Page:Randolph, Paschal Beverly; Eulis! the history of love.djvu/24

Rh the divine, but abused, faculties of our nature. Unless love equals passion, marriage rites are never right; that's all!

V. The grand mistake made by physiologists and other essayists, writing on the current topic, consists in their persistent overlooking of the fact that man and woman are not the same. The male is an incarnation, so to speak, of one side of Deity; one hemisphere of the Imperial ; one section of Nature,, the Superlative and Infinite Mind of Minds; while the human female represents and is an embodiment of the other; for there is a male and female side to all these, and the two genders correspond to, represent, affiliate with, derive their respective powers from, and are attracted to, those respective sides. Thus either, alone, is an Incompleteness; they belong to opposite sides of nature, and it requires a bridge to span the amazing gulf that rolls between them. The magnetic materials for said bridge exists in nearly all human beings. Its name is. Bridges are in great demand. There's room for more.

VI. No true man can help loving all true women; not in the grosser sense, but in the higher one of soul. Not such as lie a man out of his manhood, run him in debt, empty his purse, and rob him of his peace, until he actually jeopardizes his soul's salvation,—pretending to love him, but meaning not one word of it,—laughing at him in the sleeve, and triumphing in the knowledge of how smart she was, how great a fool was he. That's the sort of women who, from the year one, have driven hard bargains with the masculine portion of the race, and rushed many a good man down the hills of ruin and gloom, and horrid, blank despair. Nor are they all dead yet.

I have neither time, assistance, or inclination for moralizing: but little patience with "Scripture" quoters; none at all with the modern "reform" tribes of the land and age: besides which I cordially despise all women-haters on one side, and Wesnerites (man haters) on the other; and no words of mine can express my utter abhorrence of the things miscalled Men, who practically regard woman as if she were nothing but a pleasure-vehicle, to be kissed, petted, and ill-treated in alternate slices. But I feel quite as much indignant contempt for that large class of women who are ever ready to use their