ly that "lastly," the
more as we say that in it lies an excellence without which all the rest
are of little worth, and yet with it are objects of worship, almost of
adoration,--she was--separated from her husband! There must have been an
epidemic, a kind of rot, among husbands at one period; for we scarcely
remember a very pretty woman, from five-and-twenty to five-and-thirty,
who had not been obliged to leave hers from acts of cruelty or acts of
brutality, etc., that only husbands are capable of, or of which their
poor wives are ever the victims.

If the moral geography of Europe be ever written, the region south of
the Alps will certainly be colored with that tint, whatever it be,
that describes the blessedness of a divorced existence. In other lands,
especially in our own, the separated individual labors under no common
difficulty in his advances to society. The story--there must be a
story--of his separation is told in various ways, all, of course, to his
disparagement. Tyrant or victim, it is hard to say under which title
he comes out best,--so much for the man; but for the woman there is no
plea: judgment is pronounced at once, without the merits. Fugitive, or
fled from,--who inquires? she is one that few men dare to recognize.
The very fact that to mention her name exacts an explanation, is
condemnatory. What a boon to all such must it be that there is a
climate mild enough for their malady, and a country that will suit their
constitution; and not only that, but a region which actually pays homage
to their infirmity, and makes of their martyrdom a triumph! As you go to
Norway for salmon-fishing,--to Bengal to hunt tigers,--to St. Petersburg
to eat caviare, so when divorced, if you really know the blessing
of your state, go take a house on the Arno. Vast as are the material
resources of our globe, the moral ones are infinitely greater; nor need
we despair, some day or other, of finding an island where a certificate
of fraudulent bankruptcy will be deemed a letter of credit, and an
evidence of insolvency be accepted as qualification to open a bank.

La Contessa inhabited a splendid palace, furnished with magnificence;
her gardens were one of the sights of the capital, not only for their
floral display, but that they contained a celebrated group by Canova, of
which no copy existed. Her gallery was, if not extensive, enriched with
some priceless treasures of art; and with all these she possessed
high rank, for her c