Woman in the Nineteenth Century

rest when connected with the eventful end of her eventful life. It was written many years be

r in its broader features. What is chiefly remarkable is his unconsciousness of his mental processes, and how thoughts it would be impossible for him to recall spring up in his mind like flowers and weeds in the soil. But to-night he was truly in a state of lyrical inspiration, his eyes flashing, his face glowing, and his whole composition chanted out in an almost metrical form. He began by mourning

from J

pleasant to be sure of it, because it is undoubtedly the same love that we shall f

nicht nach M

piritual, unprefaced by any mixture of lower instincts, undisturbed by any need of consulting temporal interests; its la

rong enough to feel. Her face was always gleaming before me; her voice was echoing in my ear; all poetic thoughts clustered round the dear image. This love was for me a key which unlocked many a treasure which I still possess; it was the carbuncle (emblematic gem!) which cast light into many of the darkest corners of human nature. She lo

senting Madame Recamier in her boudoir. I have so often

ng; her lovely face is turned towards us; she appears to muse on what she has been reading. When we see a woman in a picture with a book, she seems to be doing precisely that for which she was born; the book gives such an expression of purity to the female figure. A large window, partially veiled by a white curtain, gives a view of a city at some little distance. On on

e is nothing which shows a taste more noble and refined than you would expect from the fair Frenchwoman. All is ele

er M

. 5,

our hundred dollars that -- will need. If I do not stay, I will let her have my portion of our income, with her own, or even capital which I have a right to take up, and come into this or some other economical place, and

too. I feel increasing trust in mine own good mind. We will take good care of the children and of one another. Never fear to trouble me with your perplexities. I ca

ffecti

daugh

f Lett

ce, Oct.

ld, the events of every day, which no one can predict, are to be your teachers, and you must, in some degree, give yourself up, and submit t

s or great errors. I think, upon the whole, quite highly of your judgment about people an

nk you are too little so. There is nothing so fatal to the finer faculties as too ready or too extended a publicity. There is some danger lest there be no real religion in the heart which craves too muc

ur conclusions. Do not write down merely that things are beautiful, or the reverse; but what they are, and why they are beautiful or otherwise; and show these paper

read, addressed rather to the taste and imagination than the judgment. The love of beauty has rather an undue deve

ling, keeping the house, directing the servants; all that will bring you worlds of wisdom if you keep it subordinate to the o

sion; your character condensation. Keep your high aim steadily in view; life will open the path to reach it. I think --, even if she be

rother,

ce, Feb.

DEA

er constantly to do right; they are rivals, but never jealous of one another. One has the quicker intellect, the other is the prettier. I have never had occasion to find fault with either, and the forwardness of their minds has induced me to take both into my reading-class, where they are as

he S

lain, Dec

sition more in detail. The most important rule is, in all relations with our fellow-creatures, never forget that, if they

ful as to strict truth in this regard, towards children, than to persons of your own age; for, to the child, the parent or teacher is the representative of

mmar well, as I saw you aimed

they may be present to their imaginations, and the nobl

aracters of great men; they best interpre

beware of over great pleasure in being popular, or even beloved. As far as an amiable disposition and powe

h, lest I make you averse to write

Broth

a mind. Drudgery is as necessary, to call out the treasures of the mind, as harrowing and planting those of the earth. And be

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8

ll not deny, though you may not yet believe the truth of my words when I say you go to an extreme in your denunciations of cities and the social institutions. These are a growth also, and,

be eventual good, could we but see far enough to discern it. In maintaining perfect truth to ourselves and choosing that mode of being which suits us, we had best leave others alone as much as may be. You prefer the country, and I doubt not it is on the whole a better condition of life to live there; but at the count

