Constant affection, household knowledge, unfailing sympathy with the wishes, views and efforts of the husband, good common sense, are those jewels of a wife’s inheritance which are infinitely above all others, though eminently consistent with those usually so highly valued.
Let no female reader think the dignity or the rights of her sex invaded, nor the wrongs neglected, and start up to declare what a miserable state a bad husband imposes upon a wife; we are speaking of an independent evil. We know how much misery is brought into families, and how all good is banished by the follies and wickedness of the husband. But our business now is to speak of the errors of the wife—faults of character which it seems almost impossible to correct in the individual, but which must be looked to and avoided by those who look to marriage as a means of happiness and advancement. The person must be avoided: faults of conduct are more or less easily corrected, as they more or less depend upon the character, condition, or temper of the individual. But, alas! when, after repeated monitions, and as repeated failures, people come to say “it is her way,” then it seems almost impossible to hope for success.
It appears to us, however, worth while for men, and women too, to look at the circumstances to which we profess only to have referred. Let them weigh the value of domestic peace—let them estimate the worth of home attractions and home pleasures, and let some one sit down and look calmly and philosophically at the influence of family peace, family pleasure, family support, upon the character and condition of a man—of the husband—and then see whether what we have noticed is not worth the notice of others.
We do not say that the man of learning wants a learned wife, nor that the statesman needs a political partner. But both need a wife who will sympathize in their feelings, will try to improve advantages and mitigate evils, and thus to bring to the house and the fireside the great sources of man’s happiness and man’s triumphs.
REVIEW OF NEW BOOKS.
A Second Visit to the United States of North America. By Sir Charles Lyell, F. R. S. New York: Harper & Brothers. 2 vols. 12mo.
Sir Charles Lyell is the exact opposite of those English tourists who emphasize the little peculiarities of American character, and pass off their caricatures as national traits. He is a rigid man of science, without sufficient humor or imagination to seize upon individual peculiarities, and confines himself altogether to facts and sensible remarks. He is essentially a moderate man in mind as well as in disposition, and thoroughly conscientious, good-natured and unimpassioned. His eye for scenery is that of a man of science, not of a poet; he observes geology and botany, not mountains and sunny slopes of green hills; and through the whole book there is not one example of his mind rising above the dead level of calm observation and classification, even in the presence of the most beautiful and sublime scenes of nature. In regard equally to men, institutions, and scenery, he seems incapable either of admiration or dislike, and from his utter lack of sensitiveness to any impressions, the reader is made to wonder how he can be any thing but a bore to himself. His moderation is perfect. He discusses the copyright question and the question of slavery in a manner so cool and just as to distinguish him from all other English tourists, and also from all American chatterers on those word-flooded themes. If he is thus destitute of glow and enthusiasm, it must be admitted that these defects have their compensations. His statements are always reliable. The geological information the volumes contain is of course beyond cavil, but his observations are almost equally just on the subjects of religion, education, and the practical working of our political institutions. He may not convey much information to an American, but it is but proper to admit that his tolerant and conscientious representations will be sure to dispel many errors and prejudices in the minds of his own countrymen. An Englishman is apt to consider it a duty to believe every thing bad against the United States, and it is pleasant to think that a man with the social and scientific position of Sir Charles Lyell has the disposition as well as the power to present the good side of our society for foreign contemplation.
In the eighth chapter of his first volume, Lyell discusses the Sea Serpent, and comes to the conclusion that it is a Basking Shark. Since his book was published the creature has been seen again off Nahaut Beach, and the shark hypothesis completely overturned. We perceive that Agassiz believes in the Serpent, and his opinion is almost as authoritative as Lyell’s reasonings.