufferings
and temptations while on earth :?
Moore expressed his admiration of this
! touching poem in
"Tell me the witehing tale again,
| For never has my heart or ear
| Hung on so sweet, so pure strain
So pure to feel, so sweet TO hear"
No one can read the fervid and i'm
passioned lyrics of Mrs. Hemans and
fail to be impressed with a sense Of
! genius of the highest order. She al
ways seemed like strange, unearthly
being, who, having. swept over the
earth on short mission of love, emit
ting bright scintillations of beauty to
be admired and adored, left the world
forever to join the seraph choir. never
read the tender, pathetic and thrillingly
beautiful poems of Miss Landon, with
out wishing could have shared the
sorrows of the unfortunate poetess, or
averted the blow that took her from
earth. '
Among prose writer's, probably no
one was greater blessing to her fellow
creatures than the excellent Miss Edge
worth; and no one wrote with more
power, pursued with more unflagging
zeal, the instruction of the young, and
gave to the world more wholesome and
unselfish views on ethics and moral
principles than Mrs. Hannah More.
But it is not necessary to refer to de-
ceased writers alone for specimens OF
the purest and noblest type of feminine
genius, for it is a well-known fact that
to-day the greatest master writers OF
fiction, are women-George Eliot and
i George Sand. And in our own country
we see the productions of women en-
riching the pages of the best magazines,
papers, and periodicals; and they are
continually winning for themselves
bright laurels in the field of literature.
It would indeed seem that if men.
from their superior physical strength,
we're destined to WELD the sword more
powerfully in the field of battle, ii