forgotten. Nay, even more, they are stifled and crushed out, for the time. She acts independently of them, without the power of resistance—without knowledge or volition. Alone, by herself, she does bravest battle against that which is at once woman's bliss and her destruction; but to turn her back upon the man she loves-if she does that, she is too inferior a woman to be worth any man's thought or love. A true woman-one in whom there is genuine nobility-finds more sweetness in trusting than in doubting; and to doubt her lover, when all the vehemence of her heart and soul are stirred, is to her the greatest and the most damning sin she can commit. She may doubt the propriety of a thing, and argue against it mentally, but set her pulses throbbing, and thenaway with rationality! Repentance may be and nearly always is hers, but resistance-never! Woman plunges into sensuous sin with all her faculties dulled and blunted, save those which impel her on. She does not act indifferently, but unconsciously. Man, in this, is directly her opposite; he acts recklessly, and regardless of consequences. With woman, there are for the time no consequences. Every fiber of her being has been set vibrating, and, no longer a rational, reasoning creature, she goes on as if swept forward by a resistless stream, into the very thing from which her delicacy shrinks in her calmer moments. Man sins voluntarily and against the constant admonitions of his conscience. Indifference is the same to him that tenderness and quivering sensibilities are to woman: only, in the end, she weeps bitter tears of woe and repentance, while his indifference still stands him in good stead. It is generally the nature of man to be indifferent. That is the reason why man's love seldom lasts beyond his honeymoon. And perhaps it is wisest so. If man's nature was as tender, clinging, and sympathetic as woman's, commerce would have never been organized; because, with the propensities and finer sensibilities of the two sexes alike, man could never tear himself away from the recipient of his caresses, and so the great world of business would stand still. Those whose glimpses at life are wholly superficial, cannot, of course, understand this; but no man or woman with enough courage to look below the surface can fail to see that I have spoken the truth. I do not believe that it is conscience which keeps woman from or makes her regret excesses, mental or otherwise, but that it is the same exquisiteness of soul which ever sends her in the direction which the world calls wrong. She sins and she suffers, and both from the same cause. She suffers because the sin she does shocks and hurts the same sensibilities whose pulses tempt her into sin. Man stifles and smothers his conscience willfully-premeditatedly. It is a hard battle for him, but it is one which he never has to fight the second time. With the first blow, his conscience is wounded past healing, and each succeeding shock but dulls and blunts him the more, until his indifference is as complete as a piece of fine art. With woman no such thing is possible: at the first plunge, she resolves herself into two distinct and separate personalities. One is seeming indifference, the other is a perfection of misery and degradation which deepens and increases with each new sin-almost with each successive breath. From this she never redeems herself; suffering becomes a part of her existence, and the clashing continues upon the tender, sensitive, and vibrant chords of her heart until death breaks the last one. GEORGE SAND. ར. TWO PRIVATE UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF LINCOLN. In looking over the papers of the late Hon. Henry E. Dummer, of Jacksonville, formerly Beardstown, Illinois, thirteen autograph letters of Lincoln were recently found, among which these two are of historical interest: SPRINGFIELD, November 18, 1845. FRIEND DUMMER: Before Baker left, he said to me, in accordance with what had long been an understanding between him and me, that the track for the next congressional race was clear to me, so far as he was concerned; and that he would say so publicly in any manner, and at any time I might desire. I said, in reply, that as to the manner and time, I would consider awhile and write him. I understand friend Delahay to have already informed you of the substance of the above. I now wish to say to you that if it be consistent with your feelings, you would set a few stakes for me. I do not certainly know, but I strongly suspect, that Gen' Hardin wishes to run again. I know of no argument to give me a preference over him unless it be "Turn about is fair play." The Pekin paper has lately nominated or suggested Hardin's name for governor, and the Alton paper, noticing that, indirectly nominates him for Čongress. I wish you would, if you can, see that, while these things are handed about among the papers, the Beardstown paper takes no stand that may injure my chance, unless the Conductor really prefers Gen' Hardin, in which case, I suppose, it would be fair. Let this be confidential, and please write me in a few days. Yours as ever, A. LINCOLN. The Baker mentioned in the letter was the famous Colonel E. D. Baker, who afterward was Senator from California, and the General Hardin referred to, was John J. Hardin, who fell at Buena Vista, in the Mexican War. Lincoln was elected to Congress the year after this letter was written. It is a little strange to note the fact, that these three men, Hardin, Baker, and Lincoln, thus grouped together, represented the same district in Congress in the order named, their district being the only Whig district in the then strongly Democratic State of Illinois. Another singular coincidence is the fact that each of the three met with a tragic end; Hardin at the battle of Buena Vista, Baker at Ball's Bluff, and Lincoln at the assassin's hand. The following letter marks a sort of epoch in the history of the Republican Party. Lincoln and his party moved on pretty rapidly from the position indicated in the letter! Neither he nor any one else could foresee the course events were to take in the next five years. SPRINGFIELD, August 5, 1858. FRIEND DUMMER: Yours, not dated, just received. No accident preventing, I shall be at Beardstown on the 12th. I thank you for the contents of your letter generally. I have not time now to notice the various points you suggest, but I will say I do not understand the Republican Party to be committed to the proposition "No more Slave States." I think they are not so committed. Most certainly they prefer there should be no more, but I know there are many of them who think we are under obligations to admit Slave States from Texas, if such shall be presented for admission; but I think the party, as such, is not committed either way. Your friend as ever, A. LINCOLN. It was less than five years from the date of this letter that Lincoln penned the Emancipation Proclamation. C. HARRY DUMMER. Twenty-five cents per week will carry a $5,000 accident policy with $25 weekly indemnity in The United States Mutual Accident Association, in a preferred occupation. $13 will pay for a year in advance, for which a deposit receipt will be given. Thousands pay in this way, and thus remove any objection to bi-monthly assessments. All advance payments are placed in Trust Fund, in The Ninth National Bank and Central Trust Company. It is not possible to make so good an investment in any other way as by procuring a policy in this Association, which is the cheapest, largest, and best in the world. Statistics show that you are twenty-four times more liable to an accident than your dwelling is to burn. Over $200,000 losses have been paid during the past twelve months. No valid claim remains due and unpaid. Over thirty thousand leading business men of the United States are now members of the Association. CHAS. B. PEET, JAS. R. PITCHER, President. Secretary. |