egion professing religion more strenuously than any
other, living in the deepest external peace, surrounded by prosperity,
and outwardly honoured more conspicuously than in any other country, can
ever so far cast off self-restraint, shame, domestic affection, and the
deep prejudices of education, as to plunge into the living hell of
intemperance, there must be something fearfully wrong in their
position."

Miss Martineau is a lady; and, therefore, it is difficult to use the
language which I would, if a man had made such an assertion. I shall
only state, that it is one of the greatest libels that ever was put into
print: for Miss Martineau implies that it is a general habit, among the
American women; so far from it, the American women are so abstemious
that they do not drink sufficient for their health. They can take very
little exercise, and did they take a little more wine, they would not
suffer from _dyspepsia_, as they now do, as wine would assist their
digestion. The origin of this slander I know well, and the only ground
for it is, that there are two or three ladies of a certain city, who
having been worked upon by some of the Evangelical Revival Ministers,
have had their minds crushed by the continual excitement to which they
have been subjected. The mind affects the body, and they have required,
and have applied to, stimulus, and if you will inquire into the moral
state of any woman among the higher classes, either in America or
England, who has fallen into the vice alluded to, nine times out of ten
you will find that it has been brought about by religious excitement.
Fanaticism and gin are remarkable good friends all over the world. It
is surprising to me that, when Miss Martineau claims for her sex the
same privilege as ours, she should have overlooked one simple fact which
ought to convince _her_ that they are the weaker vessels. I refer to
what she acknowledges to be true, which is, that the evangelical
preachers invariably apply to women for proselytes, instead of men; not
only in America but everywhere else; and that for one male, they may
reckon at least twenty females among their flocks. According to Miss
Martineau's published opinions, there can be no greater weakness than
the above.

In the United States, divorces are obtained without expense, and without
it being necessary to commit crime, as in England. The party pleads in
_forma pauperis_, to the State Legislation, and a divorce is granted