unobserved by foreigners; and smartly enough has it been said, that were a bridge thrown across our Channel, the whole sex would be seen rushing to the British shores. In many countries women are slaves; in some they hold the rank of mistresses; in others they are (what they should everywhere be) companions; but in England they are queens!

It was remarked by Steele, even in his time, that "by the gallantry of our nation, the women were the most powerful part of our people;" and assuredly, female influence, far from finding its becoming level, has been on the growth among us ever since. It is now in its "high and palmy state," and the star of Woman was perhaps never more in the ascendant than at this present writing). The influence of Englishwomen," as a cotemporary observes, "of attractive women" (and a large portion of our countrywomen are attractive) "is vast indeed: be they slaves or companions, sensual toys or reasoning friends, that influence is all but boundless."

§ 2.-Female influence necessarily exists by sufferance: it can only be by man's verdict that

it exists at all. And herein is the unaccountable part of the whole matter: there is actually some. thing stronger than strength,"

**And mighty hearts are held in slender chains." In the Moral Philosophy of Paley, there is a remark, so profoundly true, bearing upon our subject, that we cannot consent to hide it in a note. "Could we regard mankind," says that writer, “with the same sort of observation with which we read the natural history, or remark the manners of any other animal, there is nothung in the human character which would more supre us, than the almost-universal subjugation Desvagt de wwwss. Among men (in the complete use and exercise of their personal faculties) you see the ninety-and-nine toiling and scraping together a heap of superfluities for phy and this one, too, oftentimes the feeblest and worst of the whole set-a child, a Woman, a madman, or a fixi,“

And thus does Man too often the creature of passion, but never so much or completely so, as when Woman is its object yæld himself an unthinking victim: a most willing bond-slave here, he suffers his head to become the dupe to his pas

sions. How (perhaps many a man asks himself) should he look for harm, where he has garnered up his heart, and where his earliest, latest wishes centre? And yet we may love, like Othello, "not wisely, but too well;" we may make unto ourselves idols of the heart, that shall wean us (as they weaned the wisest of old) from sobriety and duty. If the enthusiasm of devotion has sometimes stooped to borrow the language of love, far more often has the madness of love dared to borrow the language of devotion. Like the father in Parnell, our affections may become criminal, and “erring fondness" of this kind, amiable though it be, has to abide its conProvidence never fails to avenge sequences.

any trespass on its own designs.

Led away "the captive of a face," "disturbed by a smile, or undone by a kiss;" a look sufficing to persuade, and a sigh to convince him : this is man's position!

"All they shall need, is to protest and swear,

Breathe a soft sigh, and drop a tender tear."

POPE.

Beauty has but to lecture through her tears, and with Dido of old, "ire iterum in lacrymas, ite

rum tentare precando," and resolution is no longer a manly virtue. We resist, and resist, and resist again, but at length turn suddenly round, and passionately embrace the enchantress.

Few are to be found who do not amuse themselves with a toy of some kind during every stage of life, and Woman (though perhaps as little enduring in outward charm as any other, and one that, if critically eyed, would not retain its divinity long,) is the most common and most fondled toy of all. How many, calling themselves men, are fooled by those who ought to be their comforters, preyed upon by harpies in guise of angels! The hypocrite affects attachment; the coquette trifles with feeling; the prude strikes at the judgment; while the less principled reprobate lays out her traps for heedless passion.

In their most trifling pursuits do women somehow manage to create an almost-universal in

terest; in all their ordinary doings, in their 'whereabouts,'-"leurs brouilleries leurs indiscrétions, leurs répugnances, leurs penchans, leurs jalousies, leurs piques;"-They have, in fine, continues the author we are quoting, "cet art

* Montesquieu.

qu'on les petites ames d'intéresser les grandes." Nor are those mere "women's fools"—the refuse of the other sex-who are led away blindfold thus: many of its chiefest ornaments are among their "following." The great and small seem equally content to shape their desires to female foolishness, and with one false tear (uná falsâ lacrymâ, quam vix vi expresserit,) a pretty woman can undo at a moment what the best and wisest of men have been labouring for years to establish.

"What is it Woman cannot do?

She'll make a statesman quite forget his cunning,
And trust his dearest secrets to her breast,
Where fops have daily entrance."

Where (apart from outward attractions) this especial fascination which belongs to women lies, it is difficult to determine; wearing, as it does, the garb of secret and speculative influence, it becomes too vague to submit to a definition,-and thus it bases itself on a foundation as difficult to examine as to shake. We cannot look into the heart; and where women are concerned, the heart is more especially an enigma.

Thus much, however, may safely be concluded: were women really strong, the contact