, towards the city, I saw very distinctly that the city al

oung F

, May 2

mniated, will take excellent care of us if we will let them. The wisdom lies in schooling the heart not to expect too much. I did that good thing when I came here, and I am rich. On Sunday I drove to Watertown with the author of "Nature." The trees were still bare, but the little birds care not for that; they revel, and

es so sweetly on all hearty, good people. I play with him a go

hfully yo

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8

e dark hour, nor think you forsaken, if cast down. Though your letter of Wednesday was very sweet to me, yet I knew it could not last as it was then. These hours of heavenly, h

ut your mother; yet I cannot but remember the bootless fear and agitation about my mother, and how strangely our destinies were guided. Take refuge in prayer when you are most troubled; the door of the sanctuary will never b

when she, a child, needed such companionship, and required her to bend almost unceasingly over her books. This impression has, certainly in part, arisen from an autobiographical sketch, never written for publication nor intended for a literal or complete statement of her father's educational method, or the relation which existed between them, which was most loving and true on both sides. While the narrative i

e urged into the usual sports of children, and the company of those of her own age; if not urged to enter these she was never excluded from either. She needed to be kept from books for a period, or to be led to those of a lighter cost than such as she read, and which usually task the thoughts of mature men. This simply was not done, and the error arose from no lack of tenderness, or consideration, from no lack of the wisdom of those times, but from the simple fact that the laws of physiology as connected with those of mind were not understood then as now, nor was attention so much directed to physical culture as of the primary importance it is now regarded. Our father was indeed exact and strict with himself and others; but none has ever been more devoted to his children than he, or more painstaking with

tten in M

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Broth

of the very few persons known to me by reputation, whose acquaintance might enrich me. His character was a sufficient answer to the dou

oung F

ce, June

his sort; five years ago I had no idea of the languor and want of animal spirits which torment me now. Animal spirits are not to be despised. An earnest mind and seekin

made the address; it was a noble appeal in behalf of the best interests of culture, and seemingly

the best dispositions, if not the best preparation, on the part of the

g, to get sight of any expanse of green. I had no fine weather while at home, though the quiet and rest were delightful to

nn

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eet, still watc

onely now, ye

ne, which from th

joy that in th

thy friend. Fro

exhalations

dim my dusty

ll; some plaint

their native g

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d, strewn with

omance, like t

secret grove

ft, how steeped in poesy!

he S

ce, Oct.

urden of family cares pressed upon me; I was in the midst of society, and obliged to act my part there as well as I could. At that time I took up the study of German, and my progress was like the rebound of a string pressed a

n were so far aloof from common life, that on my return my fall was like that of the eagle, whi

re wholly unnecessary. But I have lived to know that the secret of all things is pain, and that nature travaileth most painfully with her noblest product. I was not without hours of deep spiritual insight, and c

had acquired the thought of each object which had been taken from me; that more extended personal relations would only have given me pleasures which then seemed not worth my care, and which would surely have dimmed my sense of the spiritual meaning of all which had passed. I felt how true it was that nothing in any bei

al scene last month interpreted. The rosy clouds of illusion are all vanished; the moon has waxed to full. May my life be a church, full of devout thoughts end solemn music. I pray thus, my d

he S

Plain, J

blood to my head. I had headache two of the three days we were there, and yet I enjoyed my stay very much. We had the rocks

h that frenzied headache which you are so unlucky as to know, covered my head with wet towels, and went to bed. After dinner I was better, and we went to the Spouting-horn. C-- was perched close to the fissure, far above me, and, in a pale green dress, she looked like the nymph of the place. I lay down on a rock, low in the water, where I could hear the twin harmonies of the sucking of the water into the spout, and the washing of the surge on the foot of the rock. I never passed a more delightful afternoon. Clouds of pearl and amber were slowly drifting across the sky, or resting a while to dream, like me, near the water. Opposite me, at considerable distance, was a line of rock, along which the billows of the advancing tide chased one another, and leaped up exultingly as they were about to break. That night we had a sunset of the gorgeous, autumnal kind, and in the evening very brilliant moonlight; but

he S

Plain, A

but the sickness of the immortal soul, and shall by-and-by be cast aside like a film. I think this is the great step of our life,-to change the nature of our self-reliance. We find that the will cannot conquer circumstances, and that our temporal nature must vary its hue here with the food that is given it. Only out of mulberry leaves will the silk-worm spin its thread fine and durable. The mode of our existence is not in our own power; but behind it is the immutable essence that cannot be tarnished; and to hold fast to

he S

u act differently; far better is it for me to have my child faithful to duty than even to have her with me. Such was the lesson I taught her in a better hour. I am abashed to think how often lately I have found excuses for indolence

