She marks them unheeding-her heart is afar, Where the clansmen are bleeding for her in the war. Hark! loud from the mountain 't is victory's cry! With foreheads unruffled the conquerors come Ye saw him at morning, how gallant and gay! But, O! for the maiden who mourns for that chief, Ye maidens attending, forbear to condole! GERALD GRIFFIN (altered). LXXXIX. -THE SUITOR DISENCHANTED. "O, LAURA! will nothing I bring thee E'er soften those looks of disdain? Are the songs of affection I sing thee All doomed to be sung thee in vain? I offer thee love the sincerest, The warmest, ere glowed upon earth; O! smile on thy votary, dearest ! O! crush not his hope in its birth!" But the maiden, a haughty look flinging, For I'm not very partial to singing; And they 're poor whose sole treasure is love!" FREEDOM FOR EUROPE. My name will be sounded in story; I have fought in the proud field of glory; But the maiden said, "Cease to impor'tune; Ah! fame's but a pitiful fortune And hearts are such valueless things!" "O, Laura, forgive if I've spoken For my My uncle- died only to-day! My uncle, the nabob-who tended My youth with affectionate care, My manhood-who kindly - befriended, Has died -and-has left me - his heir!" And the maiden said, "Weep not, sincerest! It shall bend to another than you. -good-by!" XC.-FREEDOM FOR EUROPE. CAN tyrants but by tyrants conquered be, Sprang forth a Pallas, armed and undefiled? 397 ANON. * To preserve the metrical harmony and the rhyme of the verse, the accent in this word must be here put on the second syllable; but the proper pronunciation is im-por-tune'. Or must such minds be nourished in the wild, Of cataracts, where nursing Nature smiled But France got drunk with blood to vomit crime; To Freedom's cause, in every age and clime,— And the base pageant, last upon the scene, Which nips life's tree, and dooms man's worst—his second fall! Yet, Freedom! yet thy banner, torn, but flying, BYRON. XCI. TOO LATE I STAYED. Too late I stayed-forgive the crime; How noiseless falls the foot of Time What eye with clear account remarks When all its sands are diamond sparks, Ah! who to sober measurement W. R. SPENCER. PART ELEVENTH.-DEBATES. I. ARE THE MENTAL CAPACITIES OF THE SEXES EQUAL? The following debate is arranged for seventeen speakers, including the Chairman. There should be seats for all those who are to take part in the debate, the Chairman being distinguished from the rest by being more elevated in his position, and having a table or desk before him. Should there not be room on the stage for all the debaters, some can sit grouped on the floor adjoining. Every speaker as he rises should try to catch the eye of the Chairman, and the latter should check every tendency to confusion by rapping on the table, and calling gentlemen to order. To give an air of spontaneousness to the debate, several speakers may at times rise at once, erying "Mr. Chairman." The Chairman should be courteous and attentive to all, but prompt in his decisions, and energetic in maintaining them. Occasional applause, or indications of dissent, are allowable. In English assemblies for discussion, the cry of "hear! hear!" is often uttered; sometimes ironically, and sometimes in token of approbation and encouragement. At similar assemblies in the United States this custom is not general. The Chairman. Gentlemen, I feel very highly the honor you have done me by placing me in the chair. I will not waste your time, however, by inflicting a speech upon you, but will proceed at once to the proper business of the meeting. The question we are to discuss is as follows (Reads from a roll of paper): "Are the mental capacities of the sexes equal?" I beg to call upon the Opener to commence the debate. I have only to add that I hope the discussion will be carried on in a manner befitting the importance and gravity of the subject. (The Chairman resumes his seat amid applause, and the Opener rises.) The Opener. Sir, in rising to open the question which has been put from the chair, I assure you that I feel the need of much indulgence, and I hope that I shall not be denied it. I expect no small amount of reproach and con'tu-mely for the part I mean to take in this debate; for I know the gallantry of many of my friends around me, and I fully make up my mind to smart under the weight of it. However, I will meet my fate boldly, at all events; I will declare, at once, that I am a believer in the mental inferiority of the ladies. (0! O! met by cries of hear! hear!) And, if my clamorous friends will let me, I will endeavor to prove that I am right. I will take my proofs from history. Which shines the brighter, the male sex or the female? Look among sovereigns - Where is the female Cæsar? - the female Alfred? the female Alexander?—the female Napoleon? Or take legislators-What woman have we to compare with Sōlon or Lycurgus? with Washington or Hamilton? Or take the glorious list of orators. Can you point to a female Demos'the-nēs, or Mirabeau, or Chatham, or Patrick Henry, or Webster? No, sir! The ladies may have the gift of the-I beg pardon-the gift of loquacity, but not of eloquence. Where are the female philosophers, moreover? Where is their Soc'ra-tes, their Plato, their Newton, their Jonathan Edwards? Where is their great discoverer-their Columbus, their Franklin, their Herschel, their Daguerre? Where their great inventor their Fulton, their Morse, their Whitney? In literature, too, names those of the fairer, or the sterner sex? peare, Milton, Wordsworth, Campbell, Irving, writers equal these? (Hear! hear!) are the great Homer, Shakswhat lady I shall not enter into the philosophical part of the question at all. Facts are the strongest arguments, and these I have produced. Besides, I dare say that some of my supporters will choose that view of the matter, and into their hands I am quite willing to resign it. I feel that I should weaken my cause were I to say more. I therefore commit the question to your fair and full discussion, quite convinced that a just conclusion will at length be arrived at. (Applause.) Second Speaker. Sir, my friend, who has just resumed his seat, has regarded this question as it is answered by history: I will view it by the light of reason and philosophy. I think, then, that women were meant to be inferior to men. The female of every kind of animal is weaker than the male, and why should a distinction be made with the human species? (Hear!) The sphere which the female is called upon to fill is the domestic one. To rule and to command is the sphere of man. He is here to govern and to guide. Now, the exercise of authority requires greater mental power than the duties of the other sex demand; and I think that man would not have been called upon to rule, had not greater power been conferred upon him. Where would be the unutterable delight that now dwells in the magic word "HOME," if woman were more intellectually subtle than she is? All these true joys would be lost to us; and woman, instead of earning our gratitude and affection by creating them, would be studying metaphysics, diving into theology, or searching out new stars. It seems to me that the very happiness of the world depends upon the inequalities and differences existing in the minds of the sexes, and therefore I shall vote with my friend the Opener. (Applause.) |