Page:Love and its hidden history.djvu/44

 soothe the sufferer in his loving arms, — provided it is not some one else's wife, and vice versa; in which case, careful talk, and careful feeling, is the balm to be applied; not too closely, however.

Fashion is the science of appearances; and all women have a right to reasonably conform to its dicta. A wise husband will concede this. Home should be where the heart is; but instead of that, it is too often "a saloon," affording "refreshment and entertainment for man and beast," — too frequently the latter, clad in broadcloth! Love is spontaneous, — is not limited by laws other than its own and they are recorded upon the tablets of every human heart.

Adultery is of the heart, not only of the person. There can be no offence of that nature if the heart and affections are right. I have actually seen a virtuous courtesan, and have celebrated her in more than one of my books. I expect to see more. It is not difficult to conceive of such, for a woman may be driven thereto by the stress of circumstances, — the force of penury, or the penury of force. There is as much in condition as in position. A woman in one chemical or magnetic state may be able to resist any temptation brought to bear against her; yet a change of atoms in her body may in five seconds so alter her resisting power as to cause her to fall from the slightest attack. So also is it with the sterner sex. Let us have a little more charity. If the hidden scroll of our own lives should be revealed, most of us would be anything but proud or stilted over it. Let us learn to be just to all mankind, and especially lenient to our mother's sex! What means a kiss? — an embrace? — the union aside from propagative ends? It means — an interchange and fusion of magnetisms: a displacement of one and replacement of its own by the other.

Perfect health is perfect love. A well man ought to be a good one. So of a woman. Wives should be brooded!

The right to wake when others sleep; The right to watch, the right to weep; The right to comfort in distress; The right to soothe, the right to bless; The right the widow's heart to cheer, The right to dry an orphan's tear;