It has been said that wherever a human being is in suffering, his sighs call a woman to his side.

When Mungo Park, lonely, friendless, and famished, after being driven forth from an African village by the men, was preparing to spend the night under a tree, exposed to the rain and the wild beasts which there abounded, a poor negro woman, returning from the labours of the field, took compassion upon him, conducted him into her hut, and there gave him food, succour, and shelter.

[201] But while the most characteristic qualities of woman are displayed through her sympathies and affections, it is also necessary for her own happiness, as a self-dependent being, to develope and strengthen her character, by due self-culture, self-reliance, and self-control.

It is not desirable, even were it possible, to close the beautiful avenues of the heart.

Self-reliance of the best kind does not involve any limitation in the range of human sympathy.