- to

ecoils, exe

e gods to

ile with garl

come to help or soothe me; for I shall have helped and soothed myself. Indeed, I would not so willingly that you should see my short-comings as know that they exist. Pray that I may never

Broth

e, Augus

ight, where the eagle soars, and the thunder resounds in long peals from side to side; where the grasp of a more powerful emotion has rent asunder the rocks, and the long purple shadows fall like a broad wing upon the valley. All places, like all persons, I know, have beauty; but only in some scenes, and with some people, can I expand and feel myself at home. I feel all this the more for having passed my earlie

to th

e, July

have exhausted her invention in crowding it with all kinds of growths, from the richest trees down to the most delicate plants. It divides the river which there sweeps along in clear and glittering current, between noble parks, richest green lawns, pictured rocks crowned with old hemlocks, or smooth bluffs, three hundred feet high, the most beautiful of all. Two of these,-the Eagle's Nest, and the Deer's Walk, still the resort of the grand and beautiful creature from which they are named,-were the scene of some of the happiest hours of my life. I had no idea, from verbal description, of the beauty of these bluffs, nor can I hope to give any to others. They lie so magnificently bathed i

es, of the heavenly sweetness of the prairie scenes, and, above all, by the heavenly region where I would so gladly have lived. My health,

nately a

Mis

August

you, apprizing me how you are this summer, but a letter from Mrs. F-- lately c

alady disturbs you as much as it did, it must wear on your strength very much, and it seems in itself dangerous. However, it is good to think that your composure is s

little wants and adventures of country life as you see it in this region; so that each one awakens a healthy interest; and the same persons who, if I saw them at these hotels, would not have a word to say that could fix the attention, become most pleasing companions; their topics are before them, and they take the hint. You feel so grateful, too, for the hospitality of the log-cabin; such gratitude as the hospitality of the rich, however generous, cannot inspire; for these wait on you with their domestics and money, and give of their superfluity only; but here the Master gives you his bed, his horse, his lamp, his grain from the field, his all, in short; and you see that he enjoys doing so thoroughly, and takes no thought for the morrow; so that you

bably, too, I shall reserve a visit to B-- for another summer; I have bee

you

he S

, January

give very favorable accounts of your looks; and, if you are well enough, I should like to see a few of those firm, well-shaped charac

urely I never had so clear an idea before of the capacity to bless, of mere Earth, when fresh from the original breath of the creative spirit. To have this impression, one must see large tracts of wild country, where the traces of man's inventions are too few and slight to break the harmony of the first design. It will not be so, long, even where I have b

reless life in the open air, has yielded to the chills of winter, and a very little work, with an ease that is not encouraging. However, I

ick or well, you are always serene, and sufficient to yourself; but now you are so much sh

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*

tically, for the suffering, but having such an organ of expression as the Tribune, any suggestions that are well grounded may be of use. I have always felt great interest for those women who are trampled i

which you will receive a copy, called "Woman in the Nineteenth Century." A part of my available time is spent in attending to it as it goes through the press; for, really, the work seems but half done when your book is written. I like being here; the streams of life flow free, and I l

n uncorrupted disposition, and of great, abilities. In modes of life an

ate of your health. Love to Miss G--, and tell her I have the cologne-bottle on my mantle-piece now. I sent home for all the little gifts I had from friends, that my room might look more homelike. My window commands a mo

ectionat

Broth

anding, No

AR

*

ks since I went down to New York, and with -- visited the prison at Sing-Sing. On Saturday we went up to Sing-Sing in a little way-boat, thus seeing that side of the river to much gre

ved to tears,-some, I doubt not, to a better life. I never felt such sympathy with an audience;-as I looked over that sea of faces marked wit

or refinement. These women-some black, and all from the lowest haunts of vice-show

storm on the river, clear

rother,

Jan. 2

settlement; but it is to be hoped we shall some time know a good reason for all that seems so strange. I trust you are now becoming fortified in your health, and if this could only be, feel as if things woul

visit there. Your invitation is sweet in its tone, and rouses

hildren. Watch over her carefully, and don't let her do too much. Her spirit is onl

