man's nature, in some exceptional cases, rises to such a height of
intellect and sensitiveness, that it ceases to be capable of accepting
that subordination which constitutes the essence of Christian marriage.
Think you there are not women athirst for the ideal; who are crushed by
the commonplace of ordinary affections; who would go beyond that narrow
circle traced round them by domestic cares? Give to such natures as
good, kind, and conscientious a husband as you will, do you think he can
ever satisfy the ardent longings of their mind and heart? Do you think
they can find in the family the realization of the brilliant dream
caressed by them from the earliest years of infancy? Do you not believe
that they will constantly feel cruel disappointments, infinite tortures,
and the deepest anguish?'

PAUL. But if such be a true statement of the case, what are
these good ladies to do?

DORCAS. The world has always need of intellect and enthusiasm,
and these, directed by the spirit of devotion and self-sacrifice,
without which nothing good or great can be accomplished, will point the
way to the fulfilment of whatever may be the especial vocation of the
individual. The author above quoted continues: 'Some heroic virgins have
played so wonderful a part that, by the sublimity of their devotion and
the power of their intellect, they have occasionally eclipsed the renown
of the most illustrious men. A St. Catherine of Sienna was the light of
doctors, the ambassadress of nations, the counsellor of popes, and the
admiration of her age. A St. Rose of Viterbo, a charming and graceful
child, became the intrepid buckler of Rome against the pretensions of
the Ghibelline emperors. A St. Clara, by her ardent love for the poor
and the Cross, was worthy of aiding the Seraph of Assisi in his
admirable reform. A St. Theresa astonished the world by the grandeur of
her character in the age of the Loyolas, the Xaviers, and the Francis
Borgias.' To these few but striking instances we may add Joan of Arc,
whose patriotism and valor saved her country from the dominion of the
foreign invader, and, in our own day, Florence Nightingale and Miss Dix,
together with hosts of courageous maidens, who in every Christian land
yearly devote themselves to the service of suffering humanity. I should
weary you, uncle, were I to pursue this subject into farther depths:
suffice it to say that it is one which no man, however tender or
talented, could ever exhaust, for