Luther has sketched the most beautiful picture of the nature, and ends, and duties of the wedded life I ever read. St. Paul says it is a great symbol, not mystery, as we translate it.[1]
[Footnote 1:
Greek: —— ]
* * * * *
"Most women have no character at all," said Pope[1] and meant it for satire. Shakspeare, who knew man and woman much better, saw that it, in fact, was the perfection of woman to be characterless.
Every one wishes a Desdemona or Ophelia for a wife,—creatures who, though they may not always understand you, do always feel you, and feel with you.
[Footnote 1:
"Nothing so true as what you once let fall—
'Most women have no character at all,'—
Matter too soft a lasting mark to bear,
And best distinguish'd by black, brown, and fair."
Epist. to a Lady, v. I.],
September 28. 1830.
MENTAL ANARCHY.
Why need we talk of a fiery hell? If the will, which is the law of our nature, were withdrawn from our memory, fancy, understanding, and reason, no other hell could equal, for a spiritual being, what we should then feel, from the anarchy of our powers. It would be conscious madness—a horrid thought!
October 5. 1830.