rive by successive steps at our own times. Unquestionably such a labour required talents which I do not possess; but the subject itself, perhaps, is a sufficient plea for the indulgence which I must claim. I shall pity that calm frigidity of soul, that can read, without interest, this essay on the history of a sex which has created the felicity of all ages; of a sex adored by youth, esteemed by mature age, and respected and cherished by the old, with the hope that it will afford a charm and consolation to his last moments. WOMEN, &c. ADAM AND EVE. THE first woman was destined to be the companion of man, and his equal; to live by him and for him, to participate in his happiness and his pleasures, and share in the power which he exercised over the surrounding creation ;-such was the situation. assigned to her, by the Creator, near her husband, and such were the numerous and endearing relations established between the sexes. These relations served to unite two beings in one, and allowed two minds to have but one will; sometimes, indeed, they were permitted to have opposite inclinations, with a view of leading them to make by turns some sacrifices and mutual concessions, as the foundation of that ineffable felicity which it is impossible for man to describe, as God alone has been able to conceive it. This delightful attachment, this tender union of minds, could not have existed without an equal participation of rights and of power. For as among the vast springs of the universe all is perfect harmony, and every thing is made to correspond, to be subservient, and in unison, so that no one part can control the other;—in like manner these two first of human beings, for whom so many wonders appear to have been produced, lived and loved, enjoyed the sweetest delights, and worshipped the Creator together; so that neither of them could form the idea of possessing the least authority and dominion over the other. We cannot but admire, likewise, the profound wisdom * -Vix liceat verbis attingere fatum, PROSPER. two sexes. of the eternal decrees in the equitable distribution of natural gifts between the To one are allotted the powers of bodily strength, and to the other those of benignity and beauty. So long as they continued innocent, these powers constituted in each of them an equal capacity for the enjoyment of happiness; and after they had been reduced by their disobedience to a state of suffering and affliction they enabled them, with like efficacy, to struggle with calamity;-the one by a courage, perhaps more energetic, the other by that valuable quality of unwearied patience which seemed to exhaust the powers of the misfortune itself, rather than the energies of the mind it had aimed to depress. The first crime was, however, at length committed; and God, according to the Scripture, said to the woman, "Hitherto thou hast been the companion of man, but henceforth thou shalt be subject not only to the will, but also to the passions and |