Maz

ppresentante del

March

persuasion that the best friends, in point of sympathy and intelligence,-the only friends of a man of ideas and of marked character,-must be w

ous that you are about to enter republican Rome as a Roman citizen. It seems almost the most sublime and poeti

but to see your thought springing up all over the soil. The gardeners seem to me, in point of instinctive wisdom or deep thought, mostly incompetent to the care of the garden; but on idea like this will be able to make use of any implements. The necessity, it is to be hoped, will educate the men, by making them work. It is not this, I believe, which still keeps your heart so melancholy; for I seem to read the same melancholy in your answer to the Roman assembly, You speak of "few and l

he tree grow not up into the heavens." Men like you, appointed ministers, must not be less earnest in th

am an American, I am not even a woman of action; so the best I can do is to pray with the whole heart,

And Mrs

, Dec. 1

dly dream; you that have three, in whom the natural thirst of the heart was earlier satisfied, can scarcely know what my one ewe-lamb is to me. That he may live, that I may find bread for

r it would be of some worth or not; of my child, I must wait to see what his worth will be. I play with him, my ever-growing mystery! but from the solemnity of the thoughts he brings i

*

keep my hands free from blood. Cobden is good; but if he had stood in Kossuth's place, would he not have drawn his sword against the Austrian? You, could you let a Croat insult your wife, carry off your son to be an Austrian serf, and leave your daughter bleeding in the dust? Yet it is true that while Moses slew the Egyptian, Christ stood still

no way, I felt I should have shrunk back,-I could not have had it shed. Christ did not have to see his dear

hese are not the things one regrets. It does not do to calculate too closely with the affectionate human

Broth

e, Jan.

ke the voyage in May or June. At first we should wish to go and make a little visit to mother. I should take counsel with various friends before fixing myself in any place; see what openings there are for me, &c. I cannot judge at all before I am personally in the United States, and wish to engage myself no way. Should I finally decide on the neighborhood of New York, I should see you all, often. I wish, however, to live with mother, if possible. W

iends are in New England. I shall weigh all advant

here, furnishing a thousand masters to correct our erroneous, and fill up our imperfect, teachings. I feel impelled to try for good, for the sake of my child, most powerfully; but if I fail, I trust help will be tendered to him from some other quarter. I do not wish to trouble myself more than is inevitable, or lose the simple, innocent pleasure of watching his growth from day

armonious his whole nature. And he is a perfectly unconscious character, and never dreams that he does well. He is studying English, but makes little progress. For

-

spent,-I had not done my duty to myself or others, and I felt so lonely! Now I never feel lonely; for, even if my little boy dies, our souls will remain eternally united. And I feel infinite hope for him,-hope tha

ican circle, and should not care to make any unless singularly desirable; for I want all my time for the care of my child, for my walks, and visits to objects of art, in which again I can

And M

e, Feb.

sions naturally, when they see us together. I have faith that all who ever knew me will feel that I have become somewhat milder, kinder, and more worthy to serve all who need, for my new relations. I have expected that those who have cared for me chiefly for my activity of intellect, would not care for him; but that those in whom the moral nature predominates would gradually learn to l

nity. He is too truly the gentleman not to be respected by all persons of refinement. For the rest, if my life is free, and not too much troubled, if he can enjoy his domestic affections, and fulfil his duties in his own way, he will be content. Can we find this much for ourselves in bustling America the next three or four years? I know not, but think we shall come and try. I wish much to see you all, and exchange the kiss of peace. There will, I trust, be peace within, if not without. I thank you most warmly for your gift. Be assured it will turn to great profit. I have learned to be a great adept in economy, by looking at my little boy. I cannot bear to spend a cent for fear he may come to want. I understand now

w her, she might enrich the world with a portrait as full of little delicate traits as any in her gallery, and of a higher class than any in wh

D'affaires Des Eta

e, May

led Rome. What a crowded day that was! I had been to visit Ossoli in the morning, in the garden of the Vatican. Just after my return you entered. I then went to the hospital, and there passed the eight amid the groans of many suffering and some dying men. What a strange first of May it was, as I walked the stre

lived here always, full of bright visions, and expanding in my faculties, had destiny perm

Florence. Since the 4th of April we have not had a fine day, and all our little plans for visits

lhoun. Adieu! Remember that we look to you to keep up the dignity of our country. Many important occasions are now likely to offer for the American (I wish I could

-

, April

s to make arrangements that may free me from care. Shall I be more fortunate if I go in person? I do not know. I am ill adapted to push my claims and pretensions; but, at least, it wil

ation to see my dear mother; and my dear brother E., whom I have not seen for ten y

*

, which I had been borrowing; but about my child I feel anxious lest I should not take what is necessary for his health and comfort on so long a voyage, where omissions are irreparable. Th

aring that may not be permitted in my "cross-biased" life, till strength of feeling

ize most. I am so sad and weary, l

he S

, off Gibralta

and the courage of womanly heroism: The last days were truly terrible with disgusts and fatigues; for he died, we suppose,-no physician has been allowed to come on board to see the body,-of confluent small-pox. I have seen, since we parted, great suffering, but nothing physical to be compared to this, where the once fair and expressive mould of man is thus lost in corruption before life has fled. He died yesterday morning, and was buried in deep water, the American Consul's barge towing out one from this ship which bore the body, about six o'clock. It was Sunday. A divinely calm, glowing afternoon had succeeded a morning of bleak, cold wind. You cannot think how beautiful the whole thing was:-the decent array and sad reverence of the sailors; the many ships with their banners flying; the stern pillar of Hercules all bathed in roseate vapor; the little white sails diving into the blue depths with that solemn spoil of the good man, so still, when he had been so agonized and gasping as the last sun s

iend, M

, United States Charge D'affaire

Unis d'Amerique,

of the -- ult., and to express my regret that the weak state o

tly, the circumstances connected with my acquaintance with the late

lians alone, thirteen thousand refugees within the walls of the city, all of whom had been expelled from adjacent states, till Rome became their last rallying-point, and, to many, their final resting-place. Among these was to be seen every variety of age, sentiment, and condition,-striplings and blanched heads; wild, visionary enthusiasts; grave, heroic men, wh

n that occasion, and for the first time, of Miss Fuller's presence in Rome, and of her solitary mode of life, I ventured to call upon her, and offer my services in any manner that might conduce to her comfort and security.

erintendence of several ladies of high rank, who had formed themselves into associations, the better to ensure care and attention to those unfortunate men. Miss Fuller took an active part in this nob

ce that nothing of tenderness and attention was wanting to soothe their last moments. And I have heard many of those who recovered speak with all the passionate fervor of the Italian nature, of her whose sympathy and compassion, throughout their long illness, fulfilled all the offices of love and affection. Mazzini, the chief of the Triumvirate, who, better than any man in Rome, knew her worth, often expressed to me his admiration of her high character; and the Princess Belgiojoso. to whom was assigned the charge of the Papal Palace, on the Quiri

esent, and, in the event of her death, to transmit it to her friends in the United States. She then stated that she was married to Marquis Ossoli, who was in command of a battery on the Pincian Hill,-that being the highest and most exposed position in Rome, and directly in the line of bombs from the French camp. It was not to be expected, she said, that he could escape the dangers of another night, such as the last; and therefore it was her intention to remain with h

e. On that day the French army entered Rome, and, the gates being opened, Madame Ossoli, accompanied by the Marquis, immediately pr

ed until her ill-fated departure for the United States. During this period I received several letters from her

me, very r

edient

CASS

nd