widely as the virtues out of which they spring. One forgives that he may be forgiven; another, because he feels that he deserves to suffer;-this is the forgiveness of humility; another still, on returning good for evil; but no one of these varieties of pardon includes an excuse for the pain inflicted upon ourselves. The pardon of Jesus Christ is the true Christian pardon. They know not what they do.' In these affecting words we find the excuse of the offender, and the consolation of the offended,-the only consolation possible under those moral griefs where the evil done us is, so to speak, only secondary. It puts the finishing touch to sorrow to be unable to find an excuse for those we love; but here, the explanation is offered. They know not what they do.' They have torn our hearts, but they knew not what they did. They were blind, their eyes were closed; our very anguish is the pledge of their innocence. The human heart is pitiful. Great wrongs can only come of great darkness. Is it conceivable that one should inflict, voluntarily, and in cold blood, those excruciating pangs which cause us to die a thousand deaths before our time? Is it conceivable that you should be willing to break a heart that has cherished, adored, defended you for years? For it is the nature of ingratitude, the source of our heaviest sorrows, -to despise the tenderness bestowed upon it, because incapable of returning it in kind. But in this very incapacity, in this very ignorance, lies the exculpation. To lavish affection on those who cannot return it, is like trying to give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf. Forgive them, oh my God! for they know not what they do. Forgive them without their having to reproach themselves, without accounting their pardon a virtue in me, for it is but just. But take pity on me, and teach me to love Thee only, and give rest! Amen."

When we consider who it was that uttered these elevated Christian sentiments, they come with greater force to our hearts, than if written by a woman who had led a more devout life than that spent by the Duchess of Duras. At the same time, they show that pious charity towards others is not incompatible with a disposition given to the excitement and jealousies of the political world and fashionable life. In this country many people are inclined to judge of female character in French society as superficial and flippant. Here we have an example of one who might be so classed, if judged alone by her outward relations; but in the end we find that she possessed an inner self of the purest religious nature, that became a constant consolation throughout her vicissitudes of life, which will compare favourably with the characters of the most celebrated English women.

The Duchess of Duras died at Nice in January .1829.

CHAPTER V.

WOMAN'S INFLUENCE IN SOCIETY.

15. MRS ELIZABETH MONTAGUE:

EMINENT FOR HER

VIRTUOUS INFLUENCE ON ENGLISH SOCIETY.

16. MADAME RECAMIER: EMINENT FOR HER BEAUTY AND POWER OVER PARISIAN SOCIETY.

17. MARY, COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE: A LEADER OF ENGLISH SOCIETY, IN THE TIME OF QUEEN ELIZABETH.

177

Mrs Elizabeth Montague,

EMINENT FOR HER VIRTUOUS INFLUENCE ON
ENGLISH SOCIETY.

It requires no elaborate essay to prove the influence of woman in the social sphere, from the earliest times to the present day. Indeed, it may be said that no circle of society is complete without her presence. Men may congregate in their clubs, and hold convivial meetings exclusively of their own sex, but these cannot be called representative assemblies of society at large. They are one-sided, just as a meeting of women alone does not represent the social condition of mankind. It is when the two sexes are brought into mutual harmony with each other that we find all the elements of the true social circle combined. Whether, in the private reunions of friends and relatives, or in the "gay and festive throng" of public assemblies, it is there that female influence asserts its softening power over the company. Under these circumstances, the voice of woman is eagerly listened to by man; but, if it is raised in support of her privileges on legal or political grounds, he turns a deaf ear to the words of the fair charmer. But when they meet in the social circle, their position is reversed, and crowds of superior men will listen with raptures to the conversation of some brilliant woman. There she sits supreme, a queen of society, surrounded by an obedient and attentive court of admirers. Such has been the position and influence of almost all celebrated women more or less, whom it would be appropriate