souls. In all there is a
lofty scorn for the little and mean. The same withering contempt for
the cringing and cowardly is met in every one of them. Their impulses
are generous, and their aspirations noble, with hearts as soft and
tender as love, pity, and compassion can form. Yet in them there is,
too, the fire of chivalry, the scorn of contempt, and the daring of her
who followed her immortal brother, the great Palafox, at the defence of
Saragossa, her native city, and, standing upon the dead bodies of her
countrymen, snatched the burning match from the hand of death, and
fired the cannon at the advancing foe, and planted Spain's standard, in
defiance of the veterans of Soult--a rallying point for her
countrymen--and saved Saragossa. They were born to command, and can
never be slaves, or the mothers of slaves.

The same influences powerfully operate in producing that bearing of
chivalrous distinction, which is seen everywhere in the deportment of
the Southern gentlemen toward ladies. They are ever polite, respectful,
and deferential. This, however, is only one of many elements in the
peculiar character of Southern people. Their piety is Christian in its
character. The precepts of the Bible are fashioned into example in the
conduct of the older members of society, and especially in the female
portion. This is, perhaps, the predominant element. The Bible is the
guide, not the fashion, in religious duty. Its doctrines are taught in
purity, and in their simplicity enter into the soul, as the great
constituent of character.

The chivalrous bearing of man toward woman inspires her with elevated
and noble sentiments--a pride and dignity conservative of purity in all
her relations--and, reflecting these back upon society, producing most
salutary influences. It is woman's pride to lean on man--to share his
love and respect--to be elevated by his virtues, and appreciated by the
world because of his honors--to be a part of his fame. The mother, the
wife, the sister, the relative should share with the husband, the son,
the brother, the kinsman, in the world's honors, in the sufferings,
sorrows, and miseries incidental to all. They are part and parcel of
man, and partake of his nature and his position, as of his fortune.
When man shall cease to view woman, and so deport himself toward her as
a purer, more refined, and more elevated being than himself, that
moment she will sink to his level, and then her prestige for good is
gon