Thus,
the intellect of the one is cultivated at the expense of the
affections, and the affections of the other at the expense
of the intellect.
It is unquestionable that the highest qualities of woman are
displayed in her relationship to others, through the medium of her
affections. She is the nurse whom nature has given to all
humankind. She takes charge of the helpless, and nourishes and
cherishes those we love. She is the presiding genius of the
fireside, where she creates an atmosphere of serenity and
contentment suitable for the nurture and growth of character in
its best forms. She is by her very constitution compassionate,
gentle, patient, and self-denying. Loving, hopeful, trustful,
her eye sheds brightness everywhere. It shines upon coldness
and warms it, upon suffering and relieves it, upon sorrow
and cheers it:--
"Her silver flow
Of subtle-paced counsel in distress,
Right to the heart and brain, though undescried,
Winning its way with extreme gentleness
Through all the outworks of suspicion's pride."
Woman has been styled "the angel of the unfortunate." She is
ready to help the weak, to raise the fallen, to comfort the
suffering. It was characteristic of woman, that she should have
been the first to build and endow an hospital. It has been said
that wherever a human being is in suffering, his sighs call a
woman to his side.
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