Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1886-06-26

a p~atriotic heart; We Tan climb the
steep heights OF Purnassus or explore
tho ideal beauties of Utopia; rs swirl
as thought we can fly through all
space. travesc all a%uiccedent time, can
dwell in the crowded maris of the
world or roam far from their tempest.
uous strife. free mid scented fields and
have those glorious feelings
THAT now every form of air,
And every shape OF earth,
And come unbidden everywhere,
Like thoughts mysterious BIRTH
The creations of a cultured mind
gather like bright images in the dome
ofihought and nestle like gentle spir-
its in the palace of the soul. 10 such
minds there is no solitude-no sense
of loneliness: the pleasure Of thought,
the society OF nature, and the music Of
the spheres, all minister TO them and
they can feel
There is a pleasure in the painless woods,
There IL rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none %intrudes,
Ry the deep sea and music in its roar
In the great march OF intellectual
ideas, while man has been distinguish
Ell for his contributions TO philosophy,
science and history, woman has Ell.
riched and elevated our literature and
adorned our age with the products of
her mind, the grace of her manners
and the nobility of her nature.
Madam Dc'Stael, though unequal to
Mczzophante in the number of Ian.
guages she was able to speak, was yet
one of the most eminent literary char
%actcrs, not only of France, but Of En-.
rope. 1t is said on good authority,
that Byron borrowed from her the
ideas in his ode to the ocean, which is
not only the grandest part of Childc
Harold, but the grandest production
of his wonderful mind. These
thoughts, though not the words, had
their birth in her brain:
Roll on. thou deep and dark blue ocean
roll,
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain;
Man marks the earth with ruin-his con-
stops with the shore upon the watery
plain
The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth re-
main
4 shadow of mans rayagc, save his own,
When, for moment, like 4 drop of rain,
lie sinks into thy depths with bubbling
groan,
Without a grave, unkncllcd, uncoiiined,
and unknown.
Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure
brow,
Such as Creations dswn beheld, thou
rollcst now.
Thou glorious. mirror, where the Al
mighty'- form,
Glasses itself inEtempest in all time,
Calm or cOnyulsed-in breeze or gale or
storm.
Icing the pole, or in the torrid CLINE
Dark-heaving %boundIcss, endless and
sublime
The image of eternity-the throne
OF the Invisible, even from out thy slime
Tho monsters of the deep are made; each
Obcys thee: thou gocst forth, rdrcad, faith
omIess, alone.
Womanhood has furnished in phil.
anihropy a Florence Nightingale, in
painting a Rosa Bonheur, in aslrono-
my II Caroline llcrschcl, in poetry u
Mrs. Ilcmans and in prose a Charlotte
Bronte. These splendid specimens of
the coordinate quality of woman's
mind, though travcrsing fields not I'M
explored by man, Invaded no domain
intcrdictcd by the law of iccorum or
the rule of aesthetics. They exercised
their rare gifts with faultlcss propric-
" and upYucsiiOnablc taste, niid their
beautiful lives afford no example for n
state of society in which woman must
work and pursue occupations that
have. been assigned to man in every
aye OF the world, since civilization res.
cucd her from the drudgcrv imposed
bv barbaric or scmi-civilizcd custom.
II is not altogether n question of the
manual part OF the work itself, but il
is also a question of the surroundings
and conditions incident to places of
public employment. Can That sweet
modcsty which is at once the charm
and glory Of woman, flourish in such
m atmosphere? AS well might We
expect \ beautiful flower of the sun.lit
tropics to burgcon and blossom in the
chill night of an arctic region.
II is true that every kind and degree
OF knowledge that c imports with the
rules OF 4 cultivated and refined sOcie.
ty. enhances the charms, increases the
power of woman, and establishes her
more firmly rs u queen in her rigltful
realm; but il is also true that every dc.
parturc from these rules tends TO the
accumulation of forces that will ulli'
matcIv exile her from that glorious
sphere where the law of her creation
and the appreciation of n chivalrOus
manhood have alike placed her. Must
the charmed circle around wOman's
life be subjected to n rude invasion!
Must her hcavcn.bcqucathcd attrib.
utcs, so long paniclcd in glory, be drag
gca down and covered with the dust
ofa gross utilitariauism? Let us hope
that in the South the day is tar distant
when this idyl of her woes shall be
written.
Perhaps in no period has the world
been better and certainly no wiser thar
now. But we must remember, that
new Obligations and increased rcspOn.
sibilitirs are implied by every mquisi'
ton Of knowledge and every advance
in intellectual power. \ higher stand
ard of conduct and II s%trictcr perform.
ancc Of duty should he the .noi-clcss
heralls OF u upward and onward
march. The radiant influences of q
mind stored with the gems OF litcra.
turc fall like n halo of love on the I'm.
even and rugged paths ofiiic. lifting
our often tired and dropping natures
above the p%crpleXing questions of the
hour 10 n higher realm, where an al,
most sublimatcd fancy ran soar as on
eagles wings. a heart warmed by Tho
glow of such a mind shOuli beat in
sympathy with its fcllow-bcings, and
throh in unison with the great heart
OF Him who said at is finished" II
this is not so. that which should have
been the highest aim Of our existence
has been subordinate TO u purpose les,
noble, and submerged beneath tho
dark waves of time, to be wrecked on
the shore of eternity. The